| Author | Message | ||
     Al_lighton |
What a fantastic day, even with the horrendous wind. Buell sure knows how to do an event like this right. Buell set up there on Tuesday with winds in the 35-40MPH range, gusting to over 50. Nearby dust storms cause major pile ups on CA 14 (4 people killed), but the track was not really too dusty, just gusty. Willow Springs is tucked against the side of a small mountain in the high desert, so it is a little protected. The Inside Pass day was Wednesday, which was supposed to be a little less windy. We were on the Streets of Willow, not the big track (see http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&tim e=&date=&ttype=&q=rosamond,+CA&ie=UTF8&ll=34.87808 ,-118.259089&spn=0.009048,0.016823&t=k&z=16&om=1 ). It's a tight 1.8 mile track with only two straights of any significant length. After a nice sponsored breakfast and rider meeting, we took to the track, experts first, intermediate second, then Novice. Tough to say what the total head count was, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was about 35-40 in intermediate and novice, 20-25 in expert (but never that many on the track). I was running in expert, because I couldn't get a pass in intermediate when I signed up. But you could move up or down in classes there if you wanted to. I chose not to based on a previous track day there where intermediate was a bloodbath (which was NOT the case here). Experts generally know how to pass better, how to hold a line, etc. I knew I would be the one getting passed most of the time but also know that I'm predictable enough that the true speed freaks would have no problem doing it cleanly, and that proved to be the case all day long. Someone has to be the backmarker, and I figured it might as well be me  . They didn't send the demo bikes out on the first sessions for all three levels, so I took my Uly. I love my Uly, it's a great street bike and I have sported it out a bit (lower bars, stiffer suspension, CF, changed controls, semi-sport tires, etc) but it really isn't the greatest of track bikes, too much front end dive is it's biggest weakness. But with temps in the mid 50s on cold tires with 15-20MPH winds, the first session was really for more for getting warmed up and get used to the track again. On this track, you get the air cooled XB's into 5th gear on the front straight, but not for long. Fun session, but I didn't come there to ride my Uly and was signed up for the 10AM session on an 1125R. Other than the first session and the last 4PM session on my Uly, I rode the 1125R all day (5 20 minute sessions). I'm pretty sure that anyone that wanted to take out an 1125R in a session was able to, I only saw a couple sessions where the 1125R lineup was mostly empty. There were control riders in all classes, but in expert, they were fast control riders and I was never controlled, they were way in front of me. In the morning session, the control groups stayed a loosely together, but by afternoon, the control riders in the Expert class were a mere formality for entering the track, and we had our way on the track. I think there was a fair amount more control in the Intermediate and especially Novice groups. They tended to be strung together in a line out there behind the control rider in Novice. But in addition to the control riders, Buell and PTT also have coaches out on the track as well. They would be behind me watching me a bit, and then they had me tuck on their tail several times during the day . After we left the track, we'd talk about what they were showing me and I'd ask questions and practice what they said on the next session. I really learned a few good things and was much faster by days end (but was still the expert group backmarker ) The catered lunch was nice, nothing special but free and complete. Winds picked up a bit in the afternoon, gusting from 25 to 40MPH at times. It made for a few interesting moments. I was blown way wide coming out of the banked bowl once, and I know a control rider was blown completely off the track at the same place. But no one shunted as a result of the winds. Standing around in the pits could suck at times, though, as I was thoroughly sandblasted by days end. The last session of the day was back on my Uly, and I had the entire track to myself as all the experts had started packing their toys up. A lot of them are part of the Glendale crew, and they're up there once or twice a month racing so they didn't need to run the track one more time. Me, I was a kid in a candy store and couldn't get enough. I tell ya, my Uly didn't feel slow at the beginning of the day, but by the end, even with my improved skills, it didn't feel so fast after spending the day leaned way over on the 1125R. The day was run very safely. One non-expert running in the expert class "had a moment" and pretty much just stopped in the middle of the track, causing Ebear to run into him and Ernie to go offroad to miss them. Ebear dumped the 1125R onto the track as a result and may have broken a rib or two and mildly dislocated his thumb. He rode later, but he'll be hurtin today. A couple other minor crashes occurred, no injuries or major damage on them. All in all, the event was very well run. Brian Catterson (Editor in chief at Motorcyclist magazine) was running in Expert with a couple other Motorcyclist staffers (Im guessing from the letters on their leathers ). They were out there on the 1125Rs, a Ducati Hypermotard, and a KTM superduke. I imagine that there will be some reference to comparisons between them in some future article. Time to go to work, I'll post my impressions of the 1125R later when I have time. Al (Message edited by al_lighton on October 18, 2007) (Message edited by al_lighton on October 18, 2007) | ||
| Maddiemsu |
It was a GREAT TIME! The wind was bad but I didn't seem to notice more than a couple times while out on the track. What a great event by Buell and PTT. The 1125R is amazing. I was in 3rd gear for the whole track, actually I made it to 4th on the long straight once or twice. It was a great day.  | ||
| Bob_thompson |
Soooo Al, did you get any ideas from your fine ride as pertains to your business? You have always been one of our go to people for Buell aftermarket things. Hope you came away with at least some ideas which might translate into some great things like you already have for our other models. I know you will need a bike on hand for development and you should have one soon. I for one will be looking and listening. Bob | ||
| Rhinowerx |
"Soooo Al, did you get any ideas from your fine ride as pertains to your business?" Clutch cover slider perhaps?  | ||
| Al_lighton |
Yea, I got a bunch of ideas. The seating position is hardly radical, it's a moderately comfy sporty street ride more than pure race ergos, but I'll do some bar risers for them anyway. If I had a Firebolt, it would have Heli risers on it. American Sport Bike never did those for the bolts, but I hope to for the 1125R. But supposedly that clutch cover is already being looked at by Buell/rotax, and the production bikes may have something that looks a little different there. I found that one in the photo above in the trash can, I grabbed it. I think it is the one off the bike that Ebear went down on, I think he needs it as a trophy! Less than an hour after that bike went down, it was good as new and back in the lineup. These bikes crash well, the side pods do a great job of minimizing the crash damage. I'm still going to do them in CF, though. Al | ||
| Unibear12r |
I talked to Al about that, and a few other ideas he has too. That looked to be the only worrysome spot on the crashed bikes as otherwise they did very well! Slaughter wondered if a race kit would be produced that came with a beefier clutch cover. Al seemed to think a protector for that would be no problem. BUT!!! One of the Buell guys told Ebear that this was a known problem and not to base ANY aftermarket ideas on these prepro bikes at all but wait for the production bikes. | ||
| Unibear12r |
Geez, I'm always late!  That has to be Ebear's. The control riders clutch cover was not that bad. (Message edited by unibear12r on October 18, 2007) | ||
| Al_lighton |
My impressions on the 1125R from the sessions are below. First, it is important to state that I'm a fast intermediate rider at best. I've never raced a day in my life and have no intention of starting now. So to start off, I'll say that even on that short little track, I think yesterday is probably the fastest I've ever been on a motorcycle, and I KNOW it is the quickest. The speedo's were taped over, but by the end of the day, I'm guessing that I was seeing 120+ at the end of the front straight. I've probably hit that on a straight out in the desert before, but never on an acceleration down a 1/4 mile long stretch of pavement. The thing is faster than I need a motorcycle to be. Yea, heresy to some, but that's the way I saw it. I don't mind having more than I can use, it's better than the alternative. The Pirelli tires on them stuck like glue. I never had a step out of any kind all day. The vacuum slipper clutch works very well, I dumped the clutch several times on downshift and never lost tire grip. So much so, that in my last session on my Uly, I stepped out the rear on a downshift into a corner because I'd gotten used to the 1125R's very cool downshift. Stories of someone grabbing too much out of a corner and wrecking one of the demo bikes at Road America, coupled with a suspicion that there was probably a little bit of sand on the track due to all the wind, kept me from grabbing a huge handful coming out of a corner. But the bike was solid as a rock all day, no traction surprises of any kind all day. I never lofted the front end, but I'm quite sure it was a mere twist of the wrist away in the first two gears. The Streets is a small track, and my comment after the first session was that it was the closest thing to an automatic transmission they could get since I didn't need to take it out of 2nd gear the whole way around the track. By days end, I'd come close to using up third gear at the end of the front straight and had made it into 4th, but I suspect I didn't need to. I don't think I hit redline all day and sure didn't feel much need to. The bottom end from 3K up is solid. Below 3K is a little dicey. I think the mapping wasn't the same on all of them, as bike 01 felt much more snatchy in the sub 3K range than the other ones I rode during the day. Sounded a little different down there too, a little honkier. Not sure why. Bike 1 was set up with more freeplay in the throttle grip than the others I rode, so it was harder to ride smooth than the other. On that note, it was an incredibly easy bike to be smooth on. The power band is so linear from 3K on up, there are no surprises anywhere, it just pulls and pulls linearly the whole way. I've ridden Ebear's Tuono before, and the driveline snatch has always put me off. The driveline on the 1125 is a tad snatchier than the XB series but snatchy isn't a word I'd use to describe it, it's pretty smooth overall. Eric's Tuono has a sharper rise in power as the revs go up. The 1125R just pulls consistently more the higher the needle goes up, no surprises. I had no problems with the suspension as it was setup, but I'm hardly gods gift to suspension tuning. It worked well for everything I asked it to do. As you come off the skid pad onto the front straight, there is a large bump in the track. Some bikes hit it and were all over the place as they started to accelerate into the front straight. I watched 1125Rs go over that same bump all day long and thought that the 1125Rs handled it better than most of the bikes out there. The perturbations damped out quickly and were over in no time. The brakes were good, almost TOO good. Took some getting used to. The first big handful I grabbed just about sent me over the bars. They came on a little to abruptly for my tastes, but I'm used to Lyndalls that have a more progressive feel to them. I'm sure I'd adapt, but I'll be talking to Paul Lyndall about this as soon as I can scare up a set of ZTL2 back plates. The rear was definitely stronger than your basic XB rear brake, but I didn't use it a whole lot yesterday. Some folks have commented about foot heat. I never felt it yesterday, but with all the natural convection that we had courtesy of 35PH winds, and the cooler temperatures (highs in the upper 60's), I doubt anyone would have felt it in anything other than flip flops. Others have mentioned buzzy vibration. It doesn't feel like the current Buells to be sure, and there is no mistaking that it is a rigid mounted engine. I can't say I found it particularly annoying. I'm not much of a reviewer, I don't think I'm critical enough and don't have enough breadth of experience across all the modern Japanese and Italian weaponry. But overall, I thought the thing works flat out great. It isn't the bike I'd normally gravitate to, I don't own a firebolt for the same reason. But I'm buying one anyway. Ebear's review will speak more volumes than mine, he spends most of his time on an Aprilia Tuono. Without giving too much away, he's about ready to buy one too. Al | ||
| Doerman |
I have been thinking about my experience yesterday. The 1125R is just awesome. Power: I've ridden a 999 and it felt similar in power characteristics. You can be in the wrong gear in a curve and the 1125R forgives you for that (the 999 does not). There is no power surge anywhere just strong pull everywhere. And on the bikes I rode the fueling was perfect. The bike does not overpower you, rather you get to manage its awesome power. Handling All I can say is. Wow! It makes a way better rider of me than I am. It requires no manhandling to make it behave. I figured out quickly that steering input should be light and mostly done with shifting body weight. On my 9R I need to put a little more bar effort in to get it to do what I want. Brakes Just superb. Linear feel with light effort to get the beast slowed down. Comfort zone This was tested under the harshest condition with winds blowing at 40mph gusting to 50. I didn't think about it till afterward, but the wind did not disturb me (much). It is overall much more comfortable to ride compared to my 9R. This bike truly is built from the rider down. I want to thank Buell and PTT for an excellent event. I went home with a big enough grin on my face to where my wife got a little suspicious. Asbjorn (Message edited by doerman on October 18, 2007) | ||
| Josh_ |
Hey Al, What did you think about fairing protection (and how tall are you again) and how do you think it would do in a mud slide?  | ||
| Dre99gsx |
Al, You mentioned bar risers. I had spoken to some folks at the Pocono Race day event. Would it be possible to cross drill 4 holes on the current 1125 upper tripple and mount the XB9/12R series handlebars with center clamp on there? Would be nice to have that option to experiment with. | ||
| Bertman |
A very educational day that answered quite a few questions concerning the 1125R for me. Is the motor a real step forward? YES! Absolutely linear in progression. Twist the throttle-go fast. Twist it farther-go faster. Twist it more still-Damn! Just click it into third gear and you could do the whole track no problem. Fourth gear on the straights kicked it into ludicrous speed. My Firebolt on a previous stint here used second thru fifth gears and was still not as fast. Is the chassis still a corner carving Buell? YES! It felt just like riding my Firebolt but with less effort. Real easy pointing in and out of corners on whatever line I wanted to take. Brakes? I never had any complaints about the six piston setup, but the new caliper has some serious stoppage built into it. Nits? Well it took me a couple laps to learn to pigeon toe the shifter and rear brake levers but that is just total lack of familiarity with it. I wish I would have been able to bring my 12R on over to the track to ride as a back to back comparison, but it has another ride that starts tomorrow going up towards Yosemite. I was only able to go out twice. First time at 9:40 in the novice class, the bike I had (I don't remember the number) was a dream. Smooth power with just a slight vibration around 8 grand but nothing annoying. The control rider was going at a decent pace so we could watch his line and become accustomed to the new motorcycle - fun ride. Second ride at 1:40 was on bike 01. This motorcycles engine vibrated everywhere at all rpm's. Lots of people out in this session both on their own bikes and demo bikes and the control rider was pacing so slow it was painful. Did manage to get in a few blasts and pass people but there seemed to be a large disparity between rider abilities in this group. Tried to move up to intermediate for another ride, was told no, only PTT could authorize moving up a class. Asked about the next novice opening and found out I would have to wait another 1 hour 40 minutes and called it a day. I expect the production 1125R to be like the first motorcycle I rode but still better, and I am eagerly awaiting the call from my dealer when it eventually shows up. One of the more amusing events was Al and I looking over a demo bike while talking with the Buell engineer and Al is pointing out things he will make, and I'm talking about how I want to modify (personalize) my upcoming motorcycle - that is not even in production yet. | ||
| Slaughter |
YEE HA! Pics are ALREADY posted!!! Reviews of the bike are going to take some time to put into words. "From the Rider Down" isn't just a cutesey expression. It has been a half year since I'd been on ANY race track and the last time I wore those leathers, the EMT's were cutting me out of them and tying me down to a backboard for transport to the ER. I wondered if I'd feel at home and by the second session on the 1125R, there was NO DOUBT! Feeling comfortable and controllable on that bike with just a "generic" suspension setting - was immediate! Hats off to the Buell Engineering/Design/Test/Manufacturing staff(s)! More words yet to follow (have some homework to do!) Photos are posted with permission of the Photographer (thanks to Buell for this opportunity again!) - Dawn (DVKPhoto.com) is a rider, an enthusiast and a generally cool lady!    (Message edited by slaughter on October 19, 2007) (Message edited by slaughter on October 19, 2007) | ||
| Xbolt12 |
Great to see you guys out there. My comments from another board: Wow that was fun. All the SCSers sure missed out. I didn't even ride my own bike in the afternoon-just kept on riding the 1125R's at full pace in the A group (until the Sahara like sandstorms). Flying Fizzer-if you were there, sorry I didn't see you or get to talk. I forgot to look for Rider on your leathers. Did see Catterson though and Motorcyclist on some leathers. The problem with all these screen names and pics is that I still don't recognize many people. Anyway would have said hello if I knew who was who. As for the 1125R, I was impressed. Handling was pretty good for stock with no dial-in. Fairing worked great in such gusty conditions, and the brakes seemed to be as good or even better than the twin 320mm radial Brembos on my 749R. Power was broad and strong. Basically it felt like a 999 with more torque. I tried to out pull an XB on the straight and didn't gain much, but later realized it was an XBRR (Jeff Dixon from what I was told). Apparently they don't have rev limiters on the prototypes because I accidently went about 2k over going down that straight with no drop in power or indication of a limiter. That leads me to believe there is a lot of potential for racing in this engine. As for the riding position it is relaxed almost to the point of a naked bike. The pegs seemed farther forward and lower compared to a Firebolt, so hanging off was a little different. Buell hospitality rocks as usual. We had hot lunch, continental breakfast, free tee-shirt and knee pucks, free suspension setup class and basic setup with Lee Parks and got his book for $20. Great time! Thanks Erik and team. | ||
| Ebear |
 Sunrise and the 1125s are already awaiting us!  Registration proves quick and easy.  I've already picked out mine!  Let the Bench Racing begin!! (Chris and Tim , a few of the Glendale Racers..)   Some of us just can't wait!!!  Nice Desert hat , Barb!! | ||
| Slaughter |
EBear - how ARE you doing? Of all our group, you have the one big story. (Everybody has their own wind stories however)   | ||
| Reepicheep |
Love that first shot... "Out of the rising sun..." | ||
| Ebear |
 Continental Breakfast...PLUS!  "But Eric S." Sunny says....Erik B. said he's building a dirt bike right?? Theres some great hills right there!! (Eric's reaction is quite certain!)  Sunny gets the crowds reaction while the Buelltiful "Sign-Up Girl" awaits our requests.  Butt whens it our turn???  American Sport Bike Al talkin' shop.  Slaughter talkin' Scammon.  Some of our bikes awaiting their turn.  And taking in the track aktion.      Aha!..Finally!!  Is this American Sport Bike Al grinding some CURB??        Isn't that what the Free PUCKS were for??     | ||
| Zac4mac |
Nice shots ebear - thanks OT alert... Heheheh, looked at your profile and saw that Palomar is one of your favorites. I still have a few pieces of East Grade Road in my left knee from a lowside into the guard rail back in 1981. Back from WestPac (6 mos floating USN) 3 days and riding the hot rod Sporty waaaaay too fast. Tried to take a 20 doing 60. Got scooted to Escondido for some stitches and a lecture. Wake up call as far as drinking and riding... "no more beers than wheels under my ass" from then on. Oh yeah - did I say Nice Pix? Z edited to add road name - thanks Google Earth (Message edited by zac4mac on October 21, 2007) | ||
| Coal400 |
Nice photos! | ||
| Ebear |
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| Xbolt12 |
Nice pics. On a sportbike even one beer is too much in my opinion/experience. | ||
| Ebear |
   Sooo ...whom else could bring a Knife to a Gunfight?????                    Had to put some stuff away or the wild winds would whisk 'way... | ||
| Matty |
Most excellent pics! | ||
| Al_lighton |
Actually, I think this is Andrew (calidrew). We have the exact same leathers and helmets, and similar boots, so we're virtually impossible to tell apart on the track. I looked through all the pictures on the photo site, and I know that I had the #1, #2, #14, and #22 1125R bikes out (but did 5 sessions on one, can't find the last one). I know that Andrew had the #10 bike out, but can't find him on the #22 there. But this shot: shows #22 behind someone that shows up in this shot: with #10 that is definitely running in novice. Also, this shot: looks to be taken at the same time/place as this shot: which is clearly in Novice with the big N on the headlight. So I deduce that in fact, it is Andrew that is grinding some serious curb in Novice on the 1125R!! | ||
| Ebear |
Nice Riding Cali..!!!!! PS...the Yammie SuperMoto bike is the Inimitable JJ....Jerry Johnson of San Juan Capistrano HD.  | ||
| Doerman |
Nice review (words and video) on the 1125R by La Times http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highw ay1/la-hy-throttle24oct24,0,2394194.story?coll=la- class-autos-highway1 Asbjorn | ||
| Shaiss |
Hi Erik, Hope your feelin' better after your crash. Heard about the injuries and hope the healing goes by quick! You took some really kick ass pictures of myself and my friend Joseph. Would you be able to send me the full res originals? I understand if payments required as they are exceptional shots, much better then the ones I paid $35 for  Of the ones you posted on badweb heres the ones I found of my friend and I. I'm the one with the black/silver leathers and Josephs the one on the XBS with the Blue jacket.        | ||
| Calidrew |
Thank you. I just hope they let me ride in Novice again in Laguna. I still think the coolest person I shared the track with was "Steve" (Kathleen)on the White X1. But no fair, I've seen her practicing hangin' a cheek off the seat at every stop light we've ever encountered. Dang. Is anybody else interested in bringing a stopwatch to Laguna? | ||
| Ebear |
In fact Cali...if anyone knows of a clipboard stopwatch that we could borrow or buy I'd like to bring one to Seca...we could have my Brother in law or nephew come up from Morgan Hill and keep track of us....whadya; think?? | ||
| Sethbuchbinder |
Not that its something we should be focusing on or distracted with while ripping around the track, but the 1125R does have a built in lap timer which is triggered with the high beam flasher. Multitasking anyone? Lets keep the "creative" self timing to a minimum. See you all there Seth | ||
| Ebear |
Yeah , I know....my Tuono has the same thing.Thats why we need people not "on" the track to keep track.I'm curious to see how this bike keeps up with the Aprilia.We need all $10.00 for the track. |
