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T.W.O. Saturday and Sunday. I'm very proud of being part of this. 10 years the Buell Tour truck has been touring the country setting up test rides. In those ten years the biggest two day total was 147 test rides. We did one thirty something the first day! All toled we did 238 test rides! Looks as though Stone Mountain is truly stepping up to the plate! With 3 Buell techs on the payroll now. Great fun was had by all. And by the looks of things, Buell is headed into a new era. Hell, just the week before the Georgia Sportbike Association named a couple of Buells "Bikes of the Week! but I digress... The guys at Stone Mountain are already trying to get the Buell Tour back up this October. One of the reviews come from a TLS owner... I rode the XB12S (naked) and the XB9R (faired). First motor differences: The 12 has some serious low end grunt to it. Shift it at its really "high" 7k rpm redline and it just about snatches your arms out. Brian is right that they seriously lug below 3k. The 12 seemed to lug a lot worse at lower rpm's then the 9 and it vibrates more then the 9. I wasn't disappointed with the 9's power, but I think the 12 would be a better choice. I think I would just get bored with the 9's power, but the 12 would keep me happy. Although, the 9 was easier to ride faster as the motor just seemed easier to work with. S model vs R model: This surprises me. I really liked the naked model better then the R even though normally it would be the other way. The S was so comfortable and those wide bars made it so easy to drop into a turn. The pegs were at a good height and overall, I liked the setup. The bad thing about the S is the back seat sucks for a passenger. I was riding 2up and she had no room in the back and we were cramped for space together. The R took a little more effort to turn, but once I got used to it, I was dropping it into the turns pretty good. The pegs were really high and at 6'4", I was cramped and my legs were hurting. The R seats a passenger much better and she said the seat was better even though it looked to have minimum padding. The riding position isn't that aggressive and it would probably be fine like it is on my TL, I just liked the handle bars better. Overall about both bikes: Frame: These bikes are so narrow and so easy to ride. They would make a great mountain riding bike. Not sure how they would handle on the highway. Brakes: Killer brakes. I fell in love with the brakes on them. Suspension: Buell actually sets their bikes up stock for heavier riders and even riding 2up I thought the suspension was working great. Good job on this Buell. Motor: Like I said, I would probably pick the 12 over the 9, but the 9 was smoother and easier to ride. But, damn the torque on the 12 was awesome and addicting. (They said 84 ft-lbs of torque on the 12) At idle both motor's vibrate like crazy. I thought it was kind of neat at first, but it might become annoying. Once you start riding though, they smooth out big time and really ride pretty smooth. I am not sure about the very limited RPM range, but they have the killer torque to pull you out of every corner. I wish I would have been able to ride more and experience the motor better. Overall, I enjoyed the bikes. I don't think a Buell could ever be my only bike, but if it was a 2nd bike, I think I would enjoy having one to ride in the hills where they shine. I don't know about riding on the interstate to get there though, and I would have to test ride it more in the open road to see how it handled highway speeds. My test ride on the 9r was up 60 and on the way back I was really able to open her up much more then I had been on the 12s test ride. When we got back to TWO, I looked at the rear tire and I had chewed up the rear tire pretty good all the way to the edges on both sides. On a more sober note...one guy on the first day stabbed the bank with an XB12R, and another guy on the following day went into a ditch also, but faired worse with a broken ancle... Hopefully S2pengy will post some picks, I'll post whatever I can round up as the week goes along. It was a great thing to find that Buellers tend to get along just fine in any setting, in any part of the country, at any time in any weather (Sunday had a coldernell wind all day). Thanks go to Stone Mountain HD/Buell, The Buell Tour Truck (forgive me please for not remembering names, I suck at names), the 3% Bragging Rights Club, to the stall at T.W.O. for opening out of season and taking care of us all. And last but not least thanks to all that came and rode a Buell for the first time (they ALL left with a smile on their face!) |
