| Author | Message | ||
     Buellnewbie |
Although it's obviously too early to know for sure how the new engine will hold up, what is Rotax's historical reputation for their engine reliability? Anyone know? | ||
| Two_buells |
BRP-Rotax has developed over 350 engine types and has produced more than 5 million engines over the last century. http://www.rotax.com/en/About.Us/History/ | ||
| Court |
>>>>it's obviously too early to know for sure Actually, it's not. Testing, for well over a year, has been intense. I'd bet on "best to date". | ||
| Patrickh |
the motors rotax builds for aprilia are bomb proof. really top notch. we're talking Kawasaki ZX-9 type reliability. i am so excited about this new motor, I was very close to buying a KTM. whew...dodged that bullet (Message edited by patrickh on July 10, 2007) | ||
| Buellboiler |
Different beast but they don't have a stellar reputation in their snowmobile engines. I can say my next sled WON'T be a SkiDoo. Hopefully their 4-stroke engines are better. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Rotax is one of the leading sellers of small aircraft engines. This is not a place where you would really survive getting stranded on the side of the road. | ||
| Jaimec |
Two things adversely affect reliability: Heat and Vibration. The old lump had tons of both and Buell was able to get reasonable (though not industry leading) reliability out of it. Just imagine what's possible now! Afterthought: Before Blake jumps down my throat again, let me qualify "not industry leading:" Certainly, it is more reliable than nearly any other air-cooled, push-rod, non-balanced engine on the market, but not as reliable as the myriad variety of water-cooled engines in common use out there these days. (Message edited by jaimec on July 10, 2007) | ||
| Peterr |
The early Aprilias cracked crankcases around the freewheel shaft for the starter gear, but that was solved in 2001. Some bikes had valve seats drop, but I maintain this was down to low octane fuel and inaddapted engine mapping on bikes which had race-pipes fitted. Apart from that, they seem bullet-proof. Stripping a Rotax engine is always a pleasure, as the quality and thought gone into the engine is really top notch tackle. I think this will be a very cool track bike, and I think it's already going to be inscribed into the 2008 French Protwin, Toptwin and endurance championships here in France. Can't wait !! | ||
| Choptop |
My Aprilias proved bullet proof. check out the Aprilia forums for more info. | ||
| Jimidan |
I think this will be a very cool track bike, and I think it's already going to be inscribed into the 2008 French Protwin, Toptwin and endurance championships here in France. Can't wait !! I wonder if the XBRR will clean it's clock too like it is with the 1098, 998, etc.  ?} | ||
| Spatten1 |
Jim, if it finishes the race without breaking it will have a chance. However, it ain't something we can buy for the street and costs a few times what the 1125 costs. | ||
| Bumblebee |
Rotax engines have had suburb reliability in recent years. Don't think we have too much to worry about there. | ||
| Blake |
Hey Peter! Great to see you stop in for a visit.  Might it be tough to give up the XBRR in favor of the 1125R? I like the big old beastly air-cooled monster myself and hope to see your team continue to campaign it in excellent fashion. Y'all ROCK! Please pass on a huge cheer to your whole team and to the other Buell team running in Pro-Twins as well. | ||
| Blake |
I once ran an Aprilia RSV off the track at OHR. He broke his chain trying to get outa my way. ![: ]](http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/proud.gif) | ||
| Badlionsfan |
buell isn't the first motorcycle to use rotax.  | ||
| Ridrx |
Buell IS the first to use THIS motor as the Helicon didn't exist before Buell designed it. Just so happens Rotax is the builder...I love it, Buell thinking and Rotax reliability...what a sweet deal for us riders. | ||
| Badlionsfan |
i was havin fun from another post. i love the new bike, won't get one for a few years tho. just got my city x this year, and my ability is still no where near the limits of the city x, so the 1125r is overkill, for now anyway. | ||
| Indy_bueller |
I'm sure that with the likes of Sean Higbee, Dan Bilansky and Jeremy McWilliams testing the snot out of it, they have a good handle on reliability. | ||
| Thepup |
Ridrx,Buell gave Rotax specifications.Rotax then designed the engine. | ||
| Spatten1 |
Partnering with Rotax is the ultimate solution. Rotax has already spent many years and millions of dollars learning lessons and making mistakes. The Rotax wealth of experience will surely help this bike to be more reliable than Buell building it from scratch without a partner. Using Rotax's experience to facilitate the Buell design is just plain smart. | ||
| Swampy |
Rotax snowmobile engine? Simple, Reliable. Not only do they build airplane engines, but there are alot of ultralight aircraft using them, and racing carts. | ||
| 07xb12scg |
Actually, it's not. Testing, for well over a year, has been intense. I'd bet on "best to date". You know that laboratory testing and ride testing on a small scale is nowhere near as thorough as real world use by customers. What engine manufacturers don't laboratory and ride or drive test their engines? Still, previously undiscovered bugs come out in real world use by customers. Still, with Rotax's reputation and recent products, I'd say the engine will be very reliable and bug free as long as DDFI III doesn't hold it down. | ||
| Thepup |
07xb12scg,the DDFI III would be the least of my worries,the bugs have been worked out on the DDFI system for awhile now. | ||
| Court |
>>>Ridrx,Buell gave Rotax specifications.Rotax then designed the engine. That's inaccurate. Buell provided Rotax some very detailed engineering drawings and Rotax responded with a proposal 3 years ago. Since then Buell folks have been trotting to and fro working with Rotax folks to fine tune production and QA/QC procedures. At least that would be my guess. . . . | ||
| Spatten1 |
Court, Do you know if the new FI system will adjust to rapid elevation changes without doing a steady cruise at each new altitiude? | ||
| 07xb12scg |
07xb12scg,the DDFI III would be the least of my worries,the bugs have been worked out on the DDFI system for awhile now. I have to disagree judging by my Buell. The coughing, sputtering, backfiring, and stalling leads me to believe that there are bugs still left in DDFI II. And I know I'm not alone with these issues judging by the Buell forums. And having to get the TPS reset and having to ride at a constant throttle for a certain amount of miles for the fuel injection to adjust itself are shortcomings of the DDFI II IMO. | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
"the motors rotax builds for aprilia are bomb proof. really top notch. we're talking Kawasaki ZX-9 type reliability." if that is the case then i want nothing to do with it bacause zx-9 is NOT reliable at all. | ||
| Spatten1 |
The ZX9 is, statistically, one hell of a reliable bike. I owned a 1998 and beat the daylights out of it with nary a problem. | ||
| Spatten1 |
I think that the DDFI is one of the weaknesses in the XBs. If you trailer a bike to a track day, and it is a totally different altitude and temperature it does not seem to adjust. I think that unless you can ride steady state for a while in closed loop, the open loop map just stays were it is. Same symptoms when riding up or down a mountain with constant throttle transitions and in open loop. Since annony never seems too choose to educate us on the subject, I have to assume that I am correct. I hope this is addressed on the 1125. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Dunno... My XB9sx has occasional fueling quirks (and by occasional, I mean like once a month of daily communting). Its far less quirky then my carbed M2 though, and far far less quirky then the carbed inline four I had before that. And it sure as heck is not as quirky as the FZ1, which is (from what I have been reading) quirky to the point of being ruined. I expect mechanical devices to be very simple and highly useful, not perfect. If I wanted that I would buy german cars (and bleed money trying to keep them that way) ;) . |
