[grandmasta-flash]

Great in depth review! Thanks for spending time writing this up, it really helps me in considering my next bike, given I haven't own one in two years.



I've never seriously look into a buying a Buell, the engine really ticks me off, but I always love the looks though. Like you said, it looks pretty small. I'm 5'11" almost 6', fat (240) so I have to ride one out to see how it goes.



Once again, good review. Hope other it inspires other riders to do more informative pieces.

 

[23063]

Re: Excellent stuff

That sounds about right. I rarely meet a 600 rider that isn't a spotty faced kid. They just don't have the experience that an older fart on a bike built more for torque would have. Besides on roads with a lot of turns you don't need to shift much, but the 600 you are shifting a lot. All that shifting, braking and on and off throttle takes a little getting used to. Whereas the Buell you can leave it in one gear a smooth everything out between clutch and brakes.

 

[1747]

Keep it to yourself would you, or they'll start charging retail. If you want to know how they stack up to 4-cyls, KP, go to amaproracing and find fx results. Cicotto and Barnes have done pretty dang respectable given the low-$$ nature of their effort. I think their best was about a 6th, in a field where the top 3 all-season are high-dollar factory Hondas with c-f tail sections and high-dollar factory riders.

Plus, Buells go even better on the street, where speeds are slower, traction's lower and lots o blind corners, etc.

 

[32849]

Nice work

for me the best part is that you love your bike. without getting to damn philisophical, wanting what you have is a big deal.

 

[kpaul]

I am just curious

Just curious. When is the last time you rode a 600? Jason Pridmore shifts his bike only 2 times during a typical lap in a AMA race Formula Extreme Race which is on par to the Buells.

 

[32849]

pushrod racing

the class is a honda invention, so it's not a surprise they might come in first. i don't know how far the lap times are behind for the buells. i think the buells racing in ama have different swing arms and a chain, but you can do that at home too. did they keep the front disc or switch to a more conventional setup?

i wonder why h-d doesn't help those guys out a little. it's not like they have any real rules in fx. why not build an uberbuell? bring some showroom zip to the buell program. a little race cred would go a long way it seems to me. one finish ahead of one of those hondas and i would pay attention, if not ten grand.

plus they sound great.

 

[1747]

Re: pushrod racing

buells are, i think, quite a few sec's off factory Hondas, but not usually more than a sec or two off other top-five 600s (and doug chandler's bologna-connected 749).

I can only imagine the minds in milwaukee are still smarting from that whole VR1000 episode. They probably wear garlic necklaces and silver crucifixes in case the subject of pavement racing comes up...

 

[Buzglyd]

Re: pushrod racing

Don't forget the marketing mantra of the Buell from the beginning has been that it's not a race bike.

 

[32849]

now that surpises me

i heard that barber is a track where you never get to sixth, or maybe in to fifth, so i could see it there.

i have watched pridmore live. he has mad skills compared to a mortal, but i would think he would hit 6th on most medium long straights, have a couple of second gear corners and so on.

i just didn't know those guys were carrying that much more corner speed. would that mean he could keep the rs high in 4th to never get down to 2nd or 3rd? or does he never get to 6th?

i am not doubting it, i just am amazed.

did you see him back it in to t2 at the seattle 100? i didn't, but i heard about it from a bunch of folks. having had way too much drama in that turn myself, i wish i had been there.

 

[5117]

Good review... this kind of thing is good.



The blabbering about who has the fastest bike is hilarious. Does anyone really doubt the Buell is fast enough for street riding and track days?



Things impress me though:



1) At your height you can ride the Buell as it's freakin tiny!



2) That you are beating people in roll ons, drag races, whatever at such a high weight. Lose some weight and you will crush them even more.



3) That you definitely appear to be using the bike for it's intended purpose as there is no mention of a weekend trip or anything like that.



4) You don't mention if you've been to the track.. if not it sounds like you are very very ready to do so and would have a ton of fun

 

[39220]

01/17/04 - 01/23/04 - 4200 - 4400 Miles

Loving, it riding it, will it ever warm up around here???

Are you joking me or are you just twisting a knife in my frozen mid-western gut?!?!

If I could get my bike on the rode at 40 degrees in January I'd be thrilled. Unfortunately in January I won't see 40 degrees for three months.

I've got to move. Great write up. Really makes me want to go ride.

 

[kpaul]

Re: Translation

I am so proud of him.

 

[kpaul]

Re: now that surpises me

Heard this on last race at Road America Greg White said it to Dave Sadowski He said Mladin on the Superbike only made 2 shifts as well. The Hondas were making 3 shifts per lap. Send a email to Greg White at Speed at 2 Wheel Tuesday he will tell you all about it.

 

[39220]

I don't know if your Chevron has a different pump for each octane or a single pump. Could be bs but I've heard that at the single pumps you can get as much as a gallon of the octane the guy before you filled up with.



Dunno if it's true but I have a choice I'll avoid the single pump stations.

 

[39220]

Referring to this commment in your story:

I think I got some lower octane gas. I stopped at this Chevron I don't normally use and the bike is pinging like mad.

 

[kpaul]

Re: pushrod racing if you look at the times for Mid Ohio

Yep its a street fighter. But didn't JB and Sean said the 636 was like bringing knife to fist fight. JB I looked at the times at Barber and at Sanoma (Sear Pt Right) the Buells do OK. But if you combine the superport times and FX (Mid Ohio) times the Buells are rank down in the mid to late 20s. Why the Buells look good is cause Honda owns the FX Show. So JB you have a point all the factory, satellite teams and first class privateers can beat the Buells However the average privateer can't.

 

[kpaul]

I probably have a bad attitude.....

"a little race cred would go a long way it seems to me. one finish ahead of one of those hondas and i would pay attention, if not ten grand.

plus they sound great."

I agree. I have just read too much negative stuff about Buell by other mags so I am probably jaded. Given the amout a moneythough I would still use the 10 grand for a liter inline 4 bike.

 

[sportbike_pilot]

Kudos

Very well said. I am really glad to see these cool bikes getting some good words said about them. I have loved every Buell I've had the pleasure to ride and it's good to see that you've addressed reliability issues. Thank you.

sbp

 

[30874]

Multi-Line Pump

I ran into that problem when I filled up a couple of times on the single hose pumps. So it must be that you get a lot of the other choice when you fill up.

So I have started filling up at the multi-hose pumps where you have one hose per selection.

Want to find a station that sells higher octane say 100 or higher around here. Heard that some Mobiles do.

 

[30874]

Now if I could just lower those 110°F+ summer temps I would be really fine all year.