anyone had any experience of buell motorcycles?

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?

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

cheers thanks for your info.

[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.

Aren't the gearboxes supposed to be awful

[rictus01]

Originally Posted by Cloggsy

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 if he'd had to pay.

Cheers Mark.

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

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...