Is this the latest version of a Superhawk
 

just read the first ride intro of the new buell. Really sounds impressive, real world sport bike with some neat engineering both chasis and engine. Probably offers a lot of what we love about the SH but brought up to spec.

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/27aug...buell1125r.htm

Mechanically it looks pretty tempting, but I can't get over the front end. Those radiator cowls are just too ugly. I wouldn't even consider buying the first year. I would like to see what happens though. I've always kind of been pulling for Buell, just not enough to buy one.

ya looks pretty interesting I must say.

I ride with a guy that has an xb9r.. everytime I leave him at the stoplight he threatens to go buy a 1125r.. I'd ride it... hell, all bikes dont have to look like the typical "crotch-rocket".. I like that it looks different..

I took time to read the article.. I think I want one...

yeah, its always a crap shoot going from first rides impressions on these new models. but a true sports bike designed with reasonable riding comfort and wind protection from the outset, a chance to see buell really in a competitive position and something unique is all pretty cool to me.

and if you still have too much time on your hands or just can't concentrate on work today, here is another comparo I'd been waiting to hear about: triumph has really does something the past few years. I have never ridden one but everyone seems to rave about them

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Articl...ID=5201&Page=1

It's nice to see that Buell finally has a possible top shelf sportbike. I already read one guy who said "it's not a real buell because it doesn't have a harley engine in it." He went on the say they'd "really have something" if they put a turbocharged harley motor in it. (!) What a load of crap! FINALLY they're going to have a competitive sportbike. The P-51 mustang wasn't special until they put in a rolls royce engine. The shelby cobra was special because they put in ford engines (I'm sure chevys would have done fine too :) ) If this bike is a winner no one will give a shit where the engine comes from, they'll just say "it kicks ass" just like when aprilia's were winning WSBK races on rotax power. Just like all the dirt trackers out there winning on rotax power. If road racing no longer fits harley's fucking "image" screw 'em, good on eric buell for shopping elsewhere. I personally could never understand why they didn't use the V-rod motor when the xb9r was first introduced. I asked an engineer at daytona and his answer was "it wouldn't fit." I said "but you just designed a brand new bike anyway, I dont understand, why not design it around a better engine." I think the sportster motor is cool for other buell products the same way ducati still uses the air cooled motor in some monster and supersport bikes, but buell needs a flagship sportbike so I hope this is at least getting close to such a bike.

the 675 sux

? Care to elaborate a little, I'm curious. I think it's friggin gorgeous but I haven't ridden one yet. I've also heard nothing but rave reviews about it.

675 is a good bike imo

Yep, another Buell that has almost everything. This time it's butt ugly, but so's the new CBR600RR. Doesn't stop it from being a great bike, right? Trumpet 675? Wow, a 33.5" seat. And my legs ain't nevah gonna be longer than they are. Curbside parking, please.
When mentioning Eric Buell as the reason for this bike, please remember that the Motor Company owns the majority of Buell stock, so they didn't just sign off on this because they had to. Just like their alliance with Aermacchi in the '70's, they made a strategic alliance with an engine supplier to make a unique bike. Oh, yeah, let's not forget that Porsche, not Willie G., designed the V-Rod motor. So let's give Harley credit where it's due. They are a saavy company with many irons in the fire, just one of them really mde of iron, the classic line of Sportster's, Fat Boys and Electra Glides.
I think the only thing that would keep me from trying this bike (other than those radiator ducts. As ugly as I've ever seen!:shock:) would be the question of engine parts supply from Rotax. I was looking into an Aprillia Mille for my track bike (has almost everything, including the optional Akro full system, fully adjustable Ohlins suspension and 320mm Brembo's up front, that I'd put on a S'Hawk for track day) but I heard about their service, which can be bad at best and abominable at worst. And I'd be carving up a $16K, high bling bike to get the same amout of weight off of it that I'd want to remove from a S'Hawk. (They weigh the same amout unless you get the Mille Factory R) And they only make as much HP as milksr is expecting after his mods are done, w/o the midrange hit a Hawk gives. Tradeoffs that aren't worth the extra money, no matter the bling I'm giving up.:flamethrower:
So here I am, back to looking at available parts and planning on turning a second S'Hawk into Track Day Tool #1.:wheelie:

I think that buell has finally got something good going on. I like the fact that they pulled that horrible sporty engine and finally thought about what they need to put in it. To tell you the truth, the looks of it aren't that bad. I'd sport it any day. As far as the 675, unless you've tried one, i suggest you don't knock on it. They are screamin' fast and sound even better with a full arrow exhaust system.

Sounds cool from the article and I like the looks right up to the front.....anyone remember that "Black Manta" character from those old Superfriends cartoons? That's what popped into my head when I opened the link.

I've always admired Buell's for the different design and ingenuity, but I just couldn't stand spending $$$$$ for a bike and have parts/nuts/bolts vibrate off every week as I've read in various long term reviews.

If that is solved with the new rotax powerplant, I MIGHT buy one...but I'm gonna wait a year or three to see if they have all the bugs worked out of the chassis/motor combo, and see if they keep the damn thing together.

LOL! :)

I like it for the most part, and even don't really think it's that bad looking, but I still don't get the belt drive system and the brakes. :confused:

My opinions on the 675:


Its really uncomfortable to ride, my arms and wrists were aching after 10 miles.

Its got no balls off the line or in the mid range - keep in mind im comparing all of this to my friends 06 r6, not the superchicken.

It feels really really small under neath you.

The undertail exhaust cooks you

The jap 600's will shit all over the 675 handling and power wise, i think.

On the up side it does look sweet and is really light. I guess it would make a great track bike for some one and its got a cool lap timer in it.

The speed tripple on the other hand is an awesome bike. If i were to go out and buy a brand new bike the 1050 speed tripple would be one that i consider. Its got really great power and goes like hell, plus its a naked street fighter look and a more upright position when sitting on it, and thats more my style i guess. I worked at a triumph dealer up until a couple months ago and so i got to ride all the models. Triumph is comming out with a 675 version of the speed tripple call the street tripple if anyone is intrested.

"The more upright ergos were not a hindrance on the race track, and were a very welcome comfort on the road. The 1125R is not a sport tourer, but it is just as comfortable as some sport tourers I have tested, and far more comfortable than most sportbikes.

I don't know if it was the extra wide fairing at work, but the cockpit area was undisturbed by sudden wind buffets. The wind that is allowed to reach your upper shoulders and head is smooth."


Now you got my attention! For my next bike, I've thought about trying to mod a 51 to be more S/T friendly but now....

And to think it only cost $3k more than my first new SuperHawk did back in 1997 (included new staintunes). What a great time in motorcycling that we live in now.

For the first time in my life, I think want to own a Harley! That new 1125R looks a little ugly, but I could live with it.

As some of you remember, I like Buells. Almost bought a 9x actually. No, they aren't competitive with the 600 repli-racers but for around town street riding, they are big fun. My only prob. with the new 1125 comes down to dealer support. As a member of BadWeb, the Buell forum, I've read more posts than I can count about dealers that simply don't care to support Buell products, because they feel that it pulls their attention from their #1 focus, the H-D product line. Obviously, the traditional bikes have a higher profit margin, and when you combine that with the fact they sell a hell of a lot more of them than the do Buells, I can understand a dealer wanting to devote their Buell floor space to H-D product, it's just better business. But I also don't want to buy a product from a dealer who's reluctant to sell, and even more reluctant to service. There's also plenty of horror stories about bad service, possibly attributed to the fact that they just don't see enough of them to stay proficient???

Anyway, if Buell could get a real dealer network that cares, and is even half as fanatical about the bikes as most Buell owners are, they could really make a dent. That's my .02.

I can't get past the width of the headlights, if they were not so wide I would consider it.

Once my bikes leave the showroom floor they never go back to the dealer unless it's warranty work. I've dealt with too many asshat mechanics that don't have a clue what they're doing, plus I'm a tightwad and would rather do the work myself to save the money. So if I were to buy the 1125R I'd probably shop for the best price, get some kind of extended warranty and (hopefully) never take it back to the dealer.

I used to dream of a buell project with a set of airtech's VR1000 bodywork...even went as far as to think of putting it on a TL1000R (heaven forbid) as the frame and engine would make a better VR replica than an old buell. Maybe this is the bike to do it to?

Hi everyone, just want to share my opinion about Buell 1125R every time i look at it: Japanese built 10years old design of Italian bike and Buell build 10 years old design of Japanese.

I like it. That actually makes me want to buy a new bike.

The scoops will most likely look better with the bike next to you or underneath you. They seem to serve a purpose. I think "real" scoops are pretty cool.
I would love to see what that motor is really capable of with a good tune and some aftermarket goodies. The torque number would get quite big, 90+ maybe?
It sounds really fun.

I read in a report that part of the function of the scoops if to prevent damage to the rest of the bike during a crash. I think it was in motorcycle-usa.com

the scoops i dont mind but man that upper is UG-LEEE. looks like an alien head with its antenas bent over sideways. hows that childrens song go, 'big fat head and itty bitty body....' yeah.

I like it...think it would be great for longer rides and the look is not that bad....I like the 146HP..if it is even close to those numbers...It may become mine....

I think the 1125 is going to be really good for Buell. It's about time they put a trick motor (trick compared to the Harley crap they were using before) into their trick bikes.
I'll really be interested when they start making their own power plants and ditch the funky front end.

If I know Erik B & HD, they will never manufacturer their own motors "in-house", way too much capital investment and their present facility (I'm relatively speaking "just down the road") is not setup/big enough for that. If the reliability of the 1125 is not near perfect the first couple years it will die a slow, painful death; and the problems reported by the mag raggers on their pre-production unit rides does not bode well in this regard. Just one man's opinion mind U.

Eureka~
 

I LIKE TOO BAD IT'S A BUELL

The ergos aren't bad on the 675 but that's subjective to anyones size/frame of body. I'm 5'10" @ 220 lbs and I found it decently comfortable for a repli-racer. I rode it for over an hour on spirited riding.

To say it doesn't have any balls could just be the perception of the bikes linear power. There is no top end 'hit' like you feel on the inline4 600s simply because it makes its smooth power throughout the midrange and all the way til redline. So there is no distintive 'hit' you'd feel. More like a smooth linear rush just off idle. The dyno plots show this bike making more power and torque than the other inline4 600s in the middleweight class. during the hour riding I never noticed my bum getting hot at all from the exhaust.

Handling is (or was) just as sharp as any other competition. Why else did this bike get so many accolades and praises from comparison test and BOTY? now keep in mind your post was from last year and this years recent month article on the Supersport 600/middleweight comparison in Sportbike Rider didn't hold the Trumpet as well as it did from its first two years. However that's because there hasn't been any improvements to the bike unlike the rest of the competition. To say it will get shit over, even against todays bikes, is a wash IMHO.

Feeling small is a good thing. Go sit on any new 1000cc sportbike. Talk about small then compared to the power/weight/size ratios. ;). The 675 is a triple and therefore can be made to be much narrower and compact than the inline4's. 675 is a great track tool as that is primarily its focus, as with most repli-racers.

Love the Speed Triple!!!! It sucks they downplayed the suspension on the Street Triple but that's what happens when you cut corners to fit within a certain price bracket to appeal to other competitive models. Still a great bike though. I have yet to ride the Street Triple but plan to do so this year whenever I go back to the Triumph stealership.

As foir the 1125R, I love em. I just wished Buell could get their damn fuel mapping better as that is what seems to be the typical Buell shortcomings on tests with their bikes.

Just my opinions on these two bikes/topics.

To reply to my own quote, these threads and other reports got me pretty serious about the 1125r so I joined some of its forums last year and started keeping up with the new bike and its owners. Glad I did.

The bike's performance isn't suspect but it's quality of design and parts is. Sure, folks are always quick to post problems especially on a new bike but there are way, way too many for me. I think the final straw was a thread started by one owner who was having a moral problem with "unloading" his bike with several known problems on a new owner. YIKES!

Buell does seem to be working hard to fix things tho' and isn't being complacent. So kudo's to them but I decided I didn't want to be a beta tester and opted to go with my original plan and try to tame a 51 instead.

Yeah I've heard more of the same superbling. As shame too as Buell always seems to fall short someway or another. I'm pulling for the company because they make innovative products but they just seem to have their share of growing pains that seem to not improve over the years.

I've also heard HD dealerships around here turn their cheek to any Buell owner with problems or support :(. I guess those HD guys just have a hard time getting over themselves.

Sucks for the 1125R though. The Ducati 849 versus 1125R comparison wasn't that great from the mags IIRC. Shame really, as I like the 1125R and wouldn't mind one (of course problem-free ;) ).

1125R : on the right track...
 

I paid for the opportunity to ride these @ V.I.R. in Sept.'07, and felt it was a great bike.If I can go 130+ mph on the straight at this track, well ,there's gotta be somthing to it! I'm not a very skilled or experienced track rider, IMO. I thought , at the time, that Buell's R&D dept, seemed to have the bike fairly well engineered. But then again, I'm not an expert in that area either. BUT, I was able to ride the bike , at a similar pace , as most of the other folks riding the same bike on the track.I would definately say I'm only an intermediate rider at best,so it was the confidence inspiring bike,mostly.A stable, manuverable platform, with plenty of power.Buell had approx. 2 dozen of the bikes there for use in the many sessions occuring all day long, in epic conditions also, I should add.Everybody continuously flogged the bikes thru the day,and I don't believe there were any mechanical issues whatsoever.That should say something about the bike.Rode hard,all day,on a racetrack,by novices,and racers alike.The bikes were put to the test.It was a great "track day" experience. Well worth the $150. I paid for it, plus they gave out t-shirts, knee-pucks, awsome BBQ lunch, and even made leathers,helmets,boots,etc. available for "loan", if one needed them... Only 1 "squid" wadded a bike all day. It wasn't me, so I may still be in the market for one of these bikes , eventually...Don't count Buell out yet, HD just needs to let them be sold elsewhere,either stand-alone dealerships, or as a franchise to be added to other existing dealerships.Most Harley folks definately don't care about this type of rider segment.Put ME down for one of those types of dealerships,...;)