| Author | Message | ||
     Dynarider |
You guys will hate the jan issue of Motorcyclist. they have a writeup on "fun bikes" & they include the XB12S in it. Peter Stark trashes it in his off the record comments. Calls it the worst bike he has ever ridden. I can just see the letters & e-mails flooding them now. | ||
| Steviejay01 |
It means nothing......... Its just one mans view......... I hate the GSXR600........ Does not mean its a bad bike, its just my personal view. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I blew off motorcyclist a long time ago. The only two redeeming qualities they had were their nice summary of current specs for current bikes, and John Burns. It is REALLY hard to write an article about motorcycles that I don't enjoy. Motorcyclist seemed to have an uncanny knack for pulling off this impossible feat. Everything from the writers to the fonts used made the magazine a tedious read. Burns is now elsewhere, and the more time I spend on a motorcycle the less I realize specs tell me. So no fear of me sending a nasty gram to motorcyclist, for that to happen I would first have to read their magazine, and secondly care about their magazine. Neither of these two things will happen for the forseeable future. | ||
| Glitch |
I agree Steve, makes me wonder though, what bike I woulda got if went only by what the magazines say, rather than test riding, and talking to owners. | ||
| Dynarider |
80cc Derbi or a Vespa?  | ||
| S320002 |
Wyna, Maybe you should send your letters and emails stating how much you are in agreement. I haven't seen the article yet and I can't really trust your word at this point but, if Stark "Calls it the worst bike he has ever ridden." he, like you, has some sort of fatuous personal grudge against Buell or he has ridden damn few bikes. | ||
| Nevco1 |
Was waiting for this thread. Read the article a few days ago and am still laughing. I think the motojournalists get brownie points for every slam they write about Buells. Still I find it ironic that HD/BMC and a large number of related aftermarket companies still continue to advertise in these very same magazines. Guess you have to play to the audience regardless of the media. The interesting thing is a lot of the comments make great "One-Liners" that anyone can apply to just about everything.  | ||
| Buelluk |
I still miss Cycle...it was always the most balanced 'zine, I think that Cycle World gives the most balanced view on Buell's ,although I couldn't help laughing when they said the clutch pull on the 9S was too heavy, or perhaps i have done to much rock climbing | ||
| Steve_a |
It's interesting the range of opinions that the Buell XB range has elicited. Several foreign magazines, including a Japanese one that employs a former 500cc GP rider for their test rider, have declared it the best-handling street bike they've ridden. (The Japanese ex-racer was going faster than Higbee at the foreign press intro of the 12; they were dicing and sliding XB12Rs consistently out of corners.) Don Canet at Cycle World likes the handling, but thinks the control efforts are a little too high. John Burns when he was at Motorcycle Online thought he could go faster on an XB on the street than on many seemingly more impressive bikes. And then there's the ex-Peterson magazines, Motorcyclist and Sport Rider. According to them, the XB's are almost useless on the street, and require an advanced degree in particle physics or the like to set up. It reminds of the Motorcyclist position on the original CBR900RR, where they declared its geometry and small front wheel made it unstable -- while myself and many others found it an amazingly good street sportbike. I think there's more than a little ego involved here, where the ex-Peterson magazines have declared the XB's short wheelbase and steering geometry wrong based on an interview with a man who runs a frame-straightening/chassis-measurement operation! That's their story, and they're sticking to it. Having ridden XBs extensively, I think they're very, very wrong -- irresponsibly wrong. (Not that there's nothing to criticize in XB's -- the clutch effort could be lighter, the engine could be quicker revving with a lighter flywheel, the gear shift quality could be better, and there could be more over-rev capability before hitting the rev limiter, for examples. But, overall, there is no way the bike deserves a single star for "fun" on a four-star scale.) And Buelluk, you're not the only one who misses Cycle. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
And people wonder here why I prefer to read the foreign mags to the US crop... | ||
| Nevco1 |
Steve...Question for you and perhaps an opportunity for a little unbiased humor. Wasn't Boehm working for Honda when the CBR900RR was introduced? | ||
| Dynarider |
I haven't seen the article yet and I can't really trust your word at this point Dont be a dick. And why would I email them & agree? I havent said anything bad about the 12's, I like them. I guess you only read what you want tho. Whatever. | ||
| Aydenxb9 |
Glad to see I'm not the only one who notices that! It seems that the bike mags are even worse than most of the car mags. My wife picked up a copy of Sport Rider for me because it had an article comparing the XB12R to a Ducati. The article trashed the Buell for everything, yet the writer made excuses for the Duc for having many of the same tendencies?! Claimed the the Duc was superior in every way wet looking at the test numbers, the bike were virtually identical. As an example, 1/4 mile times were 11.43 for the XB and 11.40 for the Duc,ooohh, faster by 3 hundreths. Read some of the other articles with great amusement. There'd be a page and a half describing the engine, and a paragraph describing the chassis. Looked at the cover twice to make sure it wasn't a drag racing magazine?! It all comes down to this, they're in it to sell magazines, and in the sport bike world in this country, the Japanese 4's are the red '69 Camaro and Buells are something akin to a 340 GTS Dart. Red 69 Camaros sell copies of Hot Rod, 340 GTS' don't. GSXR's sell Sport Rider, XB12's won't. | ||
| Nevco1 |
Oh No...I had a Dodge Dart. Sure hope my Buell lasts longer. LMAO Actually, the Buell has already outlived the Dart. Primarily because I stopped riding/driving like...well, you know. | ||
| Jim_m |
AFAIK, Dyna has a problem with his own bike , not all Buells. as far as Motorcyclist is concerned, I dumped them once Burns left... edited by jim_m on December 12, 2003 | ||
| Essjay |
I think Ayden hit it right on. Buellers are a very small percentage of bike magazine buyers. In order to maximise magazine sales you need to pump up the interest to your largest market and it helps if you have some portion of your subject that you can disrespect. This lets the majority of your audience feel good about the choices they have made about which bike to ride. Shane | ||
| Aydenxb9 |
Hey, don't be pickin' on Darts now. I've owned several, some tough damn cars. Put up with my driving a lot better than many other cars I've owned  Stopped by the book store after dinner and checked out Motorcyclist. What a hack job, maybe we should write! | ||
| Aesquire |
I miss Cycle. Darts are under rated. The one guy I let try my bike ('01 M2L) had shifting issues & complained about clutch pull, & he's a Blacksmith!. I figure the writers are wimps on the clutch pull, & I agree shifting could be better, but I don't have issues with it. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
I have seen the US mags rave over a new model one issue then rag on it the next...but oddly enough the adverts for the manufacturer are down in the rag issue... | ||
| Prof_stack |
I would love to be a fly on the wall of a meeting of Buell/HD exec's discussing the Jan '04 Motorcyclist "Fun Factor" piece. I truly wonder how the exec's take to poor reviews of their products. I've studied particle physics; and the XB suspension setup is truly a snap to do. I just have trouble going through the D0 accelerator at Fermilab. ![:]](http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/proud.gif) Prof | ||
| Grufflie |
}-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Glad to see I'm not the only one who notices that! It seems that the bike mags are even worse than most of the car mags. My wife picked up a copy of Sport Rider for me because it had an article comparing the XB12R to a Ducati. The article trashed the Buell for everything, yet the writer made excuses for the Duc for having many of the same tendencies?! Claimed the the Duc was superior in every way wet looking at the test numbers, the bike were virtually identical. As an example, 1/4 mile times were 11.43 for the XB and 11.40 for the Duc,ooohh, faster by 3 hundreths. Read some of the other articles with great amusement. There'd be a page and a half describing the engine, and a paragraph describing the chassis. Looked at the cover twice to make sure it wasn't a drag racing magazine?! It all comes down to this, they're in it to sell magazines, and in the sport bike world in this country, the Japanese 4's are the red '69 Camaro and Buells are something akin to a 340 GTS Dart. Red 69 Camaros sell copies of Hot Rod, 340 GTS' don't. GSXR's sell Sport Rider, XB12's won't. I RECKON ITS ABOUT 25% COS POPULAR BIKES MAKE POPULAR MAGASIENES, AND ABOUT 75% COS PETE STARK IS A WA%KER! | ||
| Nevco1 |
Aydenxb9...Wasn't raggin' on the Dart as much as I was joking about the indiscretions of my youth. I blew up a lot of cars and bikes back then! | ||
| Smadd |
I think I understand, and I don't like a lot of what goes on with Motorcyclist and Sport Rider (same company). I avoid them. But what's the deal with those mags and Buell? Did Erik Buell do something to piss them off that they want to slam Buell at every opportunity? And even in complete contradiction with other journalists?? When another journalist for another mag takes a shot at them... well... that's something! (See Steve A's above post.) Usually, out of professional courtesy they'll be pretty much conservative in their criticsm. Is it an AMA racing problem? Is it an advertising problem? I really don't believe it's the "whole motorcycle" versus the Japanese/German/Italian thing. What gives????? All of us know, even those that have had problems and aren't buying another Buell for a variety of reasons, know that the XB12 is NOT a horrible bike that's no fun to ride!!! It seems a comment like that would more likely be found on some anti-Harley/Buell Internet message board... posted by a drunk kid at 2 a.m. You know... like Dyna! (Sorry Dyna... I know that's not true... just tried to inject some humor. If this were Sacborg, I would've said "Cecil".)  | ||
| Dynarider |
Actually Smadd you are right. I was suprised to read that comment in the magazine. Usually if they dont like a bike they will cover it up some other way & use a couple of snide comments, but to come right out & say its the worst bike you have ever been on....I wonder how many Buell ads will be pulled? | ||
| Dynarider |
And Darts sucked. Dart Swingers..we called em Fart Slingers. I owned 2 of them, both 71's. 1 had a 318 the other a slant 6. Worst handling cars I ever owned, go down a straight road & they would wander side to side in their own lane. I do like the GT 340 Darts, but they too wont win any slalom racing. | ||
| Brucelee |
I was and am puzzled by that article. I have a 9S, not a 12S. After reading the article, I went out and drove the 9S as hard as I could or would on the street. I have to say that I have NO issues with its handling and I have not touched the susp. settings. The bike simply goes where I aim it and with little or no effort. To me, it handles WAY better than my previous ride, a 02 Kaw ninja 6R, which handled pretty well, I thought. The clutch is fine for me and I am not 240 lbs. The tranny was notchy when I bought it but the Mobil One 75-90 I put in the trans has made all the diff in shifting and it now is wonderful IMHO. Re:Power, can't comment on the 12 but mine is fine for me. I don't ride at 120 MPH as a habit but the 9s is very happy cruising at 75-80 and it is fun getting there. Is it me, or can't these fancy mag types actually ride very well? | ||
| Brucelee |
BTW-I rode the Kawasaki z1000 on numerous occasions and really like it. Having said that, the FI was finniky, the handling a bit jittery and the low end very very , well low. The mag apparently did not ride the Kawi. edited by brucelee on December 13, 2003 | ||
| Court |
Agreed. The bright side?...that these guys are not penning the instructions included with parachutes. | ||
| Dynarider |
instructions included with parachutes They come with instructions? Hell the 2 whole jumps I did at Sky knights out in East Troy all the instructor told us was.. Hang on to this strut, let your feet fly behind you & then let go | ||
| Chainsaw |
Almost relevant tangent: I was on a club ride back in June with about 20 other guys. Beginning of the ride and older gentleman with grey hair hops off his Nallinized M2 and proceeds to rattle off a list of modifications I need to do to my XB to make it a more powerful and respectable machine before he had even asked me my name. He had never put so much as one mile on an XB. All of his opinions were formed by reading the moto-mags. Fast forward 150 miles south. This guy has been behind me the whole time. We stop for gas, he comes over to me with a big ass grin on his face. He hollered to me "That bike will get up and move just fine as is, thank you very much!" Don't believe everything you read. Opinions are just that. This post included. |
