All Reader Tests – Light and agile – Used BUELL

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Lightweight and agile

All Reader Tests - Light and agile - Used BUELL

I walk around the dealership, watching the Harleys from afar, then stop at the Buell XB9R Firebolt. Small, collected, pretty in her blue or white dress, she throws it! I can try ?

From the time that the idea was trotting me, I finally took advantage of a beautiful spring weekend to go to the Harley / Buell dealer in Troyes to go and try a good big V-twin made in US. So I went around the dealership, watching the Harleys from afar, then I stopped on the Buell XB9R Firebolt. Small, collected, pretty in her blue or white dress, she throws it! I can try ? You have to make an appointment normally, answers the saleswoman … But what does she know about this bitch, first! And the group that comes back from testing, there, they made an appointment? Anyway, I say I’m not in Troyes often, I chat for five minutes and she makes me fill out her paperwork.

There’s an old man who has to come with me for the test: shit, I’m not going to be able to get out of it for 2 hours and make 150 bounds! At least hope he won’t drag himself around. Well, the beast: so, how does this machine work? Contact, starter: "BroOOoooo plom plom plom plom" … The dual exhaust exhaust, high performance chip and K&N filter set gives it a nice sound. The V2 at 45 ° sounds serious and seems to be spinning very low at idle, it looks like it’s going to stall, but no, it’s spinning.

The position is amazing: the bracelets are very narrow and placed low but they are very close to the seat, the (false) tank (the fuel being in fact housed in the beams of the frame) being particularly short. We are therefore not resting too much on the wrists, the bust quite straight. The bike seems tiny and ultra light (175 kg dry). More than curled up on the bike, it feels more like wrapping the machine. Turn around, let’s go !

BrooOOOOOoooo … Waaoow, there is a couple! The gearbox doesn’t seem too unpleasant when going up gear, the clutch isn’t that hard. A little too much clearance on the brake lever, then a good big bite: the 375 mm perimeter single disc with its 6 piston caliper is efficient !

Leaving the city, we open a little on the ring road. 140, 160, 180 … well I believe, the typography of the meter making it quite unreadable without habit. The protection is not very effective, it must be said that given the tiny size of the machine, you should not expect to be on a Goldwing. The red zone located very low (6500 rpm) arrives quite quickly, especially as the box has only 5 reports. By pulling a little hard, the breaker at 7,500 rpm is heard. Ok, it’s not up there that you have to play but on the contrary in the low revs, where the carton rings clear. He has the trunk, the recovery. He seems to want to tear the bike off the ground at the slightest request, with each upshift, he puts it back..

The very tight position means that we feel the acceleration and especially the braking all the better. Interchange, roundabouts, a few pif-paf at a good pace, I sway with a feeling of ease and security. The bike is healthy, obvious.

Small departmental. Finally enough to push the reports a little. Finally, once you get used to the revs, you almost end up finding that the engine has extension (for a twin). It picks up from very low and pushing it to 6-7,000 rpm, the operating range is appreciable. The vibrations are not too present, in any case, much less than on the 1200 X1 Lightning already tried and which played the vibrators, what am I saying, the jackhammers up to 3000 rpm before settling down . The 900 is him, more contained, more discreet in its reactions. It must be said that large silent-blocks isolate it from the hyper-rigid frame. Virolos, up and down gears. The gearbox is ultimately as unpleasant as possible, Harley style, especially downshifting. No stop under the first or above the 5th, a rubbery lever.

The rear brake pedal is hard and difficult to control. Engine braking is sufficient but not excessive. I enter slightly on the brakes on a curve. The setting on the angle is easy, the braking impressive by the driving position which tends to make you feel that you are going to finish the chin guard on the front fender.

Some small straight lines allowing to send out of curves, a pair of pins negotiated a buttock on the saddle, decidedly, the feeling which prevails is the ease. Light and agile, it’s a treat. The V-twin with its archaic architecture is also not stingy in sensations. He gives his own, pushes down hard and gives a famous kick to the ass on the go-around. I don’t dare take too much angle with a loaner bike, but it shouldn’t be very difficult to take it far, very far on the sides of its big rear gommard, especially since the D207s inspire confidence, just like the fully adjustable Showa front and rear suspensions.

Return to town. The position is not tiring, the pressure on the wrists remains light. The double exhaust (original single) blows me on the shoes when stationary. The vibrations are characteristic of the V-twin, but not annoying. The front brake is really impressive once the leverage is assimilated. For a bit and effortlessly, the rear wheel would lift. I would have done a few more kilometers, I would have tested the city, the duo, the highway, the forest paths … uh … well, I would have kept the beast well what !

In summary and against all expectations, despite the advice of some journalists, well I liked this bike even if it is not the most efficient, even if it does not pull 10,000 rpm, even if it vibrates , even if … In short, it’s a motorcycle of character, with all that that implies, that is to say flaws, but at least it is not useful to panic the radars to have a furious banana under the helmet and to feel the good big blow to the ass. For a bit, I will have left with … especially at € 10,900, it is € 1,000 cheaper than when it was released a little less than a year ago !

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