| Author | Message | ||
     Ffbuell |
Ok folks, I live about 2 miles from Laguna Seca and for the last couple days I swore I had seen the new 1125R on highway 68 as I went to work. So since I had the day off I went by the track and sure enough, there were 20-30 new 1125's rippin around the track. I rode into the paddock on my '96 S-1 and met Alan Cathcart, former racer and contributing editor of Motorcycle Sport & Leisure based out of the UK. He informed me that they had been there for the last couple days with various journalist from the UK as well as professional testers, including Jeremy McWilliams, testing the bike on the track. (I know, I know, lucky S.O.B.'s huh?) After talkin to Alan for a couple minutes he asks if I would let them take some video footage and pics of my bike. Before I could tell him yes, he told me in exchange for my consent I could ride one of the 1125's around the paddock!! Let me tell you I still can't stop smiling. I can't even begin to describe how awesome the bike is. I only got into 3rd but it still cooks. It got from 0-60 before I could blink and cornering the bike seems effortless. And talk about smooth!!! The only thing that I'm upset about is that I didn't make it out there yesterday, Eric was at the track overseeing the testing (I'm sure he probably did a little testing too). But just to let you know, the journalists I did get to talk to were impressed. One guy I talked to told me the way he sees it, this bike will make people take notice and will make Buell a serious contender. | ||
| Ratbuell |
....I canNOT wait for Pocono on 9/25-26-27. Hopefully I can sleep between now and then... Very cool on the S1 footage, though. Please be sure to keep us posted on where/when to find it! | ||
| Anonymous |
"So since I had the day off I went by the track and sure enough, there were 20-30 new 1125's rippin around the track" 35, actually. And the journalists were from all corners of the globe... | ||
| Fresnobuell |
FFBUELL, YOUR ARE A LUCKY SOB, but seriously thanks for the insight. Can you feel the jealously from Fresno? | ||
| Thespive |
Nice! What a whim! Hope you got pictures of yourself with one of the bikes. --Sean | ||
| Court |
Very Serious | ||
| Thesmaz |
I've got a test ride setup when the dealer that I got to receives there bikes in Dec, I just hope that the weather here in Belgium cooperates. I also stopped by and talked with the military sales guy here and confirmed the price but didn't put a deposit down, yet. I'm supposed to be leaving here after the new year but haven't found out where I'll be so I'm having to wait to pull the trigger. I haven't even seen one in person yet but just like my Uly, I WANT ONE NOW!!! I actually ordered my Uly even before I laid eyes on one... | ||
| Alchemy |
Ratbuell, I thought Pocono was the 27th only. Is it 3 days? I am going to be there. | ||
| Teeps |
Ffbuell Posted on Thursday, August 23, 2007 So since I had the day off I went by the track and sure enough, there were 20-30 new 1125's rippin around the track. Just great... I've been off all week. I would have ridden the Uly up to Monterey, had I known of this event. DOH! | ||
| Regkittrelle |
I posted this on another thread: Keep this as Item #1 when you read any of the upcoming re the 1125R; The motorcycles in use at Laguna and its environs were pre-production units. All of the week's worth of journalists were told this repeatedly. This critical bit of info is missing from the MCN report. It's very important to weave this fact into the context of the riding impressions. To a large degree, it's analogous to a show opening off-broadway: This is the time when the tweeking takes place. An adjustment here, a change there can make the difference between closing in a week, and a Tony. Modern sportbike are incredibly complex machines that, by design, respond well to adjustment. From my perspective, when motorcycle companies bring journalists together from all about the world,it is as much for the company's benefit as it is the publication's. That is, they receive a tremendous amount of expert feedback which then can be applied to production units. Over the coming days/weeks/months there will probably be 75 or more articles written or posted re the Laguna experience. If you're smart about it, you'll read them all to get the best overall impression of just what this new Buell is all about. For those of you anxiously waiting for your own personal 1125R, keep your wit's about you, read the reports carefully (In particular, draw a firm distinction between the pre-ridden blather and an actual riding experience) and rest assured this is a very good motorcycle. | ||
| Reepicheep |
So Reg, when and where do we get to read your review!?!? | ||
| Ffbuell |
Alan Cathcart took my address so he could send me a copy of the video, as well as some pics. Had I actually thought about things before I went I would of taken my camera. Just to clarify, I think the video and pics they took of my bike was more of a home video kind of thing, and not an article on my bike (my bike is nice, but not that nice). They did a little interview of me as well asking what I thought of the new bike and they told me they were gonna send Eric a copy. Pretty cool if they actually do. On a more personal note, while they were letting me ride the 1125 around the paddock I realized there was nothing stopping me from just riding the thing out of there and back to my house, except for the fact my bike was still there being photographed. Damn my strong morals and love of my S-1. BTW, if anyone is coming to the AMA's here in September feel free to contact me. It'd be cool to organize a ride or something. | ||
| Regkittrelle |
You won't Reep... not for a while, anyway. The world will soon be flooded with reports on this motorcycle. 80-some journalists from all about the world converged on Laguna this week. They are now in the process of writing/editing/posting their thoughts. All of which are about pre-production motorcycles; I can add nothing of value to this avalanche of words. What I'm targeting is a production motorcycle. That will allow me to offer impressions on what you will be able to purchase. |
