| Author | Message | ||
     Blublak |
What the hell is this guy talking about? Oh, I'm sorry.. let me start over.. The title of the article is 'Fight Fire With Fire' by some guy named Trevitt. The first thing he does is whine about not getting the 'Bike of The Year' assignment.. Then he give a brief summary of why he chose the Duc to go up against the Buell. Then, he starts talking about the XB12R and his impressions. The greater power is good and feels it works with the chassis. Then he mentions how much effort it takes to turn the Buell (Huh?! Hard to turn?! WTF is he riding?)He then seems to imply that the bike is really hard to set up, and that factory settings don't work. He decided the tires shredded out to quickly. The brakes are 'vague'. The tranny just don't cut it.. and you have to use the clutch (he doesn't normally use a clutch? No wonder his bikes don't last).. The bigger motor vibrates more, but he did like the fuel injection. Maximum cruising speed is 75mph with the ineffective fairing/sind screen.. Test notes say the bike has a great suspension, the extra power is a big improvement. This should have been the first XB. Quirky handling from too aggressive geometry, it's east to get lost on setup. Uh.. Ok.. He then goes on to ding the Ducati for it's power plants vibrations at low RPM... Then he praises the tranny on this one, riding position puts too much stress on wrists, gearbox is too tall (didn't he just say he liked the tranny?) The Duc is also a 'heavy steering' bike. Overall, he says the Ducati is of course the better bike, but neither is any great shakes. He faults the Buell for it's freeway un-friendly ride while the Duc gets better as it goes. The Ducati will out handle the Buell on any road, 'while no R6' he likes it better than the Buell. The XB is unpredictable (even though the chassis is stout and has been praised as such) The Buell he claims 'fights you every step of the way, and makes it difficult to ride quickly, both mentally and physically'.. The other opinions given in the article, from Andrew Trevitt (relation?) Buells' steering is not right, rake and trail are bad. Engine gives too much vibration. Ducati is more admired by people on the street and an all round better bike. Marc Cook says basically that the Buell could not be dialed in properly. Ducati is of course better (but not as good as other bikes) Phew.. Damn, what is it about these guys? Are they riding the same bikes the rest of us ride? Are we all that bad at judging what's good? if you listen to them, Buell pulls numbers out of the thin air and say, let's build a bike around this, no consideration to how it will work and no care as to what 'real riders' want or need. I'm really getting sick of 'motorcycle press' like these guys. They are one of the reasons there are bikes out there that these squids keep buying and destroying, raising OUR insurance and making it harder and harder for people that want to ride to ride.. after all, if it's not a true superbike.. what's the point huh? Sorry.. just needed to vent a little.. Later. | ||
| Milleniumx1 |
I read that too - pretty annoying that guy! It doesn't matter what anyone writes. I'd rather be seen driving my American iron any day of the week. I don't even care about what editors have to say. Owning a Buell is cool for one other reason - even those that don't like them still find it fascinating that you have one... Mike M | ||
| Whodom |
The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that Sport Rider didn't like the Buell because it's not like every other sport bike out there. I think they tried to set it up and ride it exactly like their typical test bikes (i.e.- rice rockets) and when the Buell didn't shine under those conditions they trash it. Compare what this guy says with the Motorcycle Consumer News test of the XB12S or Cycle World's tests. They say almost exactly opposite things about the bike! The other mags seem to have all figured out that the way to make the XB12 perform is to USE ALL THAT TORQUE and ride it like they teach you in the MSF class (BRAKE BEFORE YOU TURN!). The Sport Rider guys admit they tried to keep the thing at redline the whole time (???). Comments in the sidebar like "the front end geometry is simply wrong" really torque me. I'm sure this guy's journalism degree thoroughly qualifies him to criticise the Buell team's engineering capabilities. Hopefully, the number of other cycle mags giving the XB12's high marks will make readers take this article with a large grain of salt. | ||
| Crusty |
I take everything Motorcyclist or Sport Rider says with a pound of salt. | ||
| S320002 |
I'm convinced that Sport Rider didn't like the Buell because it's not like every other sport bike out there. I think they tried to set it up and ride it exactly like their typical test bikes... I think you've nailed it. Another of the complaints they often make is how a bike reacts when it bangs up against the rev limiter. Well Duh!!? The idea is to shift before you hit the rev limiter! Trivett obviously never figured out the the Buell doesn't always need to be in the top 10% of its RPM range to be ridden fast. That broad power band was designed for a reason. So shift already! Oh and by the way Andrew, that clutch lever isn't just for use at stoplights. | ||
| Jon |
I subscribe to Cycle World and Rider. |
