| Author | Message | |||
     Anonymous |
in the other thread some mention of it had been started. the evening Buell advisory meeting for dealer principals only was a brief general session where they announced that they are "in development" of a "complete line of competition off road motorcycles" with an overview video playing of Motocross, enduro, and supermoto. | |||
| Krassh |
Well lets hope they start a factory race program and stick to it. | |||
| Ceejay |
will they be keeping the fuel in the frame or go with a more traditional set-up? I would think the oil in the swingarm would be too heavy, but the rest of the "trilogy of tech" would be easily and directly relateable. Just two wheelers? Seems that there is a huge market untapped by an american co. in regards to four wheeled variety, as long as the parks stay open  Cool news regardless and I look forward to the product. | |||
| Kenb |
sweet !!! i am so stoked !! | |||
| Typeone |
 | |||
| Kdan |
A Harley based dirt bike will never catch on...  | |||
| Rainman |
A little more power and the right frame and my Blast could.... | |||
| Djkaplan |
I don't see this as a good thing. If it's true, the bikes will be built offshore and rebadged in the US. Mark my words. | |||
| Anonymous |
Marked...as wrong, for all time. Sorry, Dj. | |||
| Djkaplan |
Noted. | |||
| Bake |
Any cc speculations, gotta be 450 or 250 to be with the competition I would think. That rules out any HD motor. | |||
| Jscott |
Anonymous, will we know in July whether or not SportBike riders should start looking elsewhere? | |||
| Anonymous |
Well, there will be a dealer show in July, so that is the time when some questions always get answered one way or another. | |||
| Xl1200r |
Buell is not going give up on sportbikes - that a rediculous assumption IMO. Dj - I see your point about being built offshore, and the lack of any HD engine to fit in a CC class makes this seem like a possibility, but HD has partnered up with Rotax in the past, so I think an agreement with Bombardier might be a reasonable solution. | |||
| Barker |
I was going to buy a zuki 400sm this weekend. Now I'm not. I'm going to wait, or atleast think alot more about it. I'm very excited. Anonymous, Thanx for the clarification. (Message edited by barker on January 30, 2007) | |||
| Djkaplan |
When I say 'offshore', I mean 'not in the US'. Canada is not in the US. Maybe this is why Bombardier is reviving the Can-Am moniker, albeit for four-wheelers for the moment. | |||
| Xl1200r |
Dj - I understand that, I should have been more clear. I can see the engines coming from Rotax, but the bikes built here. | |||
| Jscott |
Thanks Anonymous. I can hold off till July. I think it's great that Buell is exploring all the bike genres. Hopefully come July they will unveil the next evolution for the market they started in. | |||
| Lake_bueller |
I can see the engines coming from Rotax I think that would be a good assumption. There is a little "inside" info that would steer me in that general direction. But my sources are not always 100% correct. They were close on the Uly but it's not the bike that was originally described. | |||
| Midknyte |
Buell is not going give up on sportbikes - that a rediculous assumption IMO Hope so. We're down to just the 12R after this year if nothing else announced. | |||
| Naustin |
If they put rotax motors in their dirt bikes, then they should use the Rotax V990 motors in their road bikes too. 140hp 60 degree v-twin sounds good to me. Seriously now, doesn't it go against the soul of Buell as we know it to use something other than an HD engine? Or, if they do use a Rotax motor and break with the HD engine tradition, why for God Sakes wouldn't they put the V990 in the Firebolt? They way I see it, its all or nothing. | |||
| Jscott |
"They way I see it, its all or nothing." Come July, we will know whether it is all or...nothing. I'm hoping for something. | |||
| Tenracing |
what was said was that they are completely committed to the XB platform for current and possible future models, the off road venture is a completely new ADDITION to the Buell family. The one BAD thing I heard at the show is that the funding for the XBRR has been all but eliminated.  | |||
| Tenracing |
if there is someone on this forum that is really good at scouring the web... some information may be accessable... | |||
| Cityxslicker |
H-D is still badging and producing a bike with a rotax motor. MT-500, its been in the military service since the 80s, and is still being shipped as of last year anyways to bases, tho I dont think it is in OD green anymore  There would be some "world sourcing" of components, hell they do that on the Uly, but she is all assembled and crafted in Wi
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| Anonymous |
The one BAD thing I heard at the show is that the funding for the XBRR has been all but eliminated. Not exactly true. There's no money for a factory race team, but there's a fair amount of money for further development of the XBRR. There are a significant number of teams that will be racing seriously this year, and the factory will be doing its best to support them. XBRRs will get better and faster because of that. | |||
| Scott_in_nh |
"complete line of competition off road motorcycles" So, umm, aren't virtually all competition off road motorcycles water-cooled? Whether the motors come from inside or outside the Motor Co. wouldn't this be a natural testbed for new street/track, water-cooled, overhead cammed, multi-valve, LITE-WEIGHT technology? | |||
| Xlcr |
Yes, yes, and yes. | |||
| No_rice |
i am all for it! but i hope i didnt lose the 9R's for this though, because i really dont want my only street R style option to be a 12. just my personal feeling on it. the 9 will be paid off this year, and i have been hoping to get a motard within a couple years. that would work out about right.....  | |||
| G234146 |
Great News all around Anony! Thnx!!!  | |||
| Jerseyguy |
Dirt bike sales must be an incredibly tough market to break into. The Japanese are so good at it and have been in it so many years. Not to mention KTM, Husky, Aprillia and the rest. If Buell can come up with a bike that is competitive with my YZ, I'll buy one.  | |||
| Jon |
Amazing #1. Wow! Go Buell! Let's get American Privateer Charlie Rauseo on a Buell for his next Dakar rally. Amazing #2. All the sniping and negative speculation that comes from some folks in response to a wonderful announcement like this. Some people talk too much. Keep us posted Anony. | |||
| Reepicheep |
I think the Honda XR-650 is a fairly ripe target. Its a great bike, but a neighbor and two other friends have them, and all had fairly major engine work necessary fairly early in life. I *think* Buell could make a better air cooled thumper motor, and I *know* they could make a bike that handles better. BMW has one sort of close, but they priced it pretty high. A $5000 XR-650 competitor, even if it was not quite as "serious" for off road use, would be a very cool platform... especially if it could be easily modified for all inseam lengths (which Buell is very good at). | |||
| Blake |
I'd expect something more along the lines of a Baja/Dakar bike than a motocross machine, but I know nadda. Whatever it is, I'm stoked to learn more about it. I agree Jon, some folks can be relied upon to always find a residue of piss in a pot of gold. | |||
| Samiam |
residue of piss in a pot of gold  Sam | |||
| Cityxslicker |
It will be interesting to see. The problem I have with most off road bikes is that the seat is so high for ground clearance that riding them is impossible for me comfortably. (sure I can make it work, but it is not a pretty sight) So I end up with a KLR250 because of seat height, but wanting a 650cc range power plant. But there is something about riding a bike to the trail, hitting it hard, and then riding home, rather than having to trailer queen it. So I hope that it has some road capabilities (lights, signals, etc) Get on with the bendy and dirty! | |||
| Buellshyter |
Someone mentioned on another thread that Mr. Buell was quoted as saying he was tired of riding his Yamaha dirt bike, in regards to a Buell dirt bike. My question is, what model Yamaha does he ride? That will give a clue as to what he is trying to replace. | |||
| Swampy |
Anon, This might be the way to separate the Buell line from the clunky old HD bikes so we get stand alone dealerships with employees that care....sign me up! Infact don't forgo the four wheeler idea or the snowmobile thingies(Look at the Skidoo REV platform, talk about a radical departure!). A whole line of recreational vehicles would keep a stand alone healthy. Actually look at Shiawassie HD in Birch Run, HD+ everything else BUT Buell(Dropped 2 years ago)(of course you know this) All that traffic feeds on itself in a very good way. |
