| Author | Message | ||
     Titusand |
http://www.gazette9.com/buells.html/talking.htm | ||
| Indybuell |
The interview with him and a cubed blast was all I needed to see. | ||
| Titusand |
That 2010 thing really made me mad. There was something funny about that. Usually engineers don't crush their own products. Someday the story will be told... Notwithstanding that, the interview tells a bit about the choices made in designing it. | ||
| Milt |
It's clear what engineering choices were made: cheap, bulletproof, agile. It's just nice to hear it from da man. | ||
| Titusand |
the very thoughtfulness that went into the gear selection is very interesting. I know I can jam on the throttle or drop it and nothing bad will happen, at any time. | ||
| Themagster |
Why, Why....would anyone want to cube a bike that is such a great machine?? They cubed it but still use it....oh, don't get me started... | ||
| Buellistic |
HARLEY-DAVIDSON "NOSTALGIA MENTALITY" is all you can say !!! HARLEY-DAVIDSON Stealerships do not even want to put the BUELL SPORTSTER XR1200X on their show room floor, LIKE THE BUELLs THEY ARE UNABLE TO SELL THEM !!! | ||
| Titusand |
Which dealers are those? The two near me have numerous 883's and "low-end" 1200 Sportsters. Are there dealers who don't stock sub-$10,000 bikes? I guess I'm old enough to think of a 500 as a upper middle size, and an 883 as big. | ||
| Buellistic |
Titusand: So you do not even know what a XR1200X even looks like ??? Go to www.HARLEYDAVIDSON.com and check it out so we will be on the same page ... "i" am the 6th owner of a 2000 BLAST which is more fun to ride than my 97 S3T ... It can be PRODUCT IMPROVED and TUNED to be a better cheaper ride than an 883 ... EVEN FASTER !!! | ||
| Titusand |
sure i know what that bike is, but who among you remembers when a Honda 90 was a town bike, and a 400 was a pure middle size? and a 750 Jap bike was big, and the 883 was pure American decadence? A 250cc, IMHO was always a stupid size, and the Asian makers love that, I don't get it. I guess it works in those super crowded cities of theirs. | ||
| Lisainjax |
Thank you for posting that!  i agree with Maggie....that whole cube thing was unnecessary and over the top. I love my sunshine yellow 2010 Blast....one of the best investments I ever made. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
"Are there dealers who don't stock sub-$10,000 bikes?" No, but they dont want to stock them. A Sportster is a girls bike. Then the Blast came along and took the heat off the Sportster. Many have a very poor attitude about the Sportster and will try to sell you anything else because a Sportster is a poor mans Harley, they know it wont be long before you want "move up". | ||
| Titusand |
oh, yes I agree they do that, why I have no clue. My friend and I got into bikes about the same bike, in later adulthood. We live a ways apart, both went shopping at various Jap dealers, and both of us were declined in making purchases of small models, same words too, "Yeah, but I'm not going to sell it to you." CALL ME CRAZY, but if I outgrow a bike and like the dealer, he gets two sales not one. Maybe there's a cycle salesman out there who can comment.... although I doubt it. | ||
| Titusand |
I was warned about the Blast, "Don't get that, you'll outgrow it." Well as everyone knows here at 80mph , its a smooth as a baby's butt, and the throttle still has passing room to spare. Maybe locking helmet storage would be nice in a second bike. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I had a KLR-250 and had a lot of fun on it for running around town, trail riding, and the occasional 40 mile round trip commute. The motor was fine (when it wasn't blowing up). | ||
| Swampy |
I think the cubing thing was one of the first steps of a well planned scheme on H-D's part to close Buell. The H-D Blast was still made for a year after Buell was shut down to fill the need for riders edge bikes. The Blast was a very important engineering project for Buell as the motor design was an important step back in 2000 for the future development of the XB line. I am sure that there was a trade off, they probably said "we let you spend money to design us a trainer bike using that new style engine you designed and we will let you use the engineering to develop that engine for your XB". If you remember there was a test mule Blast with a V twin engine and 17 inch tires. I am sure H-D execs in their shortsightedness told Erik to cube it and move on with Buell production because the Blast was a money loser for Buell yet kept production going for the riders edge program in that area towards the back of the factory. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
"Don't get that, you'll outgrow it." That phrase has always irritated me. While it is certainly true for some bikes, depending on your goal, most people wont ever realize the full Blast potential. They'll use maybe 1/2 its potential, then "move up" and use 1/4 of that bikes potential. Or the classic getting way over their head, and a good scare (or accident) later and they stop riding all together. It goes on the same logic that all racebikes must be "fast" (relative terms). But its really the riders who are fast (or know how to use the bike to its full potential). | ||
| Crackhead |
Also, think of how many Blast where produced verses the Tubers. I think the Blast served as a manufacturing transition from small production line quantities to "mass production" bikes. Also, I believe the Blast motor is also the first Buell assembled motor. I think the tubers where assembled by HD. (I could be wrong.) | ||
| Ezblast |
No - you are correct - the Blast motor was the first Buell specific motor. EZ |
