Tiger 1050 vs. Ulysses

As you do - browsing through bikes you can't afford.....I was wondering.

Why is the Buell Ulysses trashed for being too road biased, when the new Tiger is viewed as the best bike of the year. They're both similar except the Buell has better ability on and off the road, with a more characterful engine. Is it simply because it is British?

It's a Buell...when a motorcycle gets a recall for a frickin sidestand what hope does it give you for the rest of the bike

[northwind]

Originally Posted by gettin2dizzy

Why is the Buell Ulysses trashed for being too road biased, when the new Tiger is viewed as the best bike of the year. They're both similar except the Buell has better ability on and off the road, with a more characterful engine. Is it simply because it is British?

Well... The reason I hate the Ullyses (finally rode one btw, it fails as badly as I expected it to) is that it takes the Buell concept (which I love) and completely breaks it, without managing to do anything else well as compensation. It's not a good hooligan bike, lacks the Lightning's agility and madness, lurches on and off the power because of its higher weight distribution, feels heavy (don't know if it is, but the Lightning feels like a toy, the Ullyses feels like it's made of lead)... It's still got all of the drawbacks of the Lightning- the geabox and clutch are just as rotten (though improved now at least), the engine's still outrageously vibey and you come up on gearshifts far too fast, which makes the rubbish gear shifting even more annoying... And it wasn't even all that comfortable. I wouldn't want to tour on it, the vibes and the engine made it annoying after about an hour in the saddle never mind days.

Buell's a genius... But I honestly reckon the Ullyses is a complete abortion of a bike. The parts just don't work together. It's not practical enough to be a succesful tourer/commuter/street bike, but not fun enough to overlook its failings.

Northwind, you forgot to mention the really good fuel injection...upon overheating (which happens within seconds of any traffic) you can sit at lights, open the throttle and wait about 5 minutes before the bike actually splutters into life - which is made all the more disconcerting unless you are 7 feet tall and can touch the floor

hehe. Ok, that makes more sense! Although it's been getting a bit of a cult following, presumably by old Harley riders who are used to the weight/vibes/flaws. Saw a tiger the other day, actually a lot nicer than pictures would suggest