| Author | Message | ||
     Teddagreek |
Not sure if this has been covered Yet.. Got the September edition of Sport Rider and guess what was wrong.. The bike was an 08 and had Fueling issues and Excessive engine heat.. They did have some good stuff to say but this is getting old.. On the cover "TESTED BUELL 1125r Finally Sorted or out of Sorts? BTW If your in market for Gloves this issue has an in depth review of 26 pairs.. (Message edited by teddagreek on September 11, 2008) | ||
| Buellborn |
Buell, for gods sake stop letting people ride the 2008's. We get it. Put some big rebates on those and lets get on with it. Or give them to the charity or the military maybe get some good press for a patriotic jester. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
The author was so brilliant he wrote that the plastic heat shield was melting...intentionally or un-intentionally he was misstating that fact. It wasn't melting. To me he had a previous anti-Buell bias and that ignorant statement proves it. | ||
| Oddball |
"some good press for a patriotic jester"   Like it or not, Buell doesn't have the best rep with sport bike buyers in general. More favorable remarks are usually that they are quirky  and many reviews just reinforce the view of them being troubled machines. The reviews over the last year from "pre-production" onward repeatedly find the same things wrong. I believe it was stated here that there were years of testing before bringing it to the public eye. I must question why things were found by the press and owners that appear to have escaped their notice. It could be such a brilliant machine but still has rough patches to smooth first. Hopefully when the 09's are in hand all faults will become but a memory. | ||
| Doerman |
I'm at peace with all of this. I've done my own review of the one I bought and after extensive riding and testing in a variety of conditions, I give mine a positive review. Might not mean much to others but it is all important to me. I've never gone by magazine reviews when I have bought a car either. So after I have (successfully, I might say) convinced myself that I don't care about the mag reviews, that conviction will fall apart in a microsecond the minute I see a "home run" review in a mag. | ||
| Edgydrifter |
The moto press fundamentally misunderstands what the 1125R seems built for. It can win races, but I don't think it was ever meant to be Rossi's next steed. Rather, it's a bike that can be ridden sportingly by regular guys like me. Until the reviewers grasp that concept, they will forever find reasons to fault the 1125 and compare it unfavorably against the Yamakawazuki superbikes. I'll tell you one thing it has going for it--it makes you a better rider. After one week on the 1125, I find I'm taking corners on the Uly much faster than I was before, and my transitions are much smoother. The 1125 is a great tutor. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I must question why things were found by the press and owners that appear to have escaped their notice. Great point. I have wondered the same thing as these reviews surface. There are some owners here that have bikes that would perform much better than the test bikes that Buell has offered up. Mine included. | ||
| Jont |
Only once Buell buys enough advertising in the rags will there be a fair review. | ||
| Blazin_buell |
Considering which mag this was ,I thought it did not have nearly the same negativity as some of the other reviews I've read. I was pretty pleased with the review except for the"melted" shield comment and the handling wasn't good until they jacked all the settings and changed the geometry. | ||
| Jdugger |
I don't know much about the motorcycle rag industry, but I have a lot of experience in the software industry. In that industry, only one or two original works are ever written. The rest are just re-stirred bits of old reviews and user interviews, with no new original work done. Ya gotta wonder... These reviews are so hard on the bikes it makes you think just to sit on one would tell you all you needed to know about how bad they are. And, yet in practice, I've had lots and lots of little niggle issues, but none of the major fueling issues and horrible surging. I just don't get it. I've got nearly 20,000 miles on mine now... surely I would have had some of these problems? | ||
| Koz5150 |
Well... I will get blasted for saying anything negative, but that's ok. I read mag reviews because a 10 minute demo ride by me is nowhere close to the scrutiny the mags put bikes through. Everyone says the heat thing is now big deal yet we have the following threads here on Badweb. Exhaust wrap, anyone done this? http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/290 431/393562.html?1221222152 HwyRanger heat......burnt knees outcome? http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/290 431/389522.html?1221158186 Nothing like user reviews talking about boiling gas to get me excited about buying one... Oh and before someone goes off about saying I have not test ridden one yet remember, my test ride will have no effect on the articles already published and the posts read here. As far as the bikes being compared to the Yamakawazuki superbikes, it is a fair comparison on two different levels. 1. The current riders of those bikes are the market that Buell is going after. 2. The quality and performance of those machines is the International standards. Like it or not, that is the game that Buell is playing. I found it really interesting that there was an 8 bike bagger review in Motorcyclist this month where a number of the Staff picked the Harley over the other models. Even though it was smaller (go figure?), had less power, and was more expensive. The final comment was something along the lines of the editor had to go with the original. The mags are not against Buell, the people here are against the mags since they don't kiss Buell's butt. BTW1 - Buell has advertisements in every one of those magazines. BTW2 - It's not the Magazines fault that dealers keep giving the magazines '08 bikes to review. | ||
| Xl1200r |
1. The current riders of those bikes are the market that Buell is going after. Incorrect. As for international standards, I just visit a GSXR forum for a few minutes and found the following threads: wont shift out of 2nd Lights out??? Need your advice 2008 gsxr 1000 issues 07 gsxr 750 FI light is on Frame cracking 2007 GSXR 1000 problems 08 gixxer problems( no power) Speedo won't work on 05 gsxr 600 K6 750 FI/Cooling Indicator Probs 2008 gsxr 1000 wont start Anyways, you get the idea... This took almost no time to compile. (Message edited by xl1200r on September 12, 2008) | ||
| Spectrum |
Ken you points are well taken, there is however some patterns and history with some mags vs the others. For example Motorcyclist tends to be more positive toward Buell (HD in general) than say Sport Rider which has historically been more critical than most. Again your points are very valid, but there is always some degree of personal preference (bias) from individual reviewers. I thought this Sport Rider article was what I expected from them. With the exception of the obvious ignorant statement about the melting plastic piece. | ||
| Spectrum |
Lol - Mark this just says the International Standard isn't a very high bar! | ||
| Koz5150 |
Xr1200 and Spectrum, I agree, the international standard for quility isn't that high when you do the research. I think the other bikes have just as many problems documented. However, Perception = Sales and if you were to put out a survey today and asked people who had better quality Honda or Buell (with no data) I doubt the average motorcycle consumer would pick Buell. It's a stereotype Buell will be battling for a long time. Honda is a perfect example of how it can be changed. They changed American minds about the perception of their automobiles so that most Americans think Hondas are more reliable and will last longer than Cheverolets. I also think Motorcyclist has given better reviews then SportRider, but the magazines serve two different purposes. I think SportRider is much more critical of all bikes they review. Buell has a tendancy to shoot itself in the foot with bike reveiws though. If you go back to the yearlong review Motorcyclist just finished with the Uly, they had the FI remapped twice by the dealer and the bike would still idle rough and stall. How can you not report that, or make it look good? To the average reader this throws up big red flags. Who wants to buy a bike that doens't run good after one year and has been back to the dealership twice for an unsuccessful fix? To me it just reinforces the current perception of Buell as being subpar to it's competition. | ||
| Ruprecht |
Good press reviews have been few and far between as far as I can tell. ...of course the journo's all read each others work, so once something has been focused on it's going to prejudice future reviews. That said, while the problems might be unduly focused on and overstated, it's not like they don't exist. After this amount of time, no matter how good the results of this reflash, I don't see Buell shaking it's reputation for inconsistent build quality and a slightly "raw" finish. The local bike trading rag tends to give nothing but good reviews. They still mentioned the fueling issues... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUNyTTIc4Cs http://www.bikepoint.com.au/portal/tabID__5760/Art icleID__120858/DesktopDefault.aspx | ||
| Pariah |
We've discussed the article here, too: http://badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/290431/ 386128.html?1218979199 Frankly, I don't think the article was too disparaging. Buells are different than the mainstream to the point that riding style may have to be adapted. Most reviewers aren't willing to do that. The proof in the pudding is in competition, where riders like Higbee and Crevier are already showing that the 1125R is more than competitive. By the way, there *have* been very positive reviews about the 1125R. One was published in Robb Report Motorcycling: http://www.motorcyclingmag.com/Machines/Sport-Bikes/Alchemy-Hell-Freezes-Over.asp ... for those of us who need a "good review" fix... here's a quote from that article: "And so the Buell 1125R makes itself equally apropos on the track or the road, cutting a distinctive silhouette as the sole superbike offered by an American manufacturer. It is certainly an unusual motorcycle, one that disregards the unwritten design rules whispered by virtually every other brand. And, like the Ford Model T, another groundbreaking product in American history, you can get the 1125R in any color you want—as long as it’s black." (Message edited by pariah on September 12, 2008) | ||
| Xl1200r |
Koz - I'll give you the "perception" bit. I worked in a garage for a long time, and the Honda vs. Chevy thing was just funny. Can't tell you how many regular issues there with Honda's that customers just coudln't wrap their heads around. Same for Toyota, VW, etc. | ||
| Koz5150 |
I had a Honda accord, I hated it. It burnt oil, and the trany slipped. I have owned a Jeep Wrangler the last six year and have put 81,000 miles on it. Aside from regular fluid changes I have done nothing to it and it runs great. My Dad has a Jeep Cherokee with the same 4.3 inline six. His has 215,000 miles on it and only recently had to replace the computer. Other then that it starts every sub zero Wisconsin winter morning after sitting out in the driveway. Here are my toys at 5:00 am one morning before a track day.  | ||
| Ruprecht |
You guys are funny... Where's your flag pole Koz? | ||
| Blazin_buell |
I don't care how cool some of the bikes are in there rag ,after the third one I bought I couldn't take the "Sales Ad " type articles on the production bikes anymore. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Not to mention the reviewer's mistake of attributing the solenoid cutoff to bad fuel injection....I guess he gets a little slack cause that is internal (unlike the melted plastic,) but it doesn't change the fact that is a completely inaccurate statement that unfairly puts another negative spin on the article. (Message edited by fresnobuell on September 12, 2008) | ||
| Royintulsa |
The writers are definitely biased. I love reading a few of the Brit magazines and in their comparisons, the Triumph is always right up there. There was a good article about a Honda engineer that retired - he admitted the big 4 Kaw, Hon, Suz and Yam are basically the same, minor tweaks between them. So 80% plus of the "sportbikes" are the same. Anything that falls outside the bell curve is different and hard for them to analyze. And have you ever noticed how many of the reviewers wreck the bikes they are testing, no wonder Buell sends them an old model, cause the new one is gonna get torn up. | ||
| Edgydrifter |
And have you ever noticed how many of the reviewers wreck the bikes they are testing I've often wondered about that. Are the reviewers really pushing the envelope on the bikes they test, or are some of them just better at writing than riding? |
