| Author | Message | ||
     José_Quiñones |
The IMS show was pretty cool. I went on Saturday, figuring that I would beat the snow. Well I did, but so did a bunch of people. It was packed Sat. Morning. I forgot that the Philly/Chicago game was Saturday, so everybody went early so they could go back home and watch the game at 3. It was much less crowded by 3:30 pm. It took me 4.5 hours to get home in the snow/rain, but that's another story....... Pictures? I took plenty of those! | ||
| José_Quiñones |
José's Best of IMS Show Awards: Best single motorcyle Display  The Buell Leaning Firebolt: This was the most fun display to watch, just because it was fun to see people trying to figure out how to get on the thing, then try to hang on! Buell reps were taking polaroids of everybody, which was very popular. Excellent idea, Buell! | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Best Concept bike with no chance in HE** of being produced: Honda NAS (they were calling it XAXIS)   | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Best Concept bike that might actually be Produced, and cause a doubling in motorcycle fatalities: The Polaris/Visteon tourer   | ||
| José_Quiñones |
The "whoah, I didn't know they made this" award This is an Aprilia Falco, after a $2000 conversion kit which includes the high mount mufflers, tubular handlebars, and the funky looking front end. It was very comfortable. It reminds me of those robots from Battlestar Galactica.    | ||
| José_Quiñones |
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| José_Quiñones |
Best Engine Cutatway: Tie: The Revolution, by HD and the RSV Aprilia    The sticker on the frame there says "MSRP includes the rest of the bike" | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Best surprise bike (didn't expect to see it here) Valentino Rossi's Championship Winning 250 Aprilia. This is from Ivannio Beggio's personal collection, and according to the Aprilia guy I talked to, it was the "single most expesive motorcycle here"      | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Best Racer/Bike signing autographs Bryan Bigelow and his 2001 SuperTrackers Champioship Buell   Bryan being interviewed by Larry, I think the's the guy that does all those "Sunday! Sunday!" promos.   It's hard to tell on this picture but this bike is using Firebolt engine cases!  The second carb. Machine work done by Randy Texter of Lancaster HD/Buell.  Note the extra plumbing | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Oh yeah, I took a few Firebolt Pictures Too, but I tried to get some shots I had not seen before:   Note the other side of the swingarm is also hollow.   Note the primary chain adjuster and the tranny fluid drain screw, which are easily accesible compared to the current Buells. The kickstand, btw, is very difficult to engage when you are on the bike. I guess that you would get used to it after a while, but it takes practice.     The new front muffler mount, I couldn't see any rubber in there, so it might be rigidly mounted.  Note the extra mounting spot. This allows you to switch the shifter to allow a GP style shift pattern. You can see this in use on the Pro Thunder spec Firebolts. How long will it take an aftermarket to come up with a plug to cover up the mount you are not using? | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Finally, some bits of information that I picked up from somebody at the Buell Display: 1. The Pro Thunder Firebolts are still using the Fuel Injection, and the only difference in the airbox is that they removed the filter and altered the intake plumbing a bit. So the stock airbox can handle the extra HP. And to put the icing on the cake, the F.I. bikes fuel efficiency is THREE times better than the Dual Carbed X1's (30mpg vs 10 mpg). 2. The frame sliders are mounted to the frame via a welded on mount. 3. The rear fan was removed, they don't need it on the race bike. 4. The full fairing/belly pan is designed to mount at all the stock locations, and Buell is "considering" selling this as an aftermarket option, but it wouldn't be cheap. Start writing those letters to Buell! 5. The Idler pulley has a sproket instead of the wheel to help to keep the chain in tension. 6.The suspension is Showa's "top of the line" stuff, but Penske supplies the rear shock on the race bike, and Traxxion Dynamics works on the forks a little bit. And the last one which shocked me, was that there might not be an Sport Touring version of the Firebolt, as Buell apparently does not feel there is enough of a market for it. Is this the end of the S3? I hope not. | ||
| Anonymous |
Those are NOT Firebolt cases on the Supertracker. Note the cam cover and filter mount. | ||
| Dave |
José, Why would Buell's decision to forego a Sport Touring version of the Firebolt mean the end of the S3? Can the S3 and the Firebolt coexist or is the Firebolt the beginning of the end of the existing 1200 line? Insight appreciated. Great pictures too! Especially the detail shots. DAve | ||
| Bullitt |
Awesome pictures! Thanks a lot. | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Anoymoose is correct, I goofed on that one. Bryan mentioned something on his bike was Blast! related, and I confused it with the cases. |
