anyone had any experience of buell motorcycles?

[kwak zzr]

friend of mine was looking at the firebolt, but we both know nothing about them just wonder'd if any of you knew anything? reliability ect?

[Scoobs]

MattSV went on a Buell day and teejey's mate Airbox has one. He loves it.

[mattSV]

Rode one at Silverstone last year.

Awesome handling - just drops into the corners. Great brakes. Rev limiter is about 6000 I think which took some getting used to but loads of low down grunt.

Crap for pillions - if it wasn't for that I could be very tempted.

Reliability is supposed to be a lot better than it was - there were some issues with the belts in the early days but I think that is all sorted now.

Dealers seem very keen to provide demo rides so try and blag one for a few hours :wink:

[kwak zzr]

cheers thanks for your info. :D

[rictus01]

gearbox output shaft?

it's been re-designed, if buying an early one (9 not the 12) make sure its been done, a lot of dosh to put right.

Cheers Mark.

[Cloggsy]

Aren't the gearboxes supposed to be awful :?:

[rictus01]

Aren't the gearboxes supposed to be awful :?:

Agricutural at best, the problem I refer to is the bearing mounting for the output shaft, I'm aware of four that had this problem within 5,000 miles, it leads to the shaft moving around and damaging the gearbox, requiring the gearbox to be stripped and re-built with new parts.

My brothers Lightning was checked and had about 6mm of "end float", it was repaired under warrenty but would have cost about £350 :shock: if he'd had to pay.

Cheers Mark.

[kwak zzr]

it would be a new 06 firebolt if he has one.

[Mariner]

Having spent the last 7 years working with a guy who loves his Buells, I'll quote him "Go on a bike maintenance course, preferably advanced!" He has owned many different models and every one has had some kind of serious problem at some stage, he claims to have broken down on every major motorway in Britain. But ask him would he get something different and the answer is a big "NO" The handling is sublime, watching him go at a track is awesome, nothing handles better, but it is let down by dodgy gearboxes and indifferent build quality and spares availability is a worry and expensive.
If you want the bike for trackdays and fun, you won't be disappointed, but if you need it for the daily commute, make sure your boss is understanding.

[northwind]

I testrode a City X a while back... Amazing laugh to ride, but the gearbox was just rotten. Thought it must be faulty so I had a go on a Lightning, exactly the same. Combined with the extremely heavy clutch (my SV's was broken at the time and still lighter) and it put me right off. But the bits that were good were very good. Speed and accuracy of cornering is superb, great brakes, really entertaining engine...

[Demonz]

Someone placed a link up on the best bikes for cornering and I think it sat close to the very top. Was a Bike mag rating i think :? ?? But it suprised me anyway...

[Sid Squid]

anyone had any experience of Buell motorcycles?

Enough to say:

Don't.

[tricky]

My mate has a Buell (XB12 Lightning) and loves it, he commutes every day on it regardless of the weather. I know he's had a few niggles and he has had a drive belt snap.

I asked him about the gearbox, he said you just have to make good positive shifts and there's no problem. He doesn't have any problem with the clutch either (I suspect years of self abuse have given him good strong wrists :D :wink: ). He was amazed how light the clutch was on my SV.

It always makes me laugh when he starts it up cos it vibrates like hell and sounds like a tractor at tickover, sounds lovely in full flight though.

[Halonic]

ridden a ulysses last year and done a fair bit of research as would like a Lightning at some point in the near future.

apparently the issues with the gearbox were sorted for 05 models onwards, so an 06 should be no worries

aside from that, there are no major reliability issues. It seems that, like Ducati, Buell have finally realised people will buy more of your bikes if they dont explode regularly, and the most recent crop of models have far fewer problems then M1 era machines.

Amazing to ride, they really do pull like trains, 5th gear, let it drop to walking speed and nail it, no worries well past the ton. And even the Ulysses was more agile and easier to throw around then the SV (and its no minimalist Firebolt)

Niggles? Could easily be rebadged as an 88bhp Ann Summers vibrator. Sat at the lights with the engine below 2k rpm, every organ in my body was being slowly reduced to mush by the very powerful and extremely low frequency vibes coming through the bars, pegs, seat, hell... the whole damn bike. Just on the side stand, ticking over in the car park, it actually started slowly moving under its own vibes.

Oh and thats a good point. Its only 88bhp at the back wheel, not 100bhp as the magazines sometimes say. Can easily be brought up to 100 with a few THOUSAND quids worth of tuning (race exhaust is around £500) so best bet is buy someone elses stage 1'd machine and save yourself the cash / hassle.

And..... all XB12's are group 16 insurance. You can get a GSXR-750 on that group, and whilst not being as "interesting" as a Buell, will ride the bejesus out of it.

[kwak zzr]

thanks again for the info. :D

[Iansv]

I've been looking at some info on the City X and the 1200 version, might have to go arrange a testride, we have a new rival for next bike :D Look great but defo one to try

[Whitty]

My old manager had an early one.After 6 months of electrical gremlins that EDDYS of Leeds couldn't sort they agreed to refund him and he bought an R1 instead.

[kwak zzr]

thanks guys. :D

[Iansv]

Mr Kwak, Don't know if you found this site but lots of buell info there

http://www.bike-pix.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=3&sid=47646d3e65bdb41c35046728fed90e31

[kwak zzr]

cheers iansv.

[Halonic]

ok just spent the morning reading that Buell group

well thats me put off buying one now :shock:

and I though Ducatis were hassle!!