| Author | Message | ||
     Spatten1 |
I was checking Motorcycle Daily's site and ran across this article about the lure of literbikes. http://www.motorcycledaily.com/09january06_accel.htm While I am very happy with my bike (XB9S), I still crave a truly powerful bike. I would not trade for a literbike, as it is not correct for my stage of life and what I want to ride right now. However, I still catch myself pining for that rush of acceleration. I'd like to know if other Buellers feel the same way. | ||
| Rubberdown |
Sure. I've battled the urge on and off. In the end, I'm keeping my 9R and just bought a an HD Springer Classic for an entirely different riding experience. | ||
| M1combat |
I suppose I hear you but I get just as much of a rush (or more) when I string together a section of the spars (very technical with guard rail on one side, rock wall on the other) with my knees hooking the seat just right, my thigh laying across the seat, my mirror just above and to the inside of my visor, my outside arm laying across the airbox just right and my inside elbow just inches from the ground. I may only be doing 50-100 but my head isn't much (if any) higher than a go-karters head and aside from street luge, Karting is widely regarded as the fastest "feeling" sport there is. Granted, that's an entirely different subject from acceleration, but acceleration doesn't do a LOT for me... It's certainly fun but feeling the rear tire squirm around because it's gotten a little greasy is more my cup of tea. That said... I've never ridden a modern liter bike  . | ||
| Midknyte |
"...Although I'm not a psychologist, the behavior of a large percentage of the American population leads me to suspect that in the same way that humans are driven to eat, sleep, and procreate, they have a primal need to accelerate!..." That is an accurate statement  | ||
| Fullpower |
serious acceleration requires MORE than a liter. try cracking the throttle on a big alcohol burning sportster sometime. | ||
| Mike_bolts |
When I purchased my 9 I was afraid that I would outgrow it after a few months. I am happy to report that as I mature as a rider the bike continues to reward me with new levels of performance. A Buell will never (...well I shouldn't say "never") out accelerate one of the big Japanese bikes, however it will outhandle any of them. In the real world it is impossible to safely travel at 180 MPH, I would rather have a bike that handles better than the others and have my fun on a good technical section. The Japanese super bikes with all their power have created a bad reputation for sport bikes. They are the reasons why law enforcement singles us out and why our insurance rates are so high. | ||
| Spatten1 |
I'd rather not get side tracked into a handling discussion. While we all know that XBs handle exceptionally well, it is highly debatable that they handle better than repli-racers. I say if handling is your sole criteria buy a grey-market RS250 or TZ250 or maybe an FZR400. There is much more to the riding experience than perfect handling, especially if you dig the character of your bike, which is what I like about the Buell and its engine (handling is a must). That said, I do miss serious acceleration sometimes, just not enough to give up the XB. | ||
| M1combat |
Well... Now that you brought it up... J/K I enjoy acceleration. For sure. It's just that corner speed is more along my lines (no pun intended). | ||
| Rich |
I thought about a litre bike, too small for what I need. Too much like my Buells, except for the power. The Hayabusa fit the bill though; big, heavy, powerfull enough to run fast all day, loaded or not. Not really a sport bike to me, more of a GT. I'm lucky. | ||
| Spatten1 |
Good one M1. | ||
| Fullpower |
Mike you are misconstrued in regard to your understanding of insurance. The insurance companies spend vast sums of MONEY "lobbying" ( which amounts to legal bribery) your elected representatives, to ensure their legal monopoly on your rights to operate motor vehicles on public rights of way. Blaming YOUR insurance rates on the behaviour of another vehicle operator is just about as idiotic as blaming high fuel prices on all the other drivers for running up the demand for fuel. | ||
| Stou |
In addition to my XB9SX I have a 2001 Yamaha FZ1. The FZ1 is a lot smoother and much more powerfull than my XB9 but I use my XB9 more often because the little XB9 is soo much fun. Mike_bolts, I do not agree with you about the handling. A buell don't out handle something like a Yamaha R1 or R6. I had a R1 before my FZ1 and those kind of bike are really unbeatable on the handling and power. The new R6 (or other 600 jap) used MotoGP technologies. Don't think a Buell will out handle those bikes. This is a very different game. The big difference I found with Buell, is that you don't have to ride it at 200 KMH to have fun. With the latest jap bike, if you ride more or less normaly, which is impossible with those bikes, it is boring!!! With my Buell, I don't have to ride it at 200 KMH and I have more fun. With jap sport bike, you need to do track days to have fun. That why I love my little XB. I can have fun anywhere without the risk of loosing my driver licence. And for my FZ1, I use it more for long trip. I have hard bag on it, softer suspension, heated grip and this is cool! | ||
| M1combat |
"The new R6 (or other 600 jap) used MotoGP technologies. Don't think a Buell will out handle those bikes. This is a very different game. " Dangit... Some one went and did it... The Japanese liter bikes may use "moto-GP technology" but they most assuredly don't use "Moto-GP geometry". Both are important of course, but the geometry is more so. Corner speed is higher with an XB than with anything modern (and classic for that matter) from Japan. About the only bikes that can rival the Firebolt for pure corner speed are a Duck 999R or Aprilia RS125. When the whole cornering process is evaluated the Buells and the Ducks come out on top in dominating fashion. Of course, the caveat to that is that you need to be able to bring them to their limits to even make a rudimentary assessment. "This is a very different game." No... It's a "new" game . | ||
| Stou |
That depend on who ride the 600  Maybe on your soft and smooth US road a Buell can out handle a jap bike in curves but take it on a rough road... like we have here and the Buell can't be ride as hard as a jap. I tried every possible setting on my XB and can't get it right. When you ride it fast in a bumpy curve, the little XB is shaking a lot more than my R1 was. | ||
| Dragon_slayer |
Stou, let me introduce you to my little friend, the XB12X! Or as us owners like to call it, the ULY. Yours is a city/street hooligan, the Uly is a bumpy road eater. I pity the rice rocket thats tries to keep up. BTW, the ORANGE ones ARE the faster ones! | ||
| Kdan |
I've had liter bikes. Yeah, the speed is cool, but with the continuing increase of traffic, in any urban area as population grows, the opportunity for safe speed is decreasing. My Buell suits me for it's real world application. Torque. Grunt. Flickability. These aren't as much fun on a 140hp liter bike. YMMV. | ||
| Iamike |
Spaten- A year after I bought my '99 S3 I picked up a '97 CBR1100XX from a guy that had fallen over on it hurt his elbow and couldn't work. No work-no income for payments. Even though it was scraped up I got a real good deal on it. The CBR was real smooth, amazingly fast (once you cranked the grip) but just didn't trip my trigger. It had Two Brothers pipes that sounded great and I still love the looks of it. It sat in the garage most of the time while I rode my Buell. | ||
| Stou |
Dragon_slayer, I know, I tried the Uly a few month ago. A very nice bike and very well suit to the kind of roads that we have here. Maybe my next buy!!! Kdan and Iamike, that's exactly what I think. Those bikes are really nice and perform better than our Buell but the thing is that BUELL ARE MORE FUN TO RIDE!!! | ||
| Stou |
Midknyte , I love that picture! | ||
| Rocketman |
To generalize, there is something missing from Japanese four cylinder bikes when you crack 'em open. As blisteringly fast as many are nearly all don't transmit anything but a rush of scenery passing by your eyes very fast. In recent years there have been two four cylinder bikes for me that stand out from the crowd when it comes to feeling 'that feeling'. One is not Japanese. The one that is is a Hayabusa. Anyone that's ridden one will be able to tell you what makes a Hayabusa feel like it's got something other Japanese bikes have not. It's simple. The Hayabusa hits red line at 10000rpm. Everything under 10K when you open one up feels like wild horses taking you away. The other bike I rode that felt very alive was the MV1000F4. Yes that thing revs but it also transmits a lot of feel through the frame. The motor isn't smooth like a Japanese motor. It feels like a highly tuned race motor in fact. That makes for a sensation stirring experience when you open the throttle hard. By far the most ballistic thing I've ever ridden on two wheels. Miss a ride on one at your peril. Yes I've always needed to scratch that itch when it comes to speed. Sadly, I've not been able to ride my 916 much last year but when I have, even for a short blat down the road, nothing quite satisfies than a powerhouse V twin with a quickshifter fitted. That Ducati of mine talks to me when I ride it. The best way I can describe it to anyone is by saying no matter how you ride, no you don't need to be a racer, just ride it fast on a twisty road and you'll know exactly why it's been so successful on the race track. After all, it was genuinely built as a race bike and adapted for road use. So I might have given up trying to make my S1W do 150 mph, but I still get a buzz from dicing with the big boys on it. I know that because my S1W has been the bike of choice through 2005 and it's done admirably well even though some of the jerks on the Japanese bikes frowned upon it. Yes they beat me on the motorways and straights but I shocked a few of them when I stuffed it down their insides in the odd bend or three, even if she was bucking and weaving a tad. Par for the course eh! Rocket | ||
| Cerbero |
actually, i already HAVE a literbike... a 1.2 liter bike, to be specific... and since my old M2 does everything i want a motorcycle to do, and does it well enough to keep a big grin on my face, i think i'll keep it! but thanks for asking. | ||
| Dana P. |
So Rocket.... When do we see her?? You have talked about paint and other things but no recent shots of it. Come on man!!! | ||
| Midknyte |
Midknyte , I love that picture! Got a couple of nice ones that day...  | ||
| Blake |
The Busa hits redline at 10K rpm? You sure about that? I recall it was around 11K rpm. You just enjoyed blasting to triple illegal through the Rocky Mountains. I was fortunate enough to get to ride Snail's Busa, at night, along the Oregon coast. It was big, heavy, stable, and fast. It gave me the same electric motor sensation you describe for the IL4 literbikes. I did like it though. The fact that it did not emit a whining turbine noise was most appreciated. Definitely appreciated the less than stratospheric rev limit. A buck-thirty in third gear? Easy peasy. Felt like 70 mph on my Cyclone. I would kill myself on a bike like that. Guaranteed. Would have to remove the fairing and then it would look  . | ||
| Bandirola |
I agree with Cerbero...why would I want to downgrade to a liter bike? Nothing I have seen has the visceral sound and feel of my S3T. | ||
| Moxb12r |
I have both an '04 XB12R and an '05 R1 and love them both. I like the cornering of the Buell and am using it for my track day bike over the R1, but when I was a rush of speed I use the R1. | ||
| Blublak |
I've toyed with the idea of getting a 'speed Liter' type bike. Have an invite to test ride a K1200S/R when the weather is nicer. Every now and then I think that I might like to be able to go super-sonic, but then I realize that I really just plain love the XB. Not for any one thing I can quantify like, pure HP or razor sharp handling or bells and whistles.. it's just a plain FUN bike to ride. Some folks think I'm odd that I've been trying to ride it more then my H-D. But then, it's got such a quirky, 'Come out and play' attitude to it.. well.. Like I said, I can't nail it down, it's just visceral fun where other bikes seem more like.. well.. one dimensional rides. Perhaps that's it.. A lot of the other bikes out there (especially the Liter RR's) are laser focused on one specific thing. This Firebolt on the other hand seems to be an almost perfect compromise between the different worlds. Who knows.. Perhaps sometime (if I can find room in the garage.. and money to pay for it) I'll get a true RR or the like.. But for now, I still think my Buell is the best choice for me. | ||
| 12r |
I only crave that acceleration rush when I get blitzed by an IL4. All other times I'm ecstatically happy with the sensations from stringing together a series of corners on a twisty road. Mmmmm...rolling on a monster helping of creamy torque in 3rd, shifting bodyweight ready for the next corner...peel off and nail that apex H-A-R-D...yeah baby ! | ||
| Bomber |
it's easy to forget that one can accelerate in more than one direction -- sideways gees are bigger fun, to me, that straight ahead ones -- it ain't the speed, again, for me, but, rather, the delta that is addicting | ||
| Xring |
If anything, I'd rather have a smaller/lighter bike than my XB9S. Midknyte, those pics are great. Buell should use that first one in ads. In fact I thought is was a commercial photo at first. Bill (Message edited by xring on January 11, 2006) |
