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Superdavetfft
| | Posted on Monday, August 16, 2010 - 09:55 am: | 
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Well folks here's the ride report...
first off we'll address the obvious, yes it rides like a rigid but it's not near as rough as I'd expected.
I can tell already we've got some differences of opinion on the looks however when I took it into Sturgis this wknd after picking it up in Rapid City I got several positive comments on it.
Now the important part - performance - that M2 powerplant is a nice fit for this ride. Gobs of torque and it's happy purring around town. Being a hard mount it does have the good ol' Harley vibration though...
Cornering - surprising, it actually has some lean angle, definitely NOT a sport bike but reasonable. I drug the pipes a few times in the twisties in the hills ...
Braking - it's got the Buell brakes, front = awesome, rear = crap... ssdd...
Ergonomics - ok admittedly there aren't any ... you need to be a contortionist to reach the pegs and bars. I'm going to have to do something to get the bars moved back about 4"... might have to fabricate a set, who knows...
Sound - that exhaust sounds sweet (if you like the loud brrrapp of a sportster that is...)
All in all, for $5k, I got a completely custom ride with a reliable Buell 93HP drivetrain (with only 11k miles), good rubber and good build quality. The builder really did a nice job, nylock nuts all over, hidden wiring, properly soldered and heat shrink tubed wiring junctions, great welds, etc.
I think the mutant term fits well...
sueprdave |
Tiltcylinder
| | Posted on Monday, August 16, 2010 - 10:25 am: |
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It costs money to make horsepower with a stock sporty, a Buell comes already done. Crashed ones are cheap and expensive to repair. A Buell engine in a rigid is a great, reliable way to have your cake and eat it too. Those rotten quad cam bastards. |
Teeps
| | Posted on Monday, August 16, 2010 - 10:48 am: |
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Tiltcylinder Posted on Monday, August 16, 2010
A Buell engine in a rigid is a great, reliable way to have your cake and eat it too.
Unless you pie...
Agree or not, with this repurposing of Buells; it will be done.
And there is nothing any of us can do about it, short of buying every crashed or blown up Buell on the planet. |
Babired
| | Posted on Monday, August 16, 2010 - 11:14 am: |
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well guys back before the XB's came out you could buy a 1203cc thunderstorm heads in the box for I think the cost was $600.00. Time for me to come out of the closet I haD and 883 custom white bike and went thru stage one and two screaming eagle kits and to me it was still weak in power so I went to Baltimore HD store and bought the thunderstorm heads and had a complete head swap. I added Andrews cams and a flat Mikunni CV carb and the bike is tuned so good its fast. Basanni pipes make it loud HD Buell sound crossed. Okay so my ego with the little white sporty now when I see other guys pull out on their big HD V-twins that they worked so hard on to make fast they pull out from a biker establishment and I pull out on the sleeper and you know what happens So I murdered a HD |
Superdavetfft
| | Posted on Monday, August 16, 2010 - 12:26 pm: |
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Cost is a huge factor, for whatever reason Buell drivetrains are way undervalued. You can have your pick of 'em for $1500-3000 on ebay etc. You can't touch a big twin for anywhere near that kind of money. Plus you'll not find a HD sporty or big twin that puts out 100HP reliably without thousands of dollars in mods that will compromise it's reliability and it's overall engine life.
I looked at making a big twin chopper a while ago and I couldn't even find a wrecked softail donor bike for under $6-7k! And then I'd only have 60-65 HP unless I dropped some more cash...
Fact is you can't beat a mutant Buell if you're after an affordable custom bike... that said I do hope that people won't start killing functional bikes to make these.
superdave |
Mikej
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 18, 2010 - 11:44 pm: |
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I wonder what the seller had into it and if he came out ahead or behind on it. I think the Mutant kits were $1500-2500 or more, and used Buell M2's seem to sell for between $500-$3500 (on a good day). I'm re-thinking an M2 conversion to get it sold if I get to that point.
And "MURDER"????? Geesh, it's a bike, not a life. Oh well. Please excuse me now while I go find a Grim Reaper image to attach to my potential "For Sale or Else" posting in the classifieds if things get to that point here.
Anyway, looks like the sellers did a decent job with the conversion. Glad you're enjoying it for what it is. A rigid chopper I had back in the '70's had a bent steel plate contoured (sp?) from the front seat mount tube on an old dogbone frame down the frame and over the fender then bending up for the sissybar mount and backrest, then the whole thing was padded and covered. It gave about an inch of travel before I'd hit frame on big bumps and potholes in the road. Others have simply run bought or homemade sprung saddles. Anything is better than a hard mount seat bolted hard to the framework. And then you can run decent tire pressure too.
Enjoy the ride. It might be a shame when a Buell is converted, but it ain't no murder. And the market will change again, and Mutant style bikes trends will be replaced by board track racer styles, and those are morphing into something else with a bit of grunge rat style thrown in. But then what do I know, I'm just some unemployed guy with an unsellable Buell in the garage who grazes the grocery store magazine rack while buying my morning coffee flavored yogurt.
A bike is a bike, enjoy what you've got. |
Jstfrfun
| | Posted on Friday, August 20, 2010 - 04:09 pm: |
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My softail kit was 5k, the donnor bike was 3.5 so, no 5k is not a profitable deal for the builder. |
Augustus74
| | Posted on Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 11:57 pm: |
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Sounds like a great buy - enjoy it!!!
-definitely doesn't look like a Redneck frame, only 1, MAYBE 2 others making mutant frames right now but could be an older company that doesn't make them anymore- |
Blk_uly
| | Posted on Sunday, August 22, 2010 - 01:25 am: |
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The only thing it needs is a springer seat!
I think it's cool. It's got me thinking about one too. enjoy it! |
Skinstains
| | Posted on Sunday, August 22, 2010 - 11:44 pm: |
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Isn't it blasphemy to run a choppa wit out a kicker ??? |
Patches
| | Posted on Monday, August 23, 2010 - 09:12 am: |
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"Isn't it blasphemy to run a choppa wit out a kicker"
not if you have Sportster Knee. |
Swordsman
| | Posted on Monday, August 23, 2010 - 04:27 pm: |
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I wanna put an XB engine in a Smart car. One less cylinder, ~20 more horses than the stock, ~20 more ft/lbs torque, probably similar mpg after installed, and sounds MUCH better. 
~SM |
Jasonk
| | Posted on Monday, August 23, 2010 - 06:00 pm: |
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Spidey, the custom by a former Buell rider with back problems was not a rigid, it was more of a 'mini-dresser' with air adjustable suspension on the rear-end. I actually sold it to the builder and got into an FLTR. The bike was really well sorted out (won 'best engineered' at the Milwaukee World of Wheels show last year). |
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