| Author | Message | ||
     Hughlysses |
Cross-posted from the 1125R superbike forum: http://www.cycleworld.com/2013/10/22/2014-erik-bue ll-racing-1190rx-first-look-review-photos/ Other than getting the number of years Buell has been closed wrong (3 vs 4) in the first paragraph, it looks like a great article. | ||
| Ducbsa |
13.4:1 pistons with pump gas is somethin'!! That's getting close to diesel territory. At least methanol required for a Sportster motor with that CR. | ||
| Reepicheep |
A positive article on a Buell bike from Kevin Cameron? Wow! There was only one backhanded dig at Buell in that whole article... by normal "Cameron vs. Buell" standards, he is positively gushing. | ||
| Sir_wadsalot |
If you're talking about the XB brake thing, he's right, and he's not the only one. Some of the RS reviews have said things like "the first perimeter brake system that really works" or "the brakes on the RS are on par with the competition". It may have been backhanded, but it didn't seem unfair to me. Actually, since the RS release, the vast majority of the press we've gotten has been positive. It's the douchebag internet haters that get my goat. Has Cameron been especially hard on Buells in the past?} | ||
| Beardo |
Will EBR be building any naked/street bikes? Superbikes are terrific and have their place. I cannot ride them. A road bike would really get me going! | ||
| Hughlysses |
Will EBR be building any naked/street bikes? Yes, an SX (streetfighter) and AX (adventure bike) both based on the 1190 platform are promised, apparently next year. | ||
| 1324 |
Did I read a different article than you guys? The only discussion on the brake was: "That theme is continued in his unique single 386mm front disc brake, which was once characterized by former Buell engineer Abraham Askenazi as “an excellent brake for a street motorcycle.” By attaching to the rim, this disc eliminates the extra unsprung weight of disc carriers." Did I miss it? | ||
| Court |
I don't think that:
Have ever appeared anywhere but in media speculation. Time and time are changing quickly . . . so, too, will plans. | ||
| Hughlysses |
All we can post is what we read, unless somebody informs us differently.  Hopefully all changes to schedules are beneficial (i.e.- quicker!). | ||
| Reepicheep |
Cameron has always loved the inline four for racing, and he was a great tuner for them. He seems obsessed with displacement limits but ignores all other factors, to the degree that it has clouded his otherwise exceptional ability to apply logic and do math when he starts talking about twins in general, and Buells in particular. First he had an article about the first racing XBRR's, saying that because the XBRR was 1350cc's racing against 600cc bikes that it was a "cheater" bike. Yes, it had twice the displacement. But it was a long stroke air cooled pushrod twin for God's sake, and as such it came in allowed under the AMA rules. Because the AMA rules know that trying to make *any* displacement air cooled pushrod twin competitive with a modern inline four factory race bike is madness. Why is he so obsessed with parity in CC displacement? Why then ignore number of cylinders (4's have twice as much) peak RPM (4's should be able to rev twice as fast) or valvetrain? So if CC is the only relevant factor, if I rolled up next to the typical Yamazuki 600cc inline four with a 599 cc bike that was also a turbo charged two stroke, then I at a disadvantage, right? Ha! Then he did it again with the 1125, where he made a really fundamental math error in an article in Cycle world where he went on for several pages about how *that* Buell was a cheater bike. When the error was brought to his attention, instead of a thoughtful and reflective article about the challenges faced by people trying to establish a level playing field for multiple bike architectures, the formal retraction came a month or two later, and was a mealy mouthed little sentence buried at the front of the magazine where he corrected the math but neglected to point out that it then demonstrated that most of the rest of his article was disproven. Buell has forgiven him and moved on. I'm still annoyed by the whole thing, but I just try and dial in his bias when I read other things he writes. He gets the inline four stuff, and gets engine stuff in general, he just has a blind spot. So in that article, where his only backhanded slap was to quote Abe when he said a previous incarnation of the brakes were "adequate for a street bike" in the context of a no holds barred superbike, that is still a pretty petty (and factually incorrect) slam. He wasn't referring to the braking system that is on the bike he was supposed to be reviewing, he was talking about something that was two or three generations less advanced. And he was (IMHO) glossing over evidence that the latest generation of those brakes have proven very effective in AMA superbike racing. If, as he implies, they are only good for a street bike, then how on earth did Geoff May manage to find himself in 5th place this season for AMA Superbike? It may not be as competitive as WSBK, but it sure as hell is "racing". But like I said, if we have gotten to the point that Cameron is reduced to these kind of nits, we have really come a long way, or maybe he is getting less biased, or both. | ||
| 1324 |
Well, in fairness, he did say "an excellent brake for a street motorcycle". I've not raced one of these bikes, but I have tracked my XB's. Both the stock 6 pot (and with golds) and the 8 pot (radial m/c, HH pads, finned rotor). IMO, the ZTL brakes were OK in the modified state, but didn't have the feel or bite as my traditional radial brake'd bikes. I know EBR did a lot of work since that time, so I'd assume the performance is a lot better... | ||
| Hughlysses |
On a related note, I'm pretty sure I saw a line in a post or article from the AIMExpo last week that said it was possible Brembo might do the production front calipers for the 1190RX, but that it had not been settled by the show. Anybody else see that? | ||
| 2kx1 |
I did not see anything about Brembo related to the show, but I did notice someone from Brembo on the EBR facebook page. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I posted the link to this article regarding EBR's participation in WSB in another thread yesterday: http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/wsbk/erik-buell-ra cing-world-superbike-2014/ I'm wondering if the minimum production requirements for competing in WSB are relevant to Court's comments above regarding the schedule for the intro of the SX and AX? EBR may have to concentrate solely on RX production for the next few months. BTW- my comments above regarding future EBR bikes come from THIS magazine article linked at www.ebrdealerinfo.com. That article actually says all three models (RX, SX, and AX) will be introduced in 2013. Like Court said though, plans do change. | ||
| Reepicheep |
The date on that article is sept of last year, and we heard since then that the AX will be later, so I don't think that article is the smoking gun to say the AX will be sooner. (Not to say there won't be some other confirmation somewhere, just to say that probably isn't it). | ||
| Hughlysses |
^ Yea, I realize the article is fairly old and it's certainly understandable that plans would have changed since then. The article is specific in saying that the SX and AX will be based on the 1190 platform, although none of the EBR officials are actually quoted as saying that. I have seen posts from several people who attended the AIMExpo who say that they asked EBR people about the date for the SX release and were told mid-2014. I've seen only one post that said something similar about the AX. None of that consitutes anything like an official statement from EBR. Of course, EBR's president/CEO, Robert Dayton, says on his LinkedIn profile that all three models (RX, SX, and AX) would be released in fall 2012(!). | ||
| Ak_addict |
I was told spring for the SX and summer for the AX. When I asked if 1190 engine would be detuned for the other models I got a yes, sorta. It was implied that the hard parts would be the same with different ecm programming. | ||
| Fenderbender |
Court=Yoda | ||
| Froggy |
Well he is old and funny looking....  | ||
| Hughlysses |
Interesting changes on the web overnight. www.ebrdealer.info now redirects to www.erikbuellracing.com. Link to Motorcycle Powersports News issue on EBR I posted above is now dead. Robert Dayton's Linkedin profile no longer says anything about the RX, SX and AX being introduced in 2012. (Dayton is listed as president & CEO of EBR.) Is someone reading Badweb?  Hopefully someone can let them know to fix the broken links to the 1190RX introduction videos at the bottom of EBR's main page (the Facebook feed). (Message edited by Hughlysses on October 25, 2013) | ||
| Satori |
This one still works.. http://www.ebrdealer.info/index.html No new info though. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Doesn't work for me. Hit "refresh" and see if it's still there. |
