| Author |
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M2nc
| | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 12:50 pm: | 
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Ryan,
If all out speed is not your bag, the Buell is by far the choice. Out of the two, the Buell is more street bike. The Buell is an easier bike to ride and more comfortable on trips. Fuel mileage is another place were the Buell shines. XB9 are in the 45-55mpg range versus the 600's, according to all my friend that have them, get 35-45mpg. City-Cross has been a big hit for Buell. The bike really has hit a nerve with many people because of its looks and riding position. The big factor is speed. Many of my friends on R6, Gixxers, CBR's love to run 150mph. For that the Buell is no good. The bike is quick to over 100mph, but then that's where it's cruiser heart shows.
For a first bike be careful. The XB"S" are known to be wheelie monsters because of there low end torque, light weight, and short wheel base. Too much throttle will get you into trouble. One thing though. The XB is one of the toughest bikes out there. I've heard and see them go down, and other than minor cosmetic issues, you can pick them up and keep riding. |
Rangerxb9
| | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 01:22 pm: |
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I appreciate all the advice on here, it really is helpful. I am looking around my area right now trying to sign up for the rider's edge course so i can get in. The one dealer said i can get in june 23 and i am waiting to here from the other dealer...i am going to sign up as soon as i can. I know that this will help develop my skills as well as make me a better biker.
I really like the look of the City X and most of the riding would be in the city except for occasional ventures on the weekends to visit my girlfriend at school (bout a 3 hour ride) and i think the Buell would handle that well. Speed is not my concern at all. Its not practical to ride a bike that fast when you aren't even supposed to go over 65 in most states. Why buy a bike if you can't use it to its full potential.
Buy a Buell because you can use it everyday to its full potential and its a unique bad A$$ looking bike that no one else has. Plus i like American made stuff a whole lot better than foreign junk...rather my money go to a hard working American...anyways, thanks again guys!
I may end up getting a bike before i actually take the MSF class, but thats only because of availability of bike etc. I will just be patient with it and dink around my neighboorhood, and wait till i take the MSF class to get some better knowledge and skill. My uncle can help me to, over 25 years experience all on Harleys...good guy.
Thanks! |
Chainsaw
| | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 04:46 pm: |
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Rangerxb9 :
Some MSF classes will let you sign up on a "No-Show" list. Kinda like flying standby on an airline. You go to the class and hope someone doesn't show up. Might be worth a shot |
Bellsguns
| | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 10:28 pm: |
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jus my 2- cents
better to ride a slow bike fast than to ride a fast bike slow.
dont own a buell yet but that may change this week.
the folks on this site are sick, and like all sicknesses its catching, and like a bad cold now i think i have caught it!!!!
dont buy the kaw or any sport bike as your 1st . known too many that have wrapped themselves around a tree or a pole.
use caution w/ the buell, but it's not like an r6 or some other sort bike, so yes it would be better to start w/ than those types of bikes.
and yes take a safety course.
point blank...... you would be a fool not to!!!
sides the buell isnt about speed so much as it is about handling and getting around back roads and city.
ride the torque curve , its more fun than outright power.
more rewarding in the real world
nough said
bye |
Bellsguns
| | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 10:34 pm: |
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dave s is an evangelist????
cool |
Buells Rule!
(Dyna in disguise)
| | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 10:54 pm: |
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I personally don't think a 600 is too Big for a starter bike.
What? Give new rider a bike thats capable of 160 mph, runs the qtr in the high 10's & thats a starter bike?? Yea an early start for digging his grave. Unless someone has either a lot of experience with street riding or they are the most mature person anyone has ever met & they are able to resist the devil of temptation & not crack the throttle all the time, then there is no way I would ever recommend a new rider get a 600 cc sportbike or even an XB for that matter.
Start out small..like a Blast, Suzuki GS500, EX500, etc. Way too much happening at one time for a new rider to concentrate on & to add hyper performance to the list is a recipe for disaster.
I would prefer to see a rider start out small & slow & live to be an old rider. You read way too many stories of the new rider on a Busa, R1, CBR1000RR & yes even Buells that get killed in their 1st year of ownership because the amount of power available can easily corrupt & entice a new rider. |
12bolt
| | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 11:16 pm: |
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The new Buells are so easy to ride I would not have a problem recommending them to a beginner. Enjoy! |
Buells Rule!
(Dyna in disguise)
| | Posted on Sunday, April 03, 2005 - 12:06 am: |
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The new Buells are so easy to ride
So are litre bikes, its not like a bigger bike takes more brawn or guts to pilot...just more experience & a certain degree of talent. |
Matty7092
| | Posted on Sunday, April 03, 2005 - 12:34 am: |
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My first bike was a 250 interceptor. That was to me the perfect bike to learn to ride on the street. After a couple years of experience I moved up to a 91 CBR 600. Even after some years of riding the 250, the 600 was way too much bike for me. You can get into so much trouble so fast on a bike with as much power as the R6 has,(even the XB for that matter). Get a smaller bike you can handle and learn to feel comfortable riding, then move up to a bigger bike. I know it helped me out.
Matt |
M1combat
| | Posted on Sunday, April 03, 2005 - 12:39 am: |
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Well... I think it depends on the beginner...
RangerXB9 - I recommend
"Total Control" by Lee Parks.
It's VERY important to hang on mostly with your knees. You want your upper body pretty loose or your arms will transmit upper body movement into the bars. This is bad...
Get Total Control and make a point of practicing the parking lot drills. It will most likely save either your life or a great deal of pain and frustration.
Also... Get the Buell frame pucks ASAP.
Ride w/ mature riders or by yourself... You'll be safer that way.
Ride like you are literally invisible and all of the cars are trying to kill you. You will be surprised at how often the latter is actually the case...
I tend to watch the front tire of any "threatening" car... ones taking a left coming at me, ones that could pull out in front of me etc) I NEVER trust blinkers, EVER! I wait until the car turns in, then I go. Sometimes I get honked at, but I DO NOT trust blinkers.
Anyway... I don't think an XB is TOO bad for a beginner. There is a LOT of torque, which makes it important to stay loose with your upper body. I'd still recommend to go used though. At least the first one. After that, get what you want. That said, I'm pretty sure you'd end up keeping the First bike if it was a Buell, and then probably buy ANOTHER Buell to keep it company. That seems to be what many end up doing. |
12bolt
| | Posted on Sunday, April 03, 2005 - 12:47 am: |
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maybe "easy to control" would be better wording. |
Court
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 04:42 am: |
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BLASTR |
Jlnance
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 08:35 am: |
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I had an idea after reading this thread. Maby one of you who actually has the skills to run a business can get rich doing this.
Picture a company named "Starter Bike." For $200/month and a copy of your MSF certificate they will provide you with a Blast (or some other bike suitable for beginners) and insurance. If you drop the bike, take it back and pick up another one. When you think you can ride well enough to get a larger bike, return the starter bike and you are done.
Oh well, I'm dreaming ... |
Arvebuell
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 11:46 am: |
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Maybe that is not a bad idea |
Rangerxb9
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 03:38 pm: |
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i think that is a good idea for the business but i think i see a problem with todays youth however. Now i consider myself still in my "youth" kind of as i am 20 but i also consider myself ALOT more mature than kids my age, in fact most people can't even believe im 20 with the amount of responsibility i have, jobs, etc...
I see todays youth doing what they want and not really listening to people who are telling them the right thing to do. MOst kids are going to go out and buy a bike, whatever one they want, not get any gear and probably kill themselves. Its a sad reality. Today while driving back home i saw a kid who was in high school with my sister on a CBR600. Was he wearing a helmet? NO was he wearing proper gear? NO, t-shirt and jeans and tennis shoes. C'mon man....hes just asking to get hurt...it was ridiculous
While i do believe that is a great idea and might be profitable, i don't think many young teens or whoever is looking to bike would get into it beacuse now adays when people want something, they but it and don't listen to what others tell them. If it feels good to them...F... everybody else basically
Now if only we could change that...then we could be making millions...and start something nationwide.
Who knows, just my 2 cents, don't mean to rain on the parade...i would do it though if that option was available |
Taxman
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 03:39 pm: |
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that starter bike sounds like a decent idea. you could do a small deposit of like $500 and then a monthly payment to cover your bike and ins. then when your done you just give it back. i like that...
But.. what do you do when they completely total the bike? what do you do when they move and you don't know where they took your bike? i would be to worried about jerk-offs that would try and scam you. wich seems to happen the more affordable you make something.
if you look you can find older 250 and 500 cc bikes for pretty cheap. ride it till you think your ready for a new bike. then sell your beater. or keep it for goofing around.
i think i'll be getting an old 600cc bike to practice leaning. i'm not worried about my skin to much, i'm sure i can handle taking a spill or to. but i dont want to trash my nice buell. i'll learn how to drag my knee on a junker then hop back on my buell... just a thought |
M1combat
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 03:44 pm: |
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Insurance.
LOTS of it... |
Jlnance
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 04:10 pm: |
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Wow, that was received better than I thought it would be.
Taxman - you raise some good points about problems. You would need to figure those costs into your business model. They are real risks, but they are the same risks that people who finance bike sales take. |
Dilysi73
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 04:34 pm: |
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Well..., before I say anything I know some of you won't want to hear this. That being said,
I'm 27 and a new rider myself. I've been on many DIRT bike throughout my life and a couple of friends street bikes, honda shadow 650, Kawi 750, but I have never owned my own bike until I bought my 04 Buell XB9SL. I got back from Iraq on Dec. 30 and had been dreaming of a bike all year. I was going to get a Honda CBR600RR but a friend told me about Buells. I went to the dealership and fell in love with the looks of the XB on the spot. I didn't even have my license yet. I bought my XB on Jan. 5th, but couldn't ride the bike home untill I got my license. So that day I went and took the writen test and got my permit. The next day I went and took the road test on a loaner bike from the dealership and got my license. The XB9 was and still is a great bike that I learn something new about ridding everyday on. I since taken a MSF course here on post and have gotten my basic riders card. I have droped my bike once so far, it was alot like the story related by M1, a parking lot, slow speed 5-10 mph , turning and hit oil patch, down I went. But now I have 3624 miles on my XB and have loved every one. If you can start out on a cheaper bike and go up later, GREAT! If you take it easy and respect the bike than the XB is a great first bike. In MY hummble opinion.
but above all HAVE FUN! RIDE SAFE!!!
 |
Wheelsleaning
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 04:44 pm: |
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And it makes you look so much better on track days
 |
Team
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 04:48 pm: |
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My personal opinion is if you want a (SPORTBIKE)Then no I don't think a 600 is too big because I personally would get bored of any of the 500's or so out there in the first week. They are all using technology from the eighties. If you want a (Standard)then I would look into a Suzuki 500 or EX500 or something like that. I can get my fiance's Ninja 250 up to an easy 100mph. That will kill you just as fast as 160mph. I think a better handling bike is a safer Bike. A quicker bike is also a safer bike. I'm sure everybody has been in the position of a car moving into your lane and a car directly behind you. No place to go but forward fast. I understand your position Dyna, but I think it also goes the other way too sometimes. But I'm not a great example: I bought a Brand New V-max Back in '85 when I was just 18. But again I'm alive and well. I think any body who has ridden for me than 20yrs, has probably dumped their bike sooner or later. Experience and situations only make you a wiser rider. Just my .02cents. |
Rangerxb9
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 06:06 pm: |
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Dilysi73, just wanted to say thanks for serving our country and i will be doing the same thing soon. I am in the Army ROTC program at the University of Toledo and upon graduation will go in as a 2nd lieut. I look forward to serving my country and making America proud. Thanks to you and everyone else who has served here and abroad...not only military but police and fire as well. Thanks to y'all
Also, thanks to everyone for the input, ordered Total Control off Amazon.com the other day so it shuold come soon and still looking around for bikes...would like to get one soon though with the way gas is moving up. |
Danvetc
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 07:22 pm: |
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XB9SX was my first bike, bought in Nov. Never road anything but dirt bikes before that and it had been at least 20 years.
I am old [44] and sometimes wise. I ride alone and have read many books that have been mentioned here. For now, I ride every ride to learn. I ride alone, and I practice certain techniques, (and favorite curves,) over and over. I have MSF in a couple of weeks, (took forever to get into a class,) and a track school, (not racing,) in a month.
You can do it, but be patient and learn to be a pilot of your motorcycle. I think riding alone is key in the early stages.
Good luck,
Charlie |
Kowpow225
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 10:15 pm: |
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Ranger,
You sound like you have your head on straight.
Above anything else, no matter what your choice of wheels are, be a smart rider. I feel like an XB might be too much for even the best learners out there. My advice is to treat this bike like an "animal". It's alot like a Doberman. Really cool, but can chomp off a piece of you if you mistreat it. |
Kdan
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 10:59 pm: |
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Here's my $0.02 along with my experience. I bought a Blast last year. I had ridden all my life but gave it up in the advent of a family.(Don't ever do that) So it had been 18 years since my KZ1000 days and other than loaner bikes now and then in the summers, I had not ridden a lot. When my family left me, I purchased a 2003 used Buell Blast for cheap, with the intention that I would trade for the XB9S at the end of the 2005 season. So I got the XB9S at the beginning of the season and gave the girlfriend my Blast. I did outgrow the Blast faster than I thought I would. It is still a hoot to ride. The girlfriend is taking the MSF class next week and will probably be eyeing my XB by August. I'm still keeping the Blast. It is a hoot to ride. The Blast handles awesome, it's easy to fix and it's very forgiving. Sure, it'll only go 90mph on the hwy, but if you're a beginner, that's too fast anyway. HD has some deals where you buy a Blast and provided you don't grind it to chad, they buy it back at a reasonable rate and apply it to a new bike. When I took the MSF class in Feb. the instructor told me that 70% of all motorcycle accidents are 40 somethings on their first bike. |
Gaz
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 05, 2005 - 03:30 am: |
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Rangerxb9, I passed my test and bought a brand new CBR600 rode it for 3 years then dropped it at 15mph in a tight corner with crud on the apex.
I don't think it was too much bike for me to start on.
Listen to Danvetc though if you do buy an xb. Go riding on your own on roads you know. I've seen too many riding with more experienced mates and gettin into trouble. If you are behind someone you will watch them and not think about what you are doing, hence you do not learn. Either that or you push yourself to keep up. It's human nature.
Take it easy and progress in very small steps. Next thing you know you'll be riding great.
Don't know what the courses are like over there but from what I've seen on this board, you gotta do one. If you can't get one straight away, just remember and take it easy until you get the instruction you need.
Finally and I know some of you will disagree, I think the xb would be quite a good bike to start on. The bikes we did our tests on etc were ER5's and GS500's. They are too heavy and to unresponsive. I immediately felt safer and more in control on my CBR6. The xb is of the same ilk. So long as you respect it, it will be capable of handling anything you throw at it.
One last thing, when you go into your first corner too hot, and you will, LEAN DON'T BRAKE!! The bike can handle way more than you think, have faith.
Have fun and be safe. |
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