| Author | Message | ||
     Gaesati |
What prompted you to buy your first Buell? Was it a memorable experience?.. I remember the day I decided to buy my xb12r. I had just graduated from a Zimmer frame to a walking stick for short stints and after 8 weeks I was approaching release from hospital. The 8 weeks being the legacy of a 240 kph misjudgement at Eastern Creek. My spouse decided to smuggle me out for a picnic before I went stir crazy. A patient soul, she stopped when we passed the local motorcycle dealer who had an ex demo Buell for sale. I was an old customer and I was easily prevailed upon to go for an escorted ride. The centre of gravity, height, torque, refinement of the fuel injection, and the techno innovations sold me. I organised to pay for it and asked my brother to pay for it. Later in the day I went back to hospital to face the doctors, physiotherapists and nurses for another few weeks. I attribute the improvement of the last part of my recovery to the mental high given by that ride. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
I bought my first Buell when I was in my early sixties, about a dozen years ago. I started riding and racing in the late 1950's and had always been a fan of singles, both lightweights, like Ducati, and English 500's: Norton, Matchless, Velocette, BSA and such like. So I thought a Buell Blast would be an appropriate "re-entry" vehicle. It was! As I got back up to speed on the current motorcycle scene, I realized that it made more sense to trade up to an XB9, than "souping up" my Blast. A couple of years later, I bought an XB12S, known as "Little Blackie", and made some some fifty modifications to it, including Ohlins suspension, a chain conversion, and and R tail. (Details in my profile). I now ride a 2010 Triumph Street Triple R, a much better motorcycle in every regard, in my humble opinion. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
My ironhead sportster was my gateway drug. I had wanted to get an evo XLH for some time but dealerships at the time were marking 883 up to $9000 when the price was supposed to be less than $5000. Discouraged, I started to shop around and it came down to between a bandit1200, a zrx1100, and buell. ONE of these brands offered me a test ride. Guess which one won the sale? | ||
| Figorvonbuellingham |
In 2010 I drove 2.5 hours to St. Louis to buy a BMW cafe racer. The guy sold it while I was enroute. He knew I was headed that way so just a dickhead. Anyway I was driving home and see a XB12S with factory soft bags. It looked great. I should have gone to the dealer then because I would have got in on the fire sale. But I had nonidea it was happening at the time. I continue looking for a used bike and end up with Kawasaki Concourse. I rode that for a few years then sold it. So I'm wanting a bike that is light and gets super mileage. I keep seeing Blasts for sale on CL. So I pick up a 2009 low mileage for $1800. Fun bike but it only got 27mpg. I keep reading how XBs are getting 45+ so I sell the blast for $2400 and pick up a 04 XB 12s for $3800. Very sweet bike, select seat, ceramic coated factory race exhaust and ecm, black with gold rims, beautiful. I then get the 1125 itch. I buy an 09 CR to put alongside my 12 and I ride the dog shit out of it for a few years. Traded it in on a new 2013 BMW S100rr. I miss it so much that I start shopping for another one. I find one nearby and ride my XB over to take a look at it. They guys is drooling all over.my XB and the next thing I know he's saying "man, I'll trade ya even up" I fly home to get the title before he changes.his mind. A year later I stumble across a 2002 Aprilia Caponord. I dont have an adventure bike in the stable so I spring for it. Turns out I ride it more then the CR and the S1K. Its my workhorse. I really miss that XB12S though. So the trip for a BMW that was sold out from under me lead me to Buells. | ||
| Robertl |
In 2000 my best friend bought a M2 in North Dallas. I think I went 80mph in a big parking lot and was hooked by the torque. I used to ride it around in the late evenings to help get the mileage up so he could get the service done before his warranty ran out (he didn't ride much). In 2010 after a few years of sitting in his garage I bought it for next to nothing. It isn't perfect and I desire a touring bike with more wind protection but to me it stands for something, American engineering and manufacturing so it will be in my garage for a long, long time. Even my wife says I can never sell it. I've thought about a Uly but would prefer the 1125/1190 engine. The SX is very comfortable but at 6'2" I need some wind protection for the interstate so eager to see what comes next. When I posted a link about EBR sale the wife she knew I would likely buy one in the next few years. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I was shopping for bikes for about a year, had my eye on the XB9R... kind of... along with a lot of other candidates. The XB12R didn't exist yet. Ended up with a Ducati 749S which was a total POS. When I finally saw the Buell website change (3 weeks after I bought the Duc) to include the XB12R, I started making phone calls... Finally found serial number 3 sitting in Baldwin Park, California. Went in, paid cash without so much as a test ride. First and last Buell. Dealers suck, and the good ones are way too far apart. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I had a Yamaha Radian inline four naked standard, which was an OK bike everywhere, but not a great bike anywhere. That was my first bike, having gotten into motorcycling in my 30's (though I *loved* a fairly unremarkable Garelli moped from 14 to 16). It was time to upgrade to a real bike, and the Kawasaki ZR-7 looked interesting, but the inline four platform felt like a solid but uninspiring choice for me. I knew it was the best choice pragmatically, but I just didn't like it that much. The SV-650 came along, at that point still pretty hard to find, and I was really interested. I finally got to do a test ride on one, and while I loved the handling and character of the motor, the stupid tank flares were way too far back for my knees. Yes Japanese engineers, some of us actually are taller than 5 foot 5. So, now what? I started looking for twins. What else is out there. Buell? What the hell is a Buell? Seriously? Air cooled? Pushrod? VTwin? Single carb? Sportster motor (the best Harley engine)? Great brakes from the factory? Focus on handling? Interesting. Let me see what they look like. (long pause). Oh. It's beautiful! I was helpless from there. I stalked M2's, and found a low mileage 2000 M2 in black for sale by a tank commander at Fort Knox Kentucky. 5000 miles or so, for $5000, but it was the dead of winter. Bought it, and could not have been happier with the adventures it has lead me to. | ||
| Jeepinbueller |
My first Buell was my first bike. Just got my motorcycle license and had been salivating over the various rider forums for each brand. I thought I'd end up on a naked SV650. Driving home from the then-GF's place one day I see a sweet black and orange XB12R parked on the side of the road, for sale. Didn't know what it was. Talked to the owner--it's a 1200cc? Too big for me at that time. Little did I know. Searching Craigslist for all things Buell, I found a sweet white and orange '03 XB9R with only ~7k mi on it. Took it for a spin (man, this thing sounds bad ass!) and realized how much power a true motorcycle has. Fell in love. Then when H-D axed Buell MC, I sold it privately for $500 more than I bought it for and bought the '09 1125CR ... the one that has its alternator side cover off and starting components splayed over garage floor, haha! I love it, though. | ||
| Etennuly |
I was on my way to a Honda dealer in late 2004, helmet and check in hand, to buy a XL650 to use for moving trucks around. It had to be short enough and light enough to load and unload easily in the box trucks that I worked on. The Honda dealer was closed on a Monday. Who knew? Half a block away was a HD dealership. Saw a Buell sign. Never had been in a HD store before, always rode Japanese bikes, mostly Hondas, last road bike being a V65 magna ten years earlier. A few months earlier I had been in a parking lot hearing what I thought was a big block Chevy with headers coming across the lot. To my surprise it was a motorcycle. I had to investigate. It was a Buell, I never had seen or heard of Buell before. I had been consumed by having children, back surgery, and owning a business for the previous ten years. No interest in motorcycles for that period of my life. I walked into the dealership with an open mind about what ever this Buell thing could be. I saw a translucent blue City-X on a vertical display stand. I got the spec book on the bike that explained everything about it. I sat on the floor beside the bike and read the whole thing. I was amazed. It was everything I could have never thought of perfectly formed into this motorcycle. The sales guy who gave me the book, came by when he saw that I was done reading and asked if I wanted to ride one. After owning several new Hondas(no test rides - order and pick up - always a shot in the dark), I said hell yeah! I rode less than a quarter mile and was hooked. No need to ride any more. It was on a barely used 2003 XB9. Closest thing I had ever had to a magic carpet ride. Torque, engine sound, view of only the gages, nothing else in front. It had bar end mirrors. The guy asked why I came back so soon. Told him I didn't need any more riding on this bike, set a new one up so I can take it home. Three months later I read about the Uly coming out. That is what I wanted of the City-X.....longer suspension, hard bags, more uprightness. '06 Uly X. Got mine. I'm still good. | ||
| Malott442 |
I was in the Navy, just having transferred to my submarine, the USS San Francisco. My dad had bought a millenium X1 from a friend of his, and rode it a few months before he received a volley of tickets and back aches. He sold it to me....... and I damn near died when I realized what a sport bike was like. It turned! It braked! It popped wheelies! It sounded so cool! I have owned 35 or more bikes, and Buells are always around my life in some capacity. My ownership list over the years is as such: 2001-2007 Millenium X1 2007-2007 Racing Stripe X1 2007-2008 S1W 2009-2009 XB12SS 2010-2011 1125R 2011-2011 XB12X 2013-2015 Millenium X1 (a different one) 2014-2014 XB12S 2014-Present 1125R (The same one, bought back from the 2nd owner after me haha) | ||
| Gaesati |
What a great set of stories! It's interesting how they create such affection even with all their quirks. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Red XB12R, serial number 3. First and last Buell, but I loved every minute of it. Other than breaking off a bolt in the engine case while changing the stator. Every other minute. | ||
| Ourdee |
At 14 in 74 I bought a Benelli and quite a few more bikes up to 750cc. In 08 I had been riding a 1980 honda XL500 and asked my wife what she thought of me getting a brand new bike. She said I could buy any bike I wanted. She then said not a 52 Vincent Black Lightning. So, I started looking at the ZX14 and the Busa. I thought I needed to bump 200+. Still do. Then while crunching fuel consumption numbers and still web searching Lightnings I came across BUELL tubers. I went to HD and was offered a test ride on an XT. Leaving the lot catching 2nd gear I said crud, look what I'm buying. Went back and signed all the papers. Salesman asked if I was riding it home today. I said I'll come get it tomorrow. | ||
| Tootal |
I had just bought a 91 Electra Glide Sport from Dale's HD in Mt. Vernon Ill. This is the same Dale that runs Wheels through Time Museum in Maggie Valley. While receiving it's 1000 mile check up Dale asked me if I would like to ride the RR1000 sitting on the floor that I was inspecting. I said sure! This had the old iron head four speed sportster engine. The first thing I noticed was I had to slip the clutch all the way through an intersection to get going as it was geared really tall. When I came to the entrance ramp to the highway I just looked at the curve and the bike started leaning. Now I also owned a BMW K100RS and thought I had a sport bike but this thing handles so much better than the Beemer I was amazed. I returned it and went home thinking about it but since my Harley was brand new I didn't want to spend money on another bike so I passed. Many times since then I would go sit on a Buell but they were always too small for me. I just couldn't pull the trigger with the lack of legroom. Then comes the Ulysses! Thank you Erik!! A Buell that fits me! (Message edited by tootal on August 14, 2015) | ||
| Hootowl |
It was the Red Snap 96 S1 that did it for me. I emailed Erik (there was a link to send an email to him on Buell.com at the time) Huh. I seem to drool a lot. That might explain a few things. | ||
| S21125r |
As a youngster I grew up in a blue collar family that very much appreciated Harleys. My formative years were in the late 80’s early 90’s and for me there was also a newfound appreciation for bikes that stopped, went, and turned. Somewhere around 1990 ish I saw an article in one of the rags that showed this fairly streamlined bike (was either a 1000 RR or 1200 RR Battletwin) with a Harley engine in it – at the time I thought it was the best of both worlds for me although I figured it would be well out of my means considering their exclusivity. Fast forward to 1996 just after college with a few $ in my pocket. I was on a waiting list for an overpriced XL – dealer wanted deposit but could not promise me a delivery date. So I started looking through the cycle trader rags. There I found a Buell dealer in Ann Arbor Michigan advertising left over 95 S2 T-Bolts for the same price I was going to pay for the XL. Bought it sight unseen in February 1996… in Michigan. Made the first payment on it before the roads were even clear enough to ride it. That year American HD of Ann Arbor was the sales leader for the region and so Buell customers were invited for a day of fun with Erik Buell – day ride, lunch, autographs, pictures, etc. Heck of a memorable moment for me. | ||
| Dwardo |
I had been riding nothing but Norton Commandos since 1974. Sometime in 2006 I started to think about getting something more modern, that had one of those pushbutton thingies that started the engine. After looking around, it seemed like the only bike I could afford that didn't make me want to puke was a tuber. I found a 2002 M2 at a local BMW dealer and while I probably paid a little too much it's been great. Then in 2009 I made a mistake and bought a Road King for the express purpose of riding to Sturgis (from Baltimore), figuring I would sell it when I got back. On the trip it grew on me to such an extent that now it's my go-to bike. Life has been quite weird for a couple of years now and I've not even ridden the M2, much less the Commando. I need to have my butt kicked. I'm thinking I better either get it back on the road or else sell it to my buddy who keeps begging me for it and buy what, an XB? Or a Triumph? Not sure but I know I need to get back on a sport bike. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I started riding fairly late in life at the age of 46 after some major surgery convinced me I better stop putting off things I wanted to do. I had a couple of mini-bikes as a kid, I almost bought a new XLCR in 1978 right after I graduated from college, and I'd put a few hours in on a Honda XL350 someone abandoned at a house my father-in-law rented, but I had always put off owning a motorcycle until this. I vaguely remember reading about Buells back in the 1990's; I'd always liked Sportsters but I'd also lamented the fact HD avoided doing anything to modernize the platform. What little I heard about Buells sounded great. The first Buell I actually remember seeing was a new Blast at Earl Small's HD in Marietta, GA. I thought it was a neat little bike and I recognized the engine as basically being half of a Sportster. Fast-forward a few years; I've been through the MSF beginner course, and I've picked up a good beginner/collector bike, a 1983 Honda Ascot VT500FT (which I still have), but it didn't take long for 500cc to seem pretty inadequate. I remembered Buell and started researching them. This was maybe 2003 or so. I joined Badweb and dove in and really got the itch to get one. One day at lunch I'm perusing ebay, and find a 2000 S3 with what looked like minor crash damage for ~$3k BIN. Before I know it, I'm driving 400 miles to Alabama to pick the thing up. A couple of weeks later, it was repaired, running and licensed. It was everything I hoped it would be; great handling, brutal torque, easy to work on, parts were cheap and available, and it would even go 250 miles on a tank of gas. I rode it to March Badness III where I met Erik and a lot of other Buellers. I put a lot of miles on that S3. I eventually moved on to a new Uly, but that S3 sold me on Buells. | ||
| Buellish |
After a host of Japanese bikes that included a '75 Kawi H2 for that touch of adrenaline you need at 18,I bought a couple of Shovelheads,one of which I kept for 20 years.When I moved from the land of flat and straight roads back home to North Georgia I realized the FLH just wasn't going to do.It wouldn't go around a curve or stop worth a damn and while the stroker mill I had built for it would go like stink in a straight line,it just wasn't where my head was at the time. At the end of '99 I listed it for sale,it sold in a week and I started looking for a replacement.One day I plugged in "Harley Davidson and sport bike" in the Excite search engine and guess what came up.I couldn't believe it,the American v twin I had loved for over 20 years with brakes and handling and it looks cool too! I went down to the local dealer and they had a used '98 Cyclone in Black that the previous owner had thrown the American Sport Bike catalog at.I went home to think it over and in a few days decided to buy it so went back to the dealer.How was I supposed to know they were closed from Christmas to the end of the year?Back home I go and fire up the Excite classifieds and start looking.I'm digging '99 Blue Streak M2's,but my moneys kind of short for a new bike.I see a '96 S2T in Parkway Blue but can't see myself on a Purple bike,so I keep looking.I'm finding S1's,M2's and S3's,I'm diggin' Black and Amazon Green,but that damn Purple S2 keeps me coming back.I email the guy,we end up talking on the phone and on New Years Day,2000 at 2:30 am I'm up making a thermos of coffee,grabbing the trailer straps and aiming my Dakota for Illinois and a purple Buell.I test rode it in the snow and when I hit a dry patch it did a wheelie,sold!I loaded it up and brought it home.It started the madness.I don't have it anymore except in my profile pic,but have had eight other Buells.They are unique and like my Guzzi,people ask questions about them everywhere I go.I love the sound and since I ride mostly in the mountains the handling really shines.If you own a Buell and have never ridden mountain roads,you need to find some quick! (Message edited by buellish on August 14, 2015) | ||
| Dwardo |
HA! A buddy of mine had an H2 (that was the 750, right?) back in the day and I rode it. Adrenaline for sure. Clean underwear not so much. Another buddy had one of the first Z1s and that was a much better bike but not nearly as brutal. My then-new Commando would stay with it up to about 100 and then it was all over. The thing was a relative pig in the turns, though, until he threw a lot of money into the suspension and tires. His sister just sold a KZ650 she bought new and it was a steal, but I'm not really into Jap and I'm in selling mode right now. Anybody want to buy an MGB project? | ||
| Xb9er |
In January 2006 I purchased my first motorcycle, a 1993 CBR 600 F2. I had found it on craigslist and loved the look of the red/white/blue color scheme. I arranged to buy the bike in the parking lot of the IX center in Cleveland because another badwebber and I were going out for the IMS show. He had already had a XB12S for a month or so. I really wanted a bike like that but didn't have the coin to attain one. In March of 2006, I had only ridden the CBR once or twice and learned that riding a motorcycle is more complex than I had thought but really thought I had found my new favorite hobby. During that March, the other badwebber, Toona, went out to Pittsburgh to buy a 1999 X1 with thoughts of turning it into a redneck chopper. When he came back into town with it, he called me to come down to his shop to check out the X1. The bike was mint! He said that he might just resell it because it was way to nice to chop. I fell in love with it on the spot. I told him I would buy it from him. Being the nice guy that he is, he said if I came back tomorrow with cash he would sell it to me for what he paid for it. Well, 9AM the next day it was mine. It was then I learned that Buells' handle like a dream; they do what your brain is thinking. That was the bike I learned to ride on and wouldn't have it any other way. Since that time I purchased 7 other Buell motorcycles. Best motorcycles on the planet and I'm proud to see EBR is continuing the tradition. | ||
| Rick_a |
As a young child I was fascinated by the then new Kawasaki Ninja and Yamaha V-Max. The first time I really took notice of Buell was one of my brother's Easy Rider magazines when I was a kid. It was a little blurb about an RS1200. At the time I dreamed of Desmo twins and cafe singles. The XL1000 Harley he purchased at the time was cool, but not my thing. While in boot camp my mom (who hated motorcycles) sent me a Cycle World featuring a fly yellow pre production S1 Lightning. THAT looked like the bike I was waiting for. My mom of all people started my fascination with Buell, a bike that appeared to encompass all I'd want in a motorcycle. Watching dirt track, 883 road racing, and superbikes back to back on TV years prior really made me wish there was a bike that encompassed elements of all those machines. The Buell appeared to be the one. While off in the service my brother had agreed to sell me the best of his three RZ350 Yamahas (for close to three times what he had purchased it for). Not unexpectedly he later went back on his word and the last I knew of it, he had blown it up. Good riddance. A trip to a Harley shop with a solitary leftover S1 on the floor only reinforced my feeling for the brutish little Buell. Unlike all others, sitting on it felt like home. The staff thought they had a sure fire sale, but I didn't have the money or place for it at the time. Seeing one in motion in person soon later had me lusting after it more than ever. Years later, back at home with some savings, my search began in earnest. My search fu found a listing in Mukwonago, WI for a low mile snap red 1996 S1. The rest is history. The 2nd owner sold it with a warning to watch the torque coming out of corners as it could be surprising. This was the bike as I first rode it, with a drag bar and plate relocator.  1902835_744696332221165_19403780_n by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr Many years later it reached its final form where it became the bike I had always dreamed of.  ...that is until a few months ago when it went down for repairs and I purchased the other bike. (Message edited by Rick_A on August 17, 2015) | ||
| Buellish |
Dwardo,your correct,the H2 was the 750.I had very little money the day I went looking having just purchased a '74 Suzuki TM 400.I really wanted a CB 750 Honda but they wouldn't deal so a couple of hours later I was the proud owner of the H2.It got me in a little trouble with law enforcement in three states and made me quite a bit of money at the drag strip and on the street. |
