Can't make up my mind
 

So sometime this fall I'll be coming home with a little extra change in my pocket. I'm thinking about buying a second bike but I can't decide what to get. It's down to the new Triumph 675, or the Buell xb12r.

Two totaly different bikes, I know. I've never ridden either one of them and am wondering if anyone here has, or has any input on the matter.

From what I can tell the Buell is about like a superhawk but lighter and much better suspension. The 675 sounds interesting because it's a well built 3 cylinder. Maybe 3 is the best of both worlds, I dunno.

Anyway, let me know what you think.

Go for the Triumph man, unique and not a twin, It will give you a change from the Hawk when you need it.

I would put some helis on the Hawk, and comfy out the seat, then keep the Triumph as the "aggresive rider"

Just an opinion, but I LOVE triumph 3's, nice progression from the shawk

I vote for the Triumph too (although I haven't ridden either to be honest). It got rave reviews in the media (for all that is worth, although there are surely some credible sources out there) as being torquey, powerful, light and a great handler. Plus, I must admit to having a strong bias against anything with an air-cooled Harley engine in it (sorry, but we are in the 21st century after all). Whatever you get, I hope you enjoy :)

cheers

I'm there too! There was a beautiful ST here that was a solid deal for $4850. It was on CL for weeks but the money just did not break right for me. I'm sad that the two-cyl market is drying up other than some no names/newbies or Ducati. There's a guy down the street here that has a Buell - it sounds good, he seems fast on it, looks like dogshit on my favorite pair of boots.

There's also a couple RC51's in the neighborhood. Talk about great sounds, great looks and it's a deuce! It's real tempting and if I had some bucks that's an itch that might get scratched.

Did that clarify anything for ya, drew? :lol: :boink: :thumbsup:

I will agree that the Buell looks like a praying mantis, but it took me a while to like the hawk too, after riding full fairing bikes for so long.

the only bad thing just about every reviewer had to say about the triumph 675 was the suspension was kinda off during aggressive cornering. easily fixed. i would definetly go with the triumph.

i'm also thinking that the 675 will be a perfect compliment to my superhawk in a year or two. that's my vote. or a nice used ducati 749R...

In a somewhat unrelated post, one engine that I would love to se end up in a bike is the new three-cylinder engine Yamaha developed for its new FX Nytro snowmobile (1050 cc, 4 valves per cyl, 138 hp dynoed at the crank, and mucho torque). Having test-ridden it in a sled, I can vouch for its deep and rich sound and linear power delivery. Yep, in the right chassis, it would be sweeeeeeeeet. Mind you, I somewhat expect it to grow a cylinder and become a new engine for a forthcoming FJR1400....

Oh, and one last thing, the Buell would provide some usefulness and versatility that the Triumph could not. For example, if you have any painting to do, you could strap the cans to the cylinders and leave the bike idling in the driveway for a couple of minutes...presto! perfectly mixed paint :) lol

Ok, now back to regular programming :)

Yeah, the 675 is cool.

Speaking of Triumphs & just to confuse the issue... my friend & I went riding out in the sticks with 3 guys who each rode Speed Triples. Jeez, talk about stand-up wheelies! These guys (all of them 45-50 yrs. old) were having a blast doing stand-ups @ 80 mph or so.

Anyway very capable bikes, these current generation Triumphs.

675, all the way. For a while I considered selling the 1000RR for one but decided I would be giving up on a project that was about 70% complete. Now that the suspension is sorted and it makes LOTS of power I have no need to trade. Yet.....I still lust over the 675.

Hey hawkrider, your comment reminds me of my favourite quote... "show me the most beautiful girl in the world, and I'll show you a guy who's tired of F$@&ing her"

Has anybody actually ridden the 675? I've heard it's a fairly small bike.

Although I haven't ridden one, I did sit on it at the bike show here in Montreal recently and it is indeed compact, although it seemed to be in line with most competing 600 I-4's relatively speaking. The Buell too, looks like small to be honest.

From what I can tell, Buells don't have great resell value. So if you do decide on the XB, look for a lightly used one and save big. Use the savings on some goodies for the SuperHawk.

I might be able to find a used Buell I suppose. The only problem is that I can buy it here and save a bunch of money, not an option with the Triumph...

Okay, I resisted this the first time, trying to stay with positive comments, but I can't hold back anymore.

If they put a Yugo engine in a tubular-framed, carbon fiber-bodied car would you buy it? Is the Geo Metro GT any better than the Geo Metro LX? No offense to any Buell owner out there, but it's a low tech engine in a high tech frame.

- Yeah, lots of new ideas there but some of them not thought out 100%. It redlines at 6800 rpm (about what my LS2 Chevy does).
- The suspension is a little tricky to get set up. The sweet spots are small but once you find them I understand the bike is good. Outside of that it either steers like a pig or is too twitchy.
- It's a rebadged Harley!

There, you have my full opinion now. :)

6800???? Are you being serious?

Holy crap that's gay!!

Triumph all the way ive heard nothing but good about them. I just dont trust harley I know that they have come a long way but still. 6800 is right gay:gay: . i've seen this on the forum some where i thought it was great. IF HARLEY MADE AN AIR PLANE WOULD YOU FLY IN IT!

6800 - Yup. Got that right out of the motorcycledaily review of the bike. It's still better than the 6000rpm redline of the run-of-the-mill 1200 HD motor.
:roll: :spank: :loser: :lame: :baa:

Trying to find more smilies that apply to this one....

+1 on the Buell opinion. I ride with a guy that rides an XB9R. Has dropped mucho $ on it.. done everything he can but heads. They sound good when you put a after market exhaust on them... but they just wont run. My 'hawk is stock w/slipons... I run ALL OVER HIM.. light to light, highway roll on... whatever. Maybe if it would tach out some more, but then it would probably come apart. Buells are unique, that's all.

From what i hear cornering on the 12R has its draw backs, too. So much torque when you roll the throttle, if in a curve, it'll walk out from under you. Would have the same draw back entering the corner.. if you snap off the throttle, then the back tire locks up from the engine braking.

I've rode the xb12 at tthe cycleworld show this year. and it was what I thought it would be, some great ideas slaped to a useless powerplant. it's not as stong as the hawk, not as fluid, it rattled your teeth. I'll reserve judgement on the suspention because I'm a big guy and I know it wasn't set up. the only thing I enjoyed about that bike was the brakes, stoping power was incredible. please get the 675 evey one I know who hs sone loves it and it flys with a little suspention tuning.

I too rode an XB12 at last year's Rally, and was not impressed. It was an enjoyable ride for tooling around town, but the gauges look like crap (super cheap looking) and the whole low redline thing is just bizarre when your not used to it. I thought power transfer was smoother than my hawk, brakes better, but there was nothing about it that would ever even merit consideration IMO for a sportbike rider.

Since I now have the 750, I'd say get the triumph and then you'll see how quickly you start to consider the SH your comfy, torquey commute bike. Review in a recent magazine I was reading (Either Sport Rider or Motorcyclist) said the 675 could beat the R6 from a stoplight in 2nd gear. That triple is just plain cool.

Thanks for all the input guys, think I've made up my mind and will be going for the 675.

Unless I decide on a 1098 instead....