Quote:
Originally Posted by Porkchop
So I have a quick story and then a question.
So me, my best friend, and his dad were outside washing and waxing their bikes about a week ago. My friend has an 05' R6, and his dad has an 82' Suzuki GS550. When we were done we took off the R6's side fairing to tighten up his frame slider a bit, and as we were doing that we heard a bike going by and I looked up and it was a Buell XB9R Firebolt. Now I have never been a V-2 fan and have never really looked into Buell bikes at all. But I do have to say it definatly grabbed my attention. So the guy seeing us and the R6... slowed, waved, and then preceded on his way. So then my friend's dad (who is a Harley guy... but has a Suzuki as well???) leaned over and said, "Theres the most ostracized bike ever..... not respected by the Harley riders... doesn't fit in with the Japs either." It gave me a good chuckle, but my friend didnt get it, so we had to explain it to him. So when we were done we went inside and jumped on the computer because matt knew even less about Buells than I did, and he was curious. So i showed him a couple picutes and vidoes on youtube, and we ended up on a forum about the bike. I believe it was SBN, my second go to forum. Now when I see "9", i automatically think fast and over my head... like zx-9r! So we were reading through this forum and I swear to god about 7 people said that they started on an xb9r and that they did great on them, because they arent as hellish up top. But then there was a guy that said no way. He said the ammount of torque that they have and the steep steering geomitry make the bike twitchy and unfit for an ( note not complete noob) inexperienced rider. But then there were so many people that commented back and said it is great for city riding.
Now before you jump at me, I'm going to tell you that I'm not looking at buying this bike... me and my friend just wanted to see what you thought about these ppl's comments. Is a 900cc V-2 extremely different than a 900cc I-4??? I know we have a couple Buell people here...
Thanks, [Pork]  |
The 12 and the 9 don't have much real difference in peak HP and peak torque.
The 12 has a peak torque of 84ftlbs, the 9 has 70
The 12 has peak HP of 103, the 9 has 92.
The main difference is in the stroke of the engines. The 9 and the 12 have the same bore but the 9 is a short stroke engine. The 9 has a higher redline than the 12.
The 9 is much more like an I-4 in that you need to keep it spun up to keep it in the peak torque and HP. The 12 has grunt from idle, but it runs out of gas up top.
Both are noob friendly as long as you respect the torque.
Many say that the handling is "twitchy". I don't get that at all. It's responsive, but very stable. You can put it into a turn and it stays there until you aim it elsewhere.
My Uly was my first street bike. I had ridden dirt before but not street.
Buells allow even beginner riders to handle with confidence. The only requirement is that you set the suspension to your weight. If you leave it out of wack, it will feel unstable, sluggish, twitchy.
Now the 1125R or 1125CR, those will get you in trouble regardless. 12 grunt I-4 top end.
Scary fun.