Race bike: Buell-Bonn 1125R

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Race bike: Buell-Bonn 1125R
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Race bike: Buell-Bonn 1125R

Race bike: Buell-Bonn 1125R
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“Thunderstorm! This is real fun”, laughs the English colleague behind the imposing dome of the Buell from Bonn. Englishmen are often accused of a certain quirkiness and therefore perhaps their word is questioned. But he’s right. The Buell fetishists from the Rhine managed to turn a mule into a racehorse. Your 1125R is headstrong, but it runs.

Uwe Seitz

09/03/2009

It wasn’t that long ago, the memory was pretty fresh. Nurburgring, GP track, a test with the series Buell 1125R, in-house due to the strange air scoops under the nickname? The hamster” operating. What got stuck was the curious design and the sometimes unenjoyable driving characteristics. But the US racer seems to have potential, which the troop of Buell Bonn is already proving itself in the second season at the Sound of Thunder and in the Conti-Challenge.

So it’s all the better that the Rhinelander registered a pimped-up model for the Tuner GP and we had the opportunity to get to the bottom of things ourselves. Workshop manager Peter Blittersdorf did not touch the engine. You might be disappointed with that, but the 1125R actually has an appealing engine from the start, which was also positively noticed in the series test. According to the Tuner GP test bench, the Rotax twin from Bonn has 148 hp on the crankshaft. Exactly as much as the series on the horsepower test bench a year ago. When it comes to manners, too, the impressions are the same: The motor takes the work command very directly, but gently, and doesn’t idle around for long. There is real pressure at just under 5000 rpm. There is so much torque that the Buell lifts its front wheel out of the hairpin.

On the GP course, it quickly becomes apparent that the 1125R wants to be controlled precisely with the throttle hand and the shift foot. In other words, its efficiency for absolutely fast laps is between 7000 / min and 9500 / min. That’s pretty close. So open the gas and quickly into the next gear – then she marches. The only downer is the gearshift lever, which sits too close to the fairing and causes problems from shoe size 42, which is why the Buell racing drivers cut a piece out of the Ilmberger carbon fairing on their version.

Speaking of which: the carbon keel gives the Buell a much sharper look, not just because it has the “Hamster cheeks” clearly concealed. The HPE exhaust also suits the creation a lot better than the cannon furnace that the series leads openly under the Rotax. Nevertheless, it remains unmistakably a flawless Buell. That is what the mighty pulpit keeps in mind at all times, which spreads a sudden feeling of wellbeing in the parabolic steroids. While the others fold up on their Japan 1000s like children in the Chinese state circus, the Buell driver is cuddling behind his thunder dome – all that’s missing is the mini-bar.

But what really stands out about this Buell is its handling. This is precisely where it separates worlds from the series. With an Ohlins shock absorber and a Zupin conversion on the standard fork, Blittersdorf managed to get the 1125R to go right into corners, to fold down willingly, to be stable and precise, to run through fun-filled arcs like the Sachskurve or to enjoy itself with the Beringer kit brake system slows deep into the Opel curve. No installation moment spoils this show. Almost brutally front-wheel-oriented, it can therefore be circled. Even with a strong anchor at the end of the parabolic, the carbon bomber is sovereign. The Bonn-Buell is therefore no handling miracle, it definitely requires more physical effort than, for example, a neatly constructed Fireblade, but compared to the original it is like day and night. The lightweight PVM wheels also contribute to this.

The conclusion remains a clear one “Go then!” Obviously, you just have to let the right people with the right parts work with the 1125R. The normal driver will certainly find it difficult to achieve record lap times with this Buell, but the American bride of the Bonn troop is made for enjoyable circles on the racetrack: She is good-natured, absolutely mobile and at the same time far removed from the mainstream. Let’s make it short, our colleague from England is just right: “This is real fun.”

Contact: Buell Bonn, Peter Blittersdorf, Bornheimer Strasse 230, 53119 Bonn, 0228/945920, www.buell-bonn.de

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