| Author | Message | ||
     Badrap |
I was wondering how and why you became a Buell owner / rider and not some other machine. Lets hear the stories. | ||
| Etennuly |
Wait a minute.....what is YOURS????   | ||
| Nobuell |
I had not owned a street bike for quite a few years. I started getting the bug to buy a rode bike bad. My last road bike was a sport touring BMW so I wanted something similar. BMW did not real have a sport touring bike available in the USA. I saw a couple Buells running around the area so I started investigating the Buell. I went to the local HD/Buell dealer and looked at the bike. The manager came over and started telling about the bike. He and the owners both rode Buells so he gave me some good info. He even gave the web address for this site and told me to check it out. I was considering a Guzzi Norge and a Ducati Multi (air cooled) but eventually ruled them out. I just liked the 08XT. I still love the bike and I am very glad I purchased it. I do not know what I would replace it with as no bike currently grab me. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Two words: Harey and Davidson. Hate if you want, but if it weren't for H-D I'd never have considered a Buell. | ||
| Eboos |
HD for me also. At the time, I had no interest in sportbikes at all, but I couldn't afford a Harley. I was planning on making one of those Redneck choppers out of it, but once I started to ride it, I really enjoyed it. Took it to the track the following year, and the year after that made it a full time track bike. | ||
| Union_man |
The Ulysses I wanted an American performance motorcycle but, I also wanted to bring my wife along for the ride. The Uly is cool and has a good pillion. Practical yet FUN! Now I want add a S1 to the stable, sexy and impractical! | ||
| Badlionsfan |
Guy I worked with had an S1, thought it was cool. When I was finally in position to buy something in early 07, I had my choices narrowed down to CityX or Triumph Bonneville. Buell was at the IMS show in Cleveland so I was able to sit on a CityX, Triumph wasn't there. CityX lead me to the 1125r a little over a year later, and now I've added the Triumph I always liked also. Is that having my cake and eating it too? | ||
| Badrap |
I happen to stop in at the HD dealer to check out the cool transparent plastic on the Buells and the salesman wanders (runs) over to greet me (fresh meat). He proceeds to tell me that HD stopped making Buells and they were having a fire sale. Well, I wanted to get a bike that was more comfortable than my current Suzuki and was more practical, like a sport touring machine. There It was, a racing red XB12XT. It had what I wanted and was priced right. I did some homework and a few days later, the rest is history… Ok, your turn Etennuly. | ||
| Mark61 |
I have followed Buell ever since they had a story about his work in the Enthusiast back in the early '80's. Got to love something someone has so much passion for! Took me until 2004 to afford 1. Plus I want to ride almost every thing with 2 wheels I see... | ||
| Cpeg |
I was getting tired of getting tired of riding the dirt on my big bagger HD. I wanted to go where no HD could go to get away from the pirates and rubs. Had to pass by too many great rides and adventures because the barge just wouldn't make it up that trail. I tested BMW's, Triumphs, KTM's, Suzuki's, Honda's, Kawasaki's, Yamaha's and had a great time playing on them, but I felt more at home on the Uly. Still have the barge, but it just sits there looking sad. | ||
| Daves |
I was getting bored being a HD salesman. I came out of the auto business where you actually had to know how to sell and take care of your customers to make it. I started selling HDs in 1998, the 3000.00 over MSRP, 2-3 year wait gravy train years. I was so sick of being an order taker. An ape could've done my job. I met Erik at the dealer meeting,liked the way he did things and told the owner of the dealership I would take on the responsibilty of Buell. We became a Buell dealer shortly after and it all went downhill from there! It worked out pretty good, I sold one or two over the next 7 years  That was in 1999/2000, I was 36 years old and owned 3 Harleys. | ||
| 99savage |
After 2 generations of Penney Saver specials wanted to get serious about riding. Did not want a Bagger, a Cruiser, a Crotch Rocket, a Chopper - Wanted a damn MOTORCYCLE - You know 2 wheels, engine, seat & not much more. - No damn fairings, no hard bags Wanted to be able to pass the cages if necessary & go places where I wouldn't drive. Was pretty much down to looking for a restored, air-head BMW - (The Enfield dealer having frightened me off & not yet aware Triumph was back in business) - When a co-worker from Milwaukee told me about the Ulysses | ||
| Brumbear |
got on one ... and never looked back | ||
| Teeps |
In a word: Ulysses. | ||
| Thumper74 |
I had loved the XB bikes when they came out in 2003, but I was only 19. I was looking for a Sporty in 2006, Helen at AD Farrow took me to the warehouse to show me some bikes. I walked past the XB and it caught my eye. She fired it up and I fell in love with the Race exhaust. I fouled out the plugs twice listening to the exhaust in the garage waiting for spring. | ||
| Spikey |
Went to the H D dealer to buy an xr 1200 after riding my brother in laws, saw a brand new 07 uly sitting there and since I come from a dirt background I liked the looks a lot more, and my wife liked the much larger rear seat. We went for a ride and the rest is history, didn't even sit on the xr 1200. | ||
| Guell |
I was looking at 3 different bikes, a kawasaki zrx1200, a ducati monster 900 and buell tubers. My m2 came up for sale on craigslist for a great price and i havnt looked back. Another plus that i liked was that it was tied in with hd | ||
| Rpm4x4 |
Two words: Harey and Davidson. Hate if you want, but if it weren't for H-D I'd never have considered a Buell. X2 I went in looking at Vrods and left with a Buell. No regrets. | ||
| Redefine420 |
Honestly, don't flame me here, but I wanted to start a chopper project. After I got it home and rode it, there was NO WAY I could dismantle this beauty. In the years that I've had it I have completely changed my perspective on the chopper crowd. At first I saw it as an artistic project, but after riding for a while I can no longer understand the point of riding a machine that is bad at everything except maybe looking cool. It is a sacrilege to dismantle any Buell to create something that will not perform as well and look as god damn good. | ||
| Etennuly |
I was loaded up to buy a new Honda XL650 to use for my business. I had not been in any mc dealership in several years, so I was amazed that they were closed on a Monday. A block away was a HD store. I had ridden mc all my adult life and never had been in a HD dealership. It was foreign territory for me. I had always ridden Jap dirt bikes and Honda road bikes, I did not(and still)fit the HD mold. But somewhere I had read about a Buell, and a year earlier I had seen one in a grocery store parking lot sounding all like a BB Chevy with headers. So I hike up my leathers and stroll in. There was a Hero Blue City-X sitting on an angled display stand and lots of stuff to read. I like new hi tech machines and in '04 this was one! After twenty minutes of sitting on the floor studying how many technological advances on this machine had been done the way I would have done it, a sales guy who was into Buells came over and asked if I needed help. We struck up a conversation and shortly after he asked me if I would like a test ride. I was confused. All of the new Hondas that I had purchased were done so in advance of them even hitting the sales floor. I liked their new stuff and had not hit a bad one, but test drive? Honda did not even let you test ride a used bike. Next to the City-X was a freshly traded '09 XB9. The sales guy asked if I would mind test riding the used bike because it was so similar to the new one that had no miles on it. I said "hell Yeah!" I had never ridden anything like that XB. All I could see of the bike through my full face was the bars and the gages. I was amazed at the torque and how smooth it pulled. I got permagrin before I knew what it was. Two miles later it started to rain so I hustled back into the dealership where he was holding the door open for me. He asked me if I wanted to buy one, to which I answered "hell yeah!". The finance and deal closer guy had only heard me say two words twice since I had been there. Ironically he asked if I was buying the new City-X, again I answered "hell Yeah". I rode the City-X 13,000 miles in that first year loving every minute of it, except one especially cold day on a trip into GA with no wind protection and no heated gear. The first Uly was introduced about six months after I bought the City-X. THAT is what I really wanted. So I had to wait to get one that wasn't pre-sold. Got that in June of '06. Three months later I sold the City-x because it had not moved since I got the Uly, and did not look like it ever would need to. 55,000 miles later with a used Blast in there somewhere, I am still super pleased with my Uly. Badrap.....did you get all of that?  | ||
| Jumbo_petite |
Knew a little about Buells, but the first time I walked into the dealer and spotted the S1W I was hooked and must have one.I have my S1W plus a S2 and 2010 Firebolt. (Message edited by jumbo petite on April 29, 2011) | ||
| Panhead_dan |
I had an eye on Buells for a decade or so but always stayed away because I was concerned about reliability. I was always interested because they were different in ways that I like. Then came the XB's. In '03 I made my move on an 9S with the race kit and loved it. Traded up to an '06 Uly for practicality reasons. I ride to work most of the time and have to haul tools, lunch and drinking water. It's been working out just fine. I do miss that 9S to this day. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Went to the IMS in Daytona in March '04 looking at the blasts. My GM in New Berlin, WI knew I wanted to get back on 2 wheels and suggested I get back in the saddle on a quirky one-lunger made in East Troy which was just down the road from our WI office. We both sat on the blasts, and after being away from motorcycles for so long, it just felt right. We read more about Buells, and yep, that was the bike we wanted. Fast forward to November 2004. We lost four trees during the hurricanes, one landed on the backyard fence. Our first day off together in weeks was going to be spent either a) fixing the fence, or b) buying the new blue blast at our local HD/Buell dealer, signing up for the BRC, and learning how to ride on the street. We chose option B. One bike between the two of us lasted one month. We'd never fought so much in all the years we'd been together as we did that month over who got to ride the motorcycle. Before the year was over, there were two in the stall: the blast and a used sporty. Peace returned to our household. (Message edited by fltwistygirl on April 29, 2011) | ||
| Preybird1 |
I never even heard of a BUELL. Then my brother saw one X1 for sale and he bought it. He let me ride it a little and i was blown away by the sound and the torque.....so i bought it from him. I still love it and will never sell it. | ||
| Bjbauer |
I was actually looking at a Yamaha FJR but the dealer would not take a trade on a watercraft that they sold me and screwed up on fixing a few times. Long story short their screw ups cost me 2 summers of use and then they wouldn't take it on trade! A letter to the customer service rep changed their mind but it was too late I was done with them and in the mean time started looking at reviews for sport touring/ dual purpose and the Ulysses reviewed well and the Harley/Buell dealer was right across the street. No regrets. Love my Ully! | ||
| Pwnzor |
I was shopping for bikes back in early 2003, and I had made a desktop image for my computer that had all the possible candidates on it. The Buell XB9R wasn't on it, because it didn't meet one of the criteria for what I wanted, which was 1100cc or larger displacement. I kept watching all the websites for changes as the new model year was coming out, and Buell was in my list of sites. One day I noticed there were now red and black XBR's and that the XB12R was "coming soon". I picked up the phone, started calling HD dealers to see if I could find one. Two weeks went by, and one day while I was at Bert's Mega Mall, I bought a 2003 Ducati 749S on an impulse. It didn't meet any of my criteria, but for some reason, I just had to have it. Finally, one day as I'm making my calls to find the bike I actually wanted, I get a salesman from Laidlaw's in Covina, CA. He says "yeah, I got one. It's red." I told him to put his hand on it, and not to take it off until I got there, I was on my way. I had $10,000 cash in my pocket and was determined to get a good deal. Long story short, the dealer wouldn't budge on the $12500 price so I told him to forget it, I'll go ride my new Ducati. A couple more weeks goes by, and I call up to Laidlaws and spoke to the salesman, he still wouldn't budge on the price, told me if I could find another one, I was welcome to go buy it. I got $12500 in cash, hitched a ride up there and rode it home. Never regretted it either.   | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I had to meet a business associate at Rocket HD in H'ville, AL. He was running late, so I had about 45 minutes of time to kill. I had ridden dirt bikes when I was younger but never rode a street bike. I sat on the bench outside of the dealership and stared at a red 05 XB12R or 45 minutes straight. I was simply smitten with it. I hadn't even really considered a street bike or riding again. I was considering getting my pilot's license, but knew that was going to be an expensive proposition. I floated the idea of getting a motorcycle with SWMBO. She did a comparative analysis of crash survival potentials and green lighted the bike. I considered getting a dual sport. I had ridden offroad and liked it, but I wanted a bike capable of more than just limited off read use. I looked at KLRs, F650GS, GS, Steamers, etc. Joined Advrider.com. Met some guy named Chad Hargis in a thread about the new Buell dual sport, the Ulysses. I was smitten. Took the MSF course from Chad in October of 05. Joined BW in June of 06. Bought the Uly two weeks later. Never regretted one minute of ownership of Buell or participation in the culture that is Buell or BW. Thankful for every Bueller I've met. | ||
| Cyclonedon |
I went to purchase a Harley back in 1998 and my dealer talked me into test riding a Buell. I don't remember if it was the second or the third block during my test ride that I decided to buy it, but I'm glad I did. American made sport motorcycle, that's just what I was looking for. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Got to go Back to the Track 1 in 2005. bought the City X three weeks later, The Back to the Track II, and the 1125R rollout only confirmed me as a brand convert. I really wanted the ULY; sadly, I have a short inseam and would need a milk crate to stand on to make bike work.... even with the short seat. Pushin the CityX every where a ULY would go... with surprising results ! Most fun bike I have ever had... save the XR75 that started it all for me. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Saw an writeup in Playboy back when the XB came out. Then saw another one in Maxim a couple years later. Had to have one. |
