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http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/detail?sectionID=50677&documentID=135937&navID=1
Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow...
...that's what makes my thumper go
Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow...
...that's what makes my thumper go
the europens like the Firebolt
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
They had a HUGE Buell rig at the testing in Valencia. Buell must be gaining market share overseas.
kman
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kman
<font color=red>Live it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Ride it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Race it</font color=red>
I'll see if I can get this to display correctly:
<pre>BUELL UNITS Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total
Buell (excluding Blast) 1,593 1,757 1,878 1,208 6,436
Buell Blast 854 711 961 963 3,489
Totals 2,447 2,468 2,839 2,171 9,925
</pre>
H-D sold 234,461 non-Buell motorcycles for 2001. Mostly customs and mostly in the USA (186,915 total units sold in the US)
<font color=red>Live it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Ride it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Race it</font color=red>
<pre>BUELL UNITS Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total
Buell (excluding Blast) 1,593 1,757 1,878 1,208 6,436
Buell Blast 854 711 961 963 3,489
Totals 2,447 2,468 2,839 2,171 9,925
</pre>
H-D sold 234,461 non-Buell motorcycles for 2001. Mostly customs and mostly in the USA (186,915 total units sold in the US)
<font color=red>Live it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Ride it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Race it</font color=red>
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6,893 Posts
Odd factoid, in 1999 the first year of the X1 lightning Buell sold all the leftover S1's in Europe. So what you got in europe was a 99S1 with all the updates that the 99M2 had as far as motor upgrades. These are highly sought after machines over there. The S1 was so much a better a motorcycle than the X1
Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow...
...that's what makes my thumper go
Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow...
...that's what makes my thumper go
Joined
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36 Posts
And still is in my opinion/images/icons/smile.gif
<font color=blue>I was riding before you came! I'll be riding when your gone!</font color=blue>
<font color=blue>I was riding before you came! I'll be riding when your gone!</font color=blue>
Are those rear sets on your S1 or are they OEM? The X1's I've seen have a very low clearance in stock form. I can't remember what the S1s clearance is like.
kman
<font color=red>Live it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Ride it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Race it</font color=red>
kman
<font color=red>Live it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Ride it</font color=red> <font color=blue>></font color=blue> <font color=red>Race it</font color=red>
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36 Posts
No there not rear sets, there OEM...They dont scrape the ground if that is what you are asking, but the kick stand sure does.That is kinda scary in a left hand turn/images/icons/smile.gif
<font color=blue>I was riding before you came! I'll be riding when your gone!</font color=blue>
<font color=blue>I was riding before you came! I'll be riding when your gone!</font color=blue>
Joined
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36 Posts
Thanks,/images/icons/smile.gif yea its alot better then the belt, I haven't broke the chain.
<font color=blue>I was RIDING before you came! I'll be <font color=red>RIDING</font color=red> when your gone!</font color=blue>
<font color=blue>I was RIDING before you came! I'll be <font color=red>RIDING</font color=red> when your gone!</font color=blue>
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1,484 Posts
I think the Firebolt is a good looking bike. I think that it will hold it's own.
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36 Posts
I can hardly wait to ride one
<font color=blue>I was RIDING before you came! I'll be <font color=red>RIDING</font color=red> when your gone!</font color=blue>
<font color=blue>I was RIDING before you came! I'll be <font color=red>RIDING</font color=red> when your gone!</font color=blue>
Well I rode a Firebolt at Daytona and I must not be European as I didn't like it, which says alot considering how much I love V-twins. I guess I read all the hype and was expecting the Firebolt to be significantly better than the Lightning, which I love, but it wasn't. The power increase they all mentioned, I didn't notice. The engine does rev higher but if it isn't making power at that higher rpm then whats the point?. Those new rim mounted brakes look great but didn't seem to work any better than conventional brakes. The lever seemed really mushy so maybe they just needed bleeding, and they didn't have much initial bite.
The demo ride didn't have much corners as it is Florida after all, but they took us out on the highway so I did get to charge a couple ramps, even if it meant strafing the Harley types in front of me who were slowing down for the ramps /images/icons/laugh.gif. They gave me dirty looks when they finally caught up and took back "their spots" in front, but who cares. The handling wasn't anything special, it didn't seem any better than the Lightning, although a better rider on a more demanding road would obviously differ with me.
The Verdict?. The Firebolt looks awesome in person, when you see one riding by it catches your eyes and makes you follow it, but the riding experience doesn't equal the looks. The Lightning, I feel is better because it isn't trying to be a "sportbike", at least that how I see it, and because I don't climb on a Lightning thinking sportbike, I don't have that expectation from it, the result being an incredibly fun ride. Not that the Firebolt isn't fun, its just that it is no more fun that the original Lightning is and as such not really worthy of the hype surrounding it. For the cost of a Firebolt, I would get an original Lightning (not the X1, which looks ugly), and modify it with the remaining money. You would wind up with better than Firebolt performance for less money and not be riding a bike that is trying to be something that it isn't.
Take care,
Gregory
I could have been a squid, but I was too busy posing.
The demo ride didn't have much corners as it is Florida after all, but they took us out on the highway so I did get to charge a couple ramps, even if it meant strafing the Harley types in front of me who were slowing down for the ramps /images/icons/laugh.gif. They gave me dirty looks when they finally caught up and took back "their spots" in front, but who cares. The handling wasn't anything special, it didn't seem any better than the Lightning, although a better rider on a more demanding road would obviously differ with me.
The Verdict?. The Firebolt looks awesome in person, when you see one riding by it catches your eyes and makes you follow it, but the riding experience doesn't equal the looks. The Lightning, I feel is better because it isn't trying to be a "sportbike", at least that how I see it, and because I don't climb on a Lightning thinking sportbike, I don't have that expectation from it, the result being an incredibly fun ride. Not that the Firebolt isn't fun, its just that it is no more fun that the original Lightning is and as such not really worthy of the hype surrounding it. For the cost of a Firebolt, I would get an original Lightning (not the X1, which looks ugly), and modify it with the remaining money. You would wind up with better than Firebolt performance for less money and not be riding a bike that is trying to be something that it isn't.
Take care,
Gregory
I could have been a squid, but I was too busy posing.
If you were to step from an SV650S to a Buel Lightning would say the difference is still profound or would the experience still be lacking? All in all, I was hoping for a more positive review from an actual rider of Buels, but if there have been no real improvements....well....its really disappointing. It sounds like they took one step forward and two steps back. By rebuilding from the ground up and trying something totally new it sounds like their back to sqare one. Oh, well, maybe next year.
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My opinion, for what it's worth, is that the Buell did it right when the made the S1. Nothing else is quite that good. The M2 is probably the next best thing that they have made. The Jury is still out on the Firebolt (at least from a Buell owners POV) as it is a differant bike than Buell has made in the past. It is interesting to see that the Firebolt did better than the Lightnings in the Pro Thunder Yes I know that the 748RS won but that bike is way beyond any other in terms of technology. It is more like the RC51 or the 998.
Having ridden a SV650 and a S1 Lightning I can say that the Lightning is definatly a step up. But they are differant in many ways. Where the SV650 is light and nimble with enough power to get it along the S1 is heavier and nimble with a lot of power.
As for the European's liking the firebolt and other nimble low HP bikes. I thing the big reason is that many of the roads over their are narrow and twisty. There is little chance for "Ultra High Speed" antics. Where as they have ample oppurtunaty for twisty exploitation. Horse power is only useful if you have a place to use it. Here in the US we have the wide open spaces to use it.
Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow...
...that's what makes my thumper go
Having ridden a SV650 and a S1 Lightning I can say that the Lightning is definatly a step up. But they are differant in many ways. Where the SV650 is light and nimble with enough power to get it along the S1 is heavier and nimble with a lot of power.
As for the European's liking the firebolt and other nimble low HP bikes. I thing the big reason is that many of the roads over their are narrow and twisty. There is little chance for "Ultra High Speed" antics. Where as they have ample oppurtunaty for twisty exploitation. Horse power is only useful if you have a place to use it. Here in the US we have the wide open spaces to use it.
Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow...
...that's what makes my thumper go
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