Table of contents
- Anniversary: 25 years of Buell Born in the USA
- Born in the USA
- The breakthrough
- The new millennium
- Buell in detail
- Buell as a tuning object
Fact
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Buell trackday on the Wachauring (April 20, 2008)
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Buell trackday on the Wachauring (April 20, 2008)
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Buell trackday on the Wachauring (20. April 2008)
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Buell trackday on the Wachauring (April 20, 2008)
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counselor
traffic & business
Anniversary: 25 years of Buell
Anniversary: 25 years of Buell
Born in the USA
Content of
Erik Buell has been enriching the motorcycle scene with bikes that rock for a quarter of a century. The concept of the Harley engine in the Streetfighter chassis is unique to this day. Buell originally just wanted to build a competitive American racing motorcycle.
Sebastian Lang
05/18/2008
Born in the USA
Do you still know Eddy the Eagle? That legendary English ski jumper who never won a medal in the eighties, but won the hearts of all spectators? Erik Buell’s small motorcycle manufacturer fared similarly to the compact, short-sighted Briton: While the big Japanese manufacturers were tinkering with ever faster, stronger and lighter motorcycles, they made a decision Buell for a different way of building a motorcycle and developed an idiosyncratic concept consisting of a Harley engine and a streetfighter look that never won a horsepower comparison test, but has not lost any of its fascination to this day. The ambitious man from Pittsburgh originally had a completely different plan.
The first years
As an engineer at Harley-Davidson and a passionate racing driver in the American championship, Erik Buell began to work on his own motorcycle after work in the early 1980s: a pure-bred Formula One racing machine with an English square four-cylinder and a self-designed chassis. It was finished in the summer of 1983. Insiders speak of 150 kg, 163 hp and an almost undrivable performance characteristic. In order to further expand his racing bike project, Buell quits Harley and puts a second RW 750 on the wheels. Shortly afterwards, the AMA replaced Formula One with the Superbike class – and Erik Buell had to build a new motorcycle again.
The RR 1000 is based on a Harley XR 1000 engine, a road-going race bike with an extremely short wheelbase and a few teething troubles such as the short swing arm positioned too far back, the slippery throttle grip and a user-unfriendly four-speed gearbox. Nevertheless, after a test ride on the RR, PS man Alan Cathcart predicted a great future for the Buell brand as early as 1987. When the AMA increased the number of units for the homologation of a superbike from 50 to 200, Buell decided to switch to street motorcycles and in 1989 built the RS 1200 Westwind, which appeared two years later as the sports version RSS 1200 with horsepower. Their characteristics: the first standard upside-down fork, the White Power strut under the engine with a very extravagant linkage and the 1200 Harley engine with 59 hp and 85 Nm.
The breakthrough
Jahn
In 1995 Buell achieved the breakthrough with the S1 Lightning.
One year after the introduction of the S2 Thunderbolt with a large single disc brake at the front and toothed belt drive, the S1 Lightning came onto the market in 1995 – the Eddy the Eagle of motorcycles was born. With a resonance charging system in the bread box-shaped airbox, the large-volume muffler and a crankshaft 4 kilograms (!) Lighter, Buell lifts the performance of the 1200 Sportster V2 from 56 to a whopping 88 hp.
Ralf Schneider wrote in 1996 in the first comparison test of the S1: “This ensemble just heaves violently out of the corners and rubs the rear tire as hard as the Harleys can only in legend.” The moderate seating comfort, the stiff and poorly responding strut and the failed one Gearbox tuning causes frowns, as does the price: The S1 costs 28,500 marks – that was the league of Ducati 916 Strada and BMW K 1100 LT Special Edition at the time and still more than the current Buell top model 1125R.
In spite of all adversities, the Buell brand is gaining more and more supporters, especially with stunt drivers it is very popular due to its low weight, short wheelbase and outrageous torque: In 1997 stunt world champion Christian Pfeiffer did gymnastics on the new M2 Cyclone, Buell’s all-round bike, for horsepower vigorously in front of the photographer.
However, the M2 also suffers from an unsuitable gear ratio – fifth gear can only be used as overdrive and, together with the torque hole at 2800 rpm, spoils the pulling power. In return, their handling and the repeatedly criticized shock absorber have been improved, which leads to significantly more fun on third-class country roads.
In 1998, the S1 in the special paintwork White Lightning and Lightning Strike was spiced up with more powerful engines before it replaced the X1 Lightning in 1999. This is the first Buell with a cast rear and injection system, which initially struggled with set-up problems. Loved peculiarities such as the long gear ratio and the stubborn chassis are also retained in the X1, but the handling of the extraordinary American is beyond any doubt.
The new millennium
Buell
In 2002, Buell ushered in a new era with the Firebolt XB9R.
The XB9R ushered in a new Buell era in 2002, which is largely retained until the current 1125 R model. Ultra-steep 69 degrees steering head angle and a wheelbase of just 1320 mm should make the Buell extremely handy.
As a special gimmick for centralizing the masses (see box), the gasoline moves into the frame, the oil into the swingarm, and a single brake disc with a saddle encompassing the inside works at the front. In the test, the Buell left positive impressions, on manageable tires and with an inserted fork, cornering on the XB9R is really fun, especially since the engine spoils with low load changes and fat punch.
The XB12 models from 2004 onwards remain true to this: The new engine with 1203 cm³ spoils – with great rumble and vibration – with 110 Newton meters of torque and 101 hp, which makes the hp test team look enthusiastic. Only the strong righting moment when braking in an inclined position is annoying.
More and more special models fill the Buell range and culminate in the Ulysses XB12X, which is vaguely reminiscent of a BMW R 1200 GS, and the XB12Scg, which has been lowered especially for smaller drivers.
In 2006, Buell launched the XBRR, a thoroughbred racing motorcycle, on which Rico Penzkofer contested the 200 miles of Daytona in 2006. However, the machine breaks down in training and in the race with technical defects.
The desire to build a competitive sports motorcycle finally drove Erik Buell out of the United States and into Austria: a water-cooled two-cylinder from Rotax works in the 1125R. Erik has so far categorically excluded the use of this motor for the XB series: Eddy theEagle must not die.
Buell in detail
Gargolov
Erik Buell knows exactly what is most important about his models and designs the implementation as perfectly as possible.
1 Erik Buell has always relied on extremely stiff frames. In his opinion, this is the most important basic condition for perfect feedback and agile handling, even in extreme driving situations.
2 In order to place the masses tightly around the center of gravity, Buell placed the mufflers under the engine from the start; For example, KTM imitates this method with the RC8. In addition, since the XB models, the fuel tank has been in the frame and the oil tank in the swing arm to keep the center of gravity as low as possible.
3 In order to reduce the unsprung masses, all Buells do without a second brake disc. Although this saves weight, the brake disc, which is mounted far outside on the rim, increases the mass moment of inertia.
Buell as a tuning object
Buell
Well-known tuning work of art: Thor’s Hammer from Hillbilly.
Hillbilly: Thor’s hammer. The racing conversion allegedly roars 130 dB (A) with the muffler open.
Buell Frankfurt sends an XB9R to the PS-Tuner-GP in 2003. To the delight of testers and viewers.
The Chronos also comes from Hillbilly and commemorates the company’s 25th anniversary on an XBRR basis.
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