| Author | Message | ||
     Jimidan |
Whew... MC is a tough audience. Likes: - Cockpit (very comfortable) - Smooth tranny (when dragracing) - HP (faster than a 10 year old design speeding 998 Aprilia) Dislikes: - Vibration (especially thru footpegs) - DDFI (hunts & stumbles @ lower RPM, intractable) - Handling (lacks quicker and confident handling) - Wonky steering traits - ZTL brake (inconsistent, lacks stopping power) - Sticky gearbox (Carrithers) - Aprilia smokes it in every category 'cept acceleration (Burke). Winner was the Buell, at $1000 cheaper for a newer bike. Don't bother reading the article, it'll just piss you off. (Message edited by jimidan on June 05, 2008) | ||
| Fresnobuell |
is this a CW or Motorcyclist article? | ||
| Citified |
I think if we all bought bikes according to magazines, everyone would be riding ninja 250s and kawasaki versays. | ||
| Mustangturbo |
You know?? I wonder if these guys ever look at the outcomes of races like HOCKENHEIM!! I imagine that these idiots don't consider the fact that the 1125R took third in Canada with Crevier behind the bars... I don't recall and Aprilias stepping up to the Japanese IL4's. The editors of almost every major magazine drive me nuts! They get on these bikes that are a little different than anything that they are acquainted with, and because it takes some getting used to it gets a bad rap. I've not seen an editor yet that could really push the limits of the 1125R. They should let Crevier write an article, or convince Maladin to suit up an take it for some fast laps! I can't read most of these magazines... Even the car ones... Most of the time the editors can hardly drive to the store and back in or on whatever they are reviewing! | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Buell needs to overcome its image. That will be hard. Racing success will help that immensely. It will take time for those Buell-haters to get past the "the 1125r won, but that must be fluke somehow" thoughts. I believe it will happen and I can't wait to see it. | ||
| Arillius13 |
lol on the: - Handling (lacks quicker and confident handling) - Wonky steering traits Of course its different, your not laying on the tank and handlebars like you are on all the other sportbikes. The 11 actually has ergonomics. Of course its rare a magazine mentions that. They just look at "is it the same as the rest of them" and when its not it gets bashed. I can say out of experience, that my bike 11 hangs with the liter bikes and 1098's no questions asked. I can hang with my buddies r1 and other buddies gixxer 1k if not out run them on the straights and twisties and my bike runs like crap most of the time. And that is now being proved with the racing in canada and over seas. Just wait till the 11 starts wining races here, then people will actually start to give it credit i think. | ||
| 4cammer |
That is the same rag that stated the Fischer (sp?) is the most important American bike in decades. I have yet to see one. And the engine is Korean. From Hyosung (sp?). | ||
| Elvis |
Wow! Some of you are hard to please. Sure it wasn't the most glowing review, but it was going up against an Aprilia RSV, and it blew it away on performance. It beat the Aprilia by a full second on the track - not only because the engine was notably more powerful, but the reviewers also pointed out that it transitioned better. This isn't a Moto-Guzzi we're talking about, it's an Aprilia RSV. If you're a fan of sporting V-Twins and I asked you a year ago what two V-Twins would you like to add to your collection if money were no object, who here wouldn't have at least considered Aprilia and Ducati as the two objects of desire? If someone had told you a year ago that a Buell would blow away an Aprila RSV in a Motorcyclist review, but even though the performance was unquestionably better, they would find some faults with some of the quirky characteristics of the Buell, who would have thought that was a bad thing? Who would have even thought that was possible? If a year ago someone had told you that Buell was going to put the current Aprilia engine in a Buell, who would have thought that was a great idea? What would we have thought about an engine that was even better? A lot was made in the review of the fact that the Aprilia is a 10 year old design, but if they updated the RSV today, what would they really change? It's a very solid design. Ducati has gone from the 998 to 999 to 1098, but they haven't made dramatic changes. They don't need to. Ducati and Aprilia both have great designs that work. Sure Buell doesn't have the undisputed best bike on the market yet, but who was expecting that? Did anyone really think the 1125R would knock the 1098 off its perch? It just did the next best thing and knocked the Aprilia RSV off its perch, and I can't see how that's anything but good. | ||
| Jaimec |
Elvis: This is BadWeb. Reasonable arguments have NO place here!!  | ||
| Mustangturbo |
I think that the 1125R could very well knock the 1098 off its perch. I was actually considering one before I decided on the Buell. The 1125R stick with the 1098 around the track yet it costs at least 3500-4000 less depending on where you buy it! The 1125R is a serious bike! I've been waiting for buell to do this for a long time! Can't wait to see what will come next for the 1125R! | ||
| Jimidan |
is this a CW or Motorcyclist article? My bad, it was Motorcyclist. They didn't say that the 1125R 'blew it away", but rather that "I'd pick a winner here if we had one, but this conflict is a choice between bad and worse, a.k.a. the Aprilia." And, "Getting along with the Buell might be remotely possible if it didn't come with the intractable fuel injection, a sticky gearbox, inconsistent brakes and only slightly less engine heat than a hibachi full of dry mesquite. But it does, so I can't." I told you that it would piss you off. (Message edited by jimidan on June 05, 2008) | ||
| Elvis |
The Buell blew away the Aprilia on performance. What the reviewers choose to pick is up to them. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Quirky=Buell. One of the reasons I dig Buell. One of the reasons the testers don't. | ||
| Doerman |
I thought it was a good article. If the testers felt what they felt and told it as they saw it, so be it. I didn't get their criticism of the front brake though. Not that I am expert enough to discover what they claim. But the 1125R racing success as of late seems to validate the capability of the front ZTL2 system. Motorcyclist has a directness to it other magazines seems to lack. | ||
| Jimidan |
I thought it was a good article. If the testers felt what they felt and told it as they saw it, so be it. I didn't get their criticism of the front brake though. Not that I am expert enough to discover what they claim. But the 1125R racing success as of late seems to validate the capability of the front ZTL2 system. Every bike that I have owned got a set of aftermarket sintered brake pads installed soon after I took possession. Stock pads have always had a 'wooden' feel to me, and gave me very little feedback. I have a feeling that the ZTL needs some too. The 1125R racing bikes get them for sure. If this is true, why Buell would not install them at the factory is a mystery though.} | ||
| Elvis |
Every bike that I have owned got a set of aftermarket sintered brake pads installed soon after I took possession. Stock pads have always had a 'wooden' feel to me, and gave me very little feedback. I have a feeling that the ZTL needs some too. The 1125R racing bikes get them for sure. If this is true, why Buell would not install them at the factory is a mystery though. If reviewers keep commenting on the feel of the brakes, they may start. My thought from the comments fits with what you're saying. It sounds like more of a material interface issue than a problem with the mechanical design of the brake. Different pads and/or different disk material may offer much improved feel. . . . but I'd only expect the facotory to address it if the cost/benefit makes sense. Comments like these must hurt sales enough to justify some increased cost. | ||
| Jpfive |
I read somewhere that the Inside Pass bikes had the Buell racing pads. Also, which Motorcyclist issue are we talking about here? Jack | ||
| Brad1445 |
It's the latest issue just arrived this week. I think they said many positive things about the bike also. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Street pads are used on production bikes because they don't have to heat up as much to work in daily operations, and because they tend to generate less dust and noise. Race compound pads pretty much have to be hot to work right, they can make more dust, they can make more noise, and they can wear down a rotor more quickly. The article was more than fair, I thought. Although they dinged the 1125 for "wonky" handling, they were forthright in that it lapped the track fully a second quicker than the Aprilia. Can't be all that "wonky"....and they attribute most of the wonkiness to the bars being offset in front of the fork tubes. They do comment favorably on the ergos and the cockpit though. It wasn't a "glowing" review...but definitely honest and fair. Same issue also has a nice history/interview type article with Erik. Good photos in that one... | ||
| Jimidan |
....and they attribute most of the wonkiness to the bars being offset in front of the fork tubes. I think that some of the "wonky" handling comes from testers who are not familiar with (or used to) the (21 degree/3.3" trail) geometry of the 1125R. Of course, it is going to handle differently than a typical sportbike with 25 degree/4" trail. But is different necessarily "wonky", just because you're not used to it? You have to get used to every bike that you ride aggressively, and you do that by getting seat time, which is not a luxury that these reviewers get. I have been a whitewater kayak instructor and there is much more diversity in the hull design of these boats than in sportbikes. When one of my students asked me what is the "best" kayak for serious whitewater performance, I tell them that it is the one that they are used to. I think the same thing can be safely said about sportbikes. One should take these "expert" opinions with a hefty grain of rock salt...as it is just their opinions. Besides if they are a full second per lap ahead on the Buell over the Ohlins shod Aprilia that they say "is close to perfect right out of the box", how bad can it be? Sheesh! | ||
| Doerman |
I tell them that it is the one that they are used to. I think the same thing can be safely said about sportbikes. Very well put, Jimidan! And the frequency with which they test the "standard setup" i.e. an IL4 is much higher, leading to their unfamiliarity and natural apprehension when testing a Buell. The forward offset of the bars is immediately apparent and draws attention to the "different in every sense" and since it deviates from the norm it must be wrong. The under engine exhaust was at one time "wonky" too. They'll come around as the 1125R piles up more and more wins domestically and abroad. (Message edited by doerman on June 07, 2008) | ||
| Citified |
how does a wonky steer? | ||
| Doerman |
how does a wonky steer? I think you have to ask an Australian. A Wonky lives in the Outback and looks like this:  | ||
| Mustangturbo |
HAHA!!! | ||
| Ccryder |
What is a wonky??????????? I guess those test riders have to ride all sorts of STRANGE "creatures"! LOL | ||
| Slaughter |
A wonky steer is a wonky bull that has had its testicles removed. | ||
| Doerman |
Steer... Yes, it is sad to loose them that young isn't it? | ||
| Zac4mac |
Makes for a better steak. | ||
| Kravfighter |
I love my 1125 more now than I did the day that I bought it. If the guys in the mags took it out for more than a day, I'm sure the 1125 would get a better review. | ||
| Cutty72 |
I wonder, how many miles on on a journalist demo bikes before they are given to the mags? |
