Motorcycle Forums banner

Laguna Seca Formula Xtreme Spoiler

8767 Views 39 Replies 19 Participants Last post by  brax4444
McWilliams is their best shot but how many races is he planning on participating in?
1 - 20 of 40 Posts
Good for Buell! (and Mr. Mcwilliams)



Now, If only Rossi's YammyHA could do this well! While all that smoke was pretty, it didn't help Val's race results.



I'm sooooo happy to see a Buell in the top 10!
Great work Erik!

It is good to see a Buell at number 8. I'm sure that racing will improve the breed!!
Rossi was in the moto gp, not formula Xtreme.
Yes, I should have made mention of that for the uninitiated. My Bad.



In any case the point is made, that the big 4's race bikes are far from bullet proof. If I recall this is the second time this season that Rossi/Yamaha(motoGP) have failed to finish a race due to mechanical failure. Something that everyone, including me, have been hammering Buell for.

Buell's Future......

......is nothing but bright. They are in the process of proving that they have a viable race platform, and as they get the kinks worked out, I think that even more valuable that the R&D that they will get from the racing program is the EXPOSURE to the buying public.

Even if they don't immediately or constantly blow the top out of the scores and finishes, the money for improvement doesn't come from racing per se, it comes from selling more motorcycles!

Good things are coming for Buell.

Rob
Spoke to a fellow who claimed to be in the know, who said that Buell is switching to a Rotax engine for some of their bikes in a couple of years, and the racing versions would certainly use that engine. Hard to believe Harley would go for it, but that would certainly up the performance. They'd lose that huge displacement advantage though.
What I'd like to see.......

.... Is a big, nasty, oversized (for buell) supersport/sport touring rig. This IS a market that has a lot of DEEP pockets....

Something big enough to be cushy, but with all the adjustable bits (forks, shock, agressive lean angles, low maintainence, maybe a dual or oversized belt drive, etc, etc.) not as far up in the stratasphere as a Ulysses, and big enough for luggage, etc., and 2 full sized (read as plump) adults.

A scaled up Lightning with a big assed fuel tank, substantial wind protection, and more guts in the engine room.... with the new motor from H-D and the new 6-speed as well. Or even better, a juiced up V-Rod motor........

Well, I can dream, right?

Rob
See less See more
Unfortunately for Buell McWilliams was still about 3 seconds off the pace, quite a bit of speed to find.
Re: What I'd like to see.......

The V-Rod motor would work fantastic in a full-blown tourer. I can't imagine why H-D hasn't done it yet. I'll be first in line when they finally pull the trigger.
yeah i don't think they'll ever get there with the current motive power, but the fact they beat about 20 of those Japanese bikes with the old tractor is a pretty cool accomplishment in itself. And without the full factory backing of the bikes that were 3 secs. faster, well... the Buell might almost be in there with a shot.

Also the Pirelli tires are not quite there either...
It would up it, just a bit.



I've been looking into singles for a project I want to do over the next few winters, so I've been all over Rotax's site checking things out. The XBRR produces 150 hp at the crank. The stock V990 Rotax produces 139 hp from a considerably lighter and smaller engine. Get it up to race tune and it will outperform the current powerplant and should have a significant savings in weight.



I've been waiting for this shift for a long time. I love the Buells because they fit me like a glove, but I've always held out because I'm not a fan of the motors.
I'm not so sure. Aaron Gobert had a stop and go penalty for his quick start and *still* came out in front of the Buell. In race time, 3 seconds is an eternity.
ask BMW...

Depends on how much MotoGP testing BMW wants...
I wish...

IF buell had a modern engine, I'd seriously consider one.
Re: What I'd like to see.......

Since HD already has a bunch of full-boat tourers I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them to compete with their own models via Buell.
Note that...

Note that the riders McWilliams beat were mostly privateers, while McWilliams is a MotoGP god who could probably beat 1/2 the field riding a clapped-out Ninja 250...

Its truely an impressive effort on McWilliams part, but without a rider of his caliber, the Buell would be lucky to finish in the top 15+.

The other Buell didn't even make the race. Anyone know what happened?
Re: Note that...

Mike Hale was riding the other Buell and was 29th of 31 riders.
Re: Sounds like a ducati ST3 or ST4

A move like that would make sense, though ducati isn't selling much in the ST area, don't know what Triumphs sales are for their sporty tourer. I'm guessing these would be the key competitors for such Buell thing, but could be way off.
1 - 20 of 40 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top