One Year / 12,831 Miles on a 2004 Buell XB12s

Re: It's put up or shut up time for Buell

Oh Kpaul, it's an interesting idea, but really dude, it's the rider that makes the biggest difference. I agree with you about the bang for the buck value of the 600s, but for street riding, I may have to give the nod to the Buell for torque purposes and for gas mileage. There aren't too many places on the road where you can legally rev up a 600 to dip into it's horsepower advantage, so from block to block, corner to corner, the initial advantage of higher torque at lower rpm gives the Buell something of an advantage over the high strung ponies of the 600s.

Of course if it were my money, I'd like the new 636, but if Buell ever matches Japanese build quality and long term reliability while competetively pricing their bikes, I may just have to give them a very serious look.

Going back to the rider issue... If I lent you my Ninja 250 and you lent me your ZX-6r, you'd probably still kick my arse. I'm not a bad rider, but you have more experience and understanding.

I know I did

Just so you know, I didn't think I beat that guy, I know I beat him.

I don't think you are getting the picture here. We aren't trying to say that the Buell XB12S even with a race kit is faster 0-60 then a stock Kawasaki 636. If Sean took both bikes to the drag strip I’m sure his times would be faster at the strip on the 636, 0-60.

What we are trying to say is the Buell is easier to consistently launch hard and fast off the line.

My friend here at work with a stock XB12R has found the same thing I have. He can leave the line harder then his co-rider’s new Honda CBR-600 RR and has to back off to keep from running into him. In fact he looks forward to finding unwary 600 riders at lights.

Another thing not mentioned about the numbers. The Buells are geared so that they have to shift to 2nd gear just before 60 mph. I find I run into my limiter at about 56 mph. The shifter flat out sucks, you have to use the clutch and shifts are slow. I would be willing to bet that the 0-50 times at a drag strip with a Race kit equipped XB12S would be very close to the times of a 636 if not slightly better. So the magazines publish a 0-60 of 2.9 for the Kawasaki and 3.6 for the Buell because the Kawasaki never shifts before 60 and has a perfect launch and you think that every rider out there should beat my Buell to 60.

All this is so much hoopla anyway, as was said many times, it all comes down to the rider. I still remember reading in here how Sean left everyone behind riding a stock H-D 1200 Sportster down a twisty road even though they were on much more sporting equipment.

The Actual Commandment

The actual First Commandment of Motorcycling is:

"Thou Shalt Have A Really Really Really Good Time."

There are no other Commandments.

There is one proverb though:

"The Kook Shall Suck The Life Out Of Every Thread And The Air From Every Room."