I rode the new buell for 4 track sessions at miller last week. We were the first non-journalists to get to ride them.



It




ROCKS.
 





A LOT of people were there, from all walks of moto-life. All were very impressed. That bike is huge fun to ride. Huge power, torque everywhere, stellar chassis, stellar brakes, awesome, neutral, stable handling from vertical to leaned waaaaaaay over. Trail braking no problem. Clutchless shifting no problem. Ergos very reasonable. Slipper clutch RULES. Sounds great, looks sinister and cool in person.


Overall the best bike I've ever ridden.    

2 of the bikes I rode had no fueling problems; one had a stumble at about 8500, but only if you held it there. It also felt like it was starting to run out of fuel on my last lap at about 10K, but we checked and it was fine. They're 'prototype' bikes and they say the fueling niggles will be worked out before full production. Off idle was great, pulled like a train from about 2K to redline at 10.5K. Minor drop in power at about 10K. I bumped the rev limiter a couple of times in fast corners but I was a gear or 2 low... I rode the first session behind one of the buell guys and he was HAULING. I kept the revs up and was riding at about 100% of my comfort level/ability. The next session we had a different leader and he took better lines. I decided to stay a gear or 2 higher and it didn't make any difference... the laps were at least as quick but I didn't feel harried. The engine is stellar; no driveline lash at all (which is amazing, particularly after being used to big ZX-11 based Kawis with a bit of lash and tons of power right off idle). The buell accellerated at least as hard if not harder than my ZZR (which pulls very strongly) due to it being at least 150 lbs lighter, if not 200. I'm guessing wet weight is in the 420lb range. Diablo Corsa III tires stuck like glue and I felt absolutely confident leaning way over.

Mid-corner corrections weren't a problem, and even when I got sloppy with the throttle mid-corner it just gave one wiggle and settled down.

I actually almost highsided early on before I'd learned the east half of the track adequately (I'd only ridden the west half before and at the buell day we ran the full track, which is serious fun). I came out of a fastish left hander and the road sort of goes away grade-wise there and I got out onto the rumble strip... the rear slid a bit and the bike gave one good shake (re-tearing my shoulder muscles in the process) but settled right down. I was very surprised to find such a short bike was so stable and forgiving of stupidity.

The pegs are high but not so high that you say 'holy crap' when mounting the bike, and if anything they're too far forward for me... an inch or so rearward would fit me better but would hurt your knees. The bars look forward but the seat/bar distance is short so it's actually pretty comfortable. At full speed on the long straight I couldn't get behind the windscreen fully (I'm 6'3" with a long torso) but it was only the mid/top of my helmet getting ripped by the wind. If I could have slid back a couple more inches in the seat I could have gotten behind the windscreen but I was as far back as I could go.

Brakes are really 1 or 2 finger stoppers, and the thing just STOPS. One guy complained about funky braking but he was the only one; I suspect that disc had been abused by the motojournalists and was warped or something. The bikes didn't get a break and were run very hard for about 8 straight hours... no issues I was aware of.

I was wearing thin Darien pants and could feel some heat through the frame rails but nothing close to painful... it's similar to the heat through the rails on my ZZR; perhaps a bit warmer. I noted NO radiator or exhaust heat. They really routed that air well.

It sounds vaguely rattly and fluttery at idle, kind of ducati-ish, but it really sounds meaty and good when you're on it or listening to others pass at speed.

Since we were doing roughly 20-minute sessions it's kind of difficult to discuss street ergos; however when sitting on the 675 I felt almost immediately that this bike was not for me; the buell feels very plush in comparison.

A couple of times the 1125 groups would catch up to coaches or buell riders on XB12s... I'd try to get past them after a corner but those bikes have serious squirt out of low to mid-speed corners, at least as much as the 1125. However, once speeds get above 100 or so (I'm guessing) the 1200s seemed to hit a wall while the 1125s just keep ripping all the way down the straight. There's really no comparison.

I really wanted to ride the entire fleet of Buells (last spring they had all their models available) but they decided to just bring 1125s, and I'm not disappointed in that regard. The bike is seriously quick and handles unbelievably well. I want one.

I think they'll sell a lot of them, particularly to people who attend these buell trackday demos. If there's one close to you, or not so close.... DO IT.