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That's right! FLOOR IT!!!  Sadly the car would only do 200 of the 260 KPH that the speedo said it would. Since 200 KPH is 124 MPH, the assumption that the cars are governed so they can put cheaper tires on them holds some water. Just to clarify:  That's right, you can do ANYTHING you and your machine are capable of doing! It was real difficult the first few times I blew by Polizei driving in the slower lanes, but you get a little more used to it every time you do. 1313 | ||
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Driving city streets in Hannover, thanks to Mapquest, I am really close to my goal.  I'M HERE!!! I'M HERE!!! I'M HERE!!!  YEAH!!! YEAH!!! YEAH!!!  Interesting concept isn't it?  Fortunately the next group of pictures is wall to wall Buells. Unfortunately I need to take a break. I guarantee that what is yet to be seen will be worth waiting for. Hell, the trip happened in early June and I am just finding the time to post about it in October. Hopefully we won't have to wait as long for the next update. Stay tuned, 1313 | ||
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Buell Hannover usually makes a special edition Buell seemingly each model year. One of the bikes on the showroom floor was a used special edition bike from a few years back - a XB12R-S - similar to what many have done with their XB's and have shown them here on badweb.    1313 | ||
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Buell Hannover DEFINITELY supports Buell racing. One of the items in the dealership was a previous race bike - a X1 displayed in such a way as to utilize the minimum amount of floor space.  As one of the 4 International dealer teams to race a XBRR in the 2006 Daytona 200, it's obvious that Buell Hannover should have some souvenirs from the event displayed in the dealership.   1313 | ||
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  In addition to souvenirs of events past, you can satisfy your Buell racing parts needs at Buell Hannover too.  1313 | ||
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When I arrived at the dealership, there was only one person in the Buell portion of the dealership and he was working in the shop. He came out to the showroom when I entered the dealership and I explained that I was from the US and was being a tourist checking out their dealership and I made it a point to express my thanks for their efforts in racing a XBRR in the Daytona 200 in 2006. He replied that normally they have a XBRR on the showroom floor but someone (sorry I forgot the name) was at a track day type of event with it. He went on to say, but we do have a XBRR pilot bike out back. Following him out through the shop and out back I noticed a few sea freight container looking things with locks on the doors. He opens one and realizes it isn't the one he was meaning to (the XBRR pilot bike was in a different one), but this one had a whole bunch of Buells in it - another XB12R-S, an 'old' X1, and even a Billet Metallic S1 amongst MANY others. The next container he opened contained the XBRR pilot bike.  After checking out the XBRR pilot bike for awhile it was time to go back in the dealership and thoroughly check out what was on the showroom floor and check out the apparel. When was the last time you walked into a dealership that had a new modified Buell for sale? OK, so the mods were minimal, but this XB12STT definitely looka little different from when it rolled off the East Troy, Wisconsin assembly line.   1313 | ||
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Some dealerships in the states have a decent selection of Buell apparel, while unfortunately most don't. Talk about apparel - check out what Hannover had in their dealership.     1313 | ||
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In addition, Hannover is pretty well stocked with Buell accessories (both factory and aftermarket).  And PLENTY of Buell momentos everywhere.  Pegasus awards...  What could be more American than a Buell baseball?  1313 | ||
| Birdy |
MAN that's is great! A big toy store for Buell people...and to think I can't even get a foot peg here. Great photos thank you for sharing them. Birdy | ||
| Hotrats |
1313, thanks for the pics and story. appears u had a rather large time. the xb seats - they appear to a 1 piece with cowl made on? are they for a 'r'? look cool indeed! andyh | ||
| New12r |
What, no pics of a Munch motorcycle?? Great stories and pics! | ||
| Scott_in_nh |
Great post(s) Thanks! | ||
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OK guys (and gals) of BadWeB, sorry this has taken so long and I really even haven't posted the real 'meat' of the trip. Since I've found out that I will be going back to Berlin for work at just the right time to attend the 2008 edition of the BORG Mid Summer Meeting I thought I should finish off the 2007 trip report. It also helps that today the weather here is kinda on the cold side (yeah, you could say I've become acclimated to the weather in NC). So my experience at Buell Hannover finished off with something quite interesting. Just before I exit Buell Hannover I ask the only guy in the dealership for a prospekt (German for brochure). He explains that it is only in German (which is why I want one) and I say it's OK with me. As he pulls out a prospekt he starts opening it up to show me the pictures of the XBRR stuff in it. Holding back my breath, because I knew the prospekt had some pics of the XBRR's at Daytona he opens up it to the right page and points to his picture in the prospekt from Daytona. I ask him if he'd sign it for me, which he did willingly, and I end up with something more than I bargained for - a truly unique Buell souvenir from Buell Hannover. Unfortunately, to this day, I do not know his name but he is on the left in the picture below:  I spent a good couple of hours in the Buell Hannover shop checking things out so I thought I should check out the H-D shop next door for the hell of it. After only about 15 minutes in the H-D store it was time for me to go. But here are some interesting pics from the H-D shop. Reminiscent of Easy Rider was this old panhead chopper:  And it was interesting to see that it didn't have a S&S carb like all the 'cookie cutter' choppers here in the US:  Interesting knucklehead bobber:  1313 | ||
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As I mentioned I spent a good couple of hours at Buell Hannover, which put me behind schedule somewhat to meet up with my buddy Frank at his place just outside of Kassel. The distance from Hannover to Kassel isn't that far.  But some of the Autobahn linking the two was under construction, so there wasn't many places I could go WFO.  When I got to Frank's place I saw our transportation to the MSM sitting in his driveway, a Mercedes Diesel van:   With Frank's awesome X1 and the M2 he had lined up for me to ride for the MSM in the back.  1313 | ||
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After some miscellaneous shuffling of stuff from my rental car to the van and we're finally off. Fortunately the distance from Kassel to Haltern am See (just South of Muenster on the map) wasn't very far.  As we were getting closer, I had to take this pic because the sign.  We were in the Muenster region of Germany after all. With me being such a huge fan of the Munster's I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Herman, Lily or maybe even Marilyn.  No such luck though, and it didn't really bother me because I was there for the Buells! After a short rest stop to relieve our kidneys on the side of the road we finally arrive at the MSM, check in and get the bikes out of our hotel for the MSM. Frank introduced me to so many people, and me being bad with names and not speaking German, I still manage to bridge the gap with the brotherhood of Buell. Beers are drank, new friendships created and a good time is had by all even considering that the weather turns out to be less than ideal. What does tomorrow have in store? 1313 | ||
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A big part of Saturday's happenings was a trip to a local Buell (and Harley) dealer, Thunderbike. Considering it was raining when we left, I was truly impressed with the fact that there were somewhere between 70 and 80 mostly customized Buells on the ride. On the ride we alternated between light rain, no rain with wet roads and some places with no rain and sun. As we got nearer to Thunderbike, the skys seemed to part and beautiful sun became the only weather we saw. Imagine pulling into a dealership party in the US with between 70 and 80 customized Buells (most tubers with the race muffler even though it is not TUV legal). What a showing. In the essence of timeliness, I am just going to post the pictures from Thunderbike (without too much text). However consider that some of the Buells in attendance at Thunderbike were from the MSM - but not all! OK, I lied about there not being too much text (at least for the start). Here's the M2 that Frank lined up for me to ride while I was at the MSM:   And here's Frank's AWESOME X1 (at the form it was in for the MSM). Amazingly I was able to take these pictures before the crowd formed around his X1.   Now, most of the rest will be text-less, I hope... 1313 | ||
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   It ROCKS!  1313 | ||
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   When was the last time you saw an MV Augusta at your local Harley dealer?  1313 | ||
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OK, Thunderbike is a Harley dealer...  but it doesn't appear that Buell is a sideline to them...    1313 | ||
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Still think it's a sideline?    1313 | ||
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The edition of Fighters Magazin that was on the stands when I arrived in Germany included this Thunderbike created Buell:    1313 | ||
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If you still think Buell is a sideline for the German H-D dealers, check out the giveaway bike for Thunderbike's event:   But they are a Harley dealer... If only Easy Rider was based in the South...Or Captain America was really Captain Redneck...  1313 | ||
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Buells EVERYWHERE!    A little detail for those who may not be familiar with the stock tuber HDI airbox.  1313 | ||
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  No, these bikes do not all have this rainbow effect in the paint. They were under a rainbow colored, striped tent and the sun beating through made for these cool effects.  I'd call this equal billing, wouldn't you?  1313 | ||
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Hell, there was even a Buell in the Thunderbike bike show:    Lightning's - 3:  1313 | ||
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Some non-Buell stuff at Thunderbike:   How hot is this? A female rider on a Cherry Bomb Lightning?  Cool air cleaner cover:  1313 | ||
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They'll let anything come to this party.  I've always dug the Molten Orange/Nuclear Blue color combo (and there were no less than 3 S1's with this color combo at the MSM):  Hard to believe this is the most 'out there' factory graphic ever on a Buell...   1313 | ||
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