| Author | Message | ||
     Jaimec |
Just a thought here but... does anyone else believe the XB12XT is Buell's idea of dipping their toe back into the "Sport Touring" market? Sales of this model may determine whether or not they decide to create a sport touring version of the 1125R. I have no inside information, nor do I have any inside contacts. I'm jus' sayin'... | ||
| Rainman |
If I had the money, and I'm starting to save it, I'd buy one today. | ||
| Northernyankee |
I hope it does good...I am diggin it. | ||
| Sleez |
if it had the firebolt fairing, or a derivative of it, i would like it more. as it is, i would prefer the Uly w/bags and swap out the front fender myself. the seat height doesn't bother me, and i'd prefer the larger forks. my .02! but i do agree, my thoughts exactly about the "toe in", as soon as i saw the XB12XT, i expected that was the case. | ||
| Barker |
IIRC "Sport Touring bikes don't sell" - Erik Buell | ||
| Cochise |
Uh, I am kinda dense, I'll be the first to admit, but isn't that XT the same bike as was first brought out? Or is the deal with the bike that you get the bags at no extra cost? I don't unnerstaind (sic). | ||
| Jaimec |
Cochise: No, it's not. It's more like a Lightning Long with Uly fairing, tail section and footpeg mounts. | ||
| Court |
Sport Touring bikes don't sell very well. If you can, as folks are suggesting, come into the market niche from the side door by incorporating some delicious mods that you already have in your parts bin that require no/little investment in tooling it's a good deal. The parts used to craft the XT already exist. Some will call it a "parts bin" bike, that'd be small minded and short sighted. The combination looks really attractive. I admit when I first looked at it . . . I was cool on the deal. Then I started looking not just at the individual parts but how they worked together. I predict it will be very successful. Court | ||
| Barker |
"I predict it will be very successful." +1 Me and my wife are already making plans to buy one this spring. | ||
| Buellerthanyou |
I could see Buell being a bit gun-shy on the sport-touring subject. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the S3T the lowest selling Buell after Harley got involved? That said, I have a '98 S3T (the BEST year, IMO 'cuz it's got Thunderstorm heads and a carb!). Very competent touring machine. OTOH, I think it has the least "soul" (with apologies to Rocket) of any of the Buells I've owned ('00 X1, '95 S2, '05 XB12R), though still loads more than a Goldwing, Electraglide, etc. Big saddlebags sure are nice on a trip! HellBuelly J "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single wheelie." --Buell Tzu | ||
| Metalstorm |
Does any one know if the triple rate fork springs and dual rate rear shock spring were done specifically to work with the extra weight of the side & top cases? (and their brackets). It just seems to me that their is a lot more going on with the suspension than just reduced travel. But all I can do is guess and wait for our engineers to chime in  | ||
| T9r |
If the statement is true: "Sport Touring bikes don't sell very well." What is the reasoning? Would BMW say the same thing? I still insist that the number of sport touring bikes sold is related to the style and ultimately the price. | ||
| Court |
>>>Would BMW say the same thing? Probably so. I don't have their sales and registration figures but it's a darn tough market. Tooling, particularly for things like bags, gets REALLY expensive. BMW has done a nice job of outsourcing bags and using them across the model line. For instance the bags on my BMW fit several models. In addition, they've amortized a good part of their tooling for bikes in, and near the definition of "sport touring" over the years. Their market is also more, both in fact and perception, kinda long distance touring folks. Their problems likely have more to do with the fact that folks like to get and keep the bikes for a long period of time. The XT appears to have all the competencies to allow it to play, at least on a technical and performance level, with the BMW. Many BMW owners were converted by the Uly. I expect the XT to continue that. The BMW, not unlike the Buell, is a motorcycle that evokes a certain passion from owners. Fun stuff. | ||
| Cochise |
Cochise: No, it's not. It's more like a Lightning Long with Uly fairing, tail section and footpeg mounts. I sit corrected. | ||
| Jaimec |
"Their problems likely have more to do with the fact that folks like to get and keep the bikes for a long period of time." I'm a living example of that. Had my first BMW for ten years before it was stolen. It had 158,000 miles on the odometer when that happened. My current BMW was purchased brand new in 1999 and has 114,100 miles on it as I type this (more when I get home tonight). My friend is a salesman at BMW of Manhattan. He's ALWAYS trying to sell me a new Beemer. He doesn't seem to understand that "status" in the BMW world has NOTHING to do with how shiny and new your bike is. Rather, it has EVERYTHING to do with how many MILES you have on the odometer. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
parts bin Court, I cant believe YOU just used that term. | ||
| Danger_dave |
There are two parallel conversations on this topic in here and in BB & D. HEY BLAKE! - can you merge the threads or something? | ||
| Court |
"Parts Bin" can be a very good thing. Perfalicious examplatation: If you are going to spend, say $400,000 for tooling for luggage and plan to sell (let's use the S3-T as an example) something like 200 units . . it's a deal breaker. El otro del otro . . . if you can create a really sound platform like the Ulysses evolved from the XB and work it into multiple niches where it not only fits but excels . . . hell, everybody wins. I've not voir dire'd the team yet but I suspect I'm going to find that significant research, testing and effort went into the suspension. I'd not be surprised, knowing Dane and Co, to find out that the sweetest part of this new mount is invisible to the eye. Court | ||
| Sleez |
i keep hearing that "sport touring bikes don't sell". i call BS on that, so what??? almost every major player has a sport touring "type" bike of some sort! something that is fairly comfy for a long haul two up, with hard bags and more front coverage than the average sport bike. even ducati, moto guzzi, triumph...and others. all the XB12XT needs in my humble opinion is a front fairing with more coverage, some kind of cross between the XB12R and 1125R would be great. i like it, but would still tweak it myself at this point. i am all for the "parts bin" technique, as it makes a lot of sense in the aspects that Court has mentioned, how about the next step....a real world front fairing??? i would buy one this year for sure!!! as it stands now....i am likely buying a 2008 Uly (XB12X) and adding some type of front fairing. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
i've thought about what my next bike would be and now, that's pretty well settled if i can come up with the extra bucks. the 1125 felt good, but the tuly i think would feel better between the legs. | ||
| M2nc |
"sport touring bikes don't sell". i call BS on that, so what??? I don't. If you look at the US market it is very bi-polar for street bikes. About 60% of motorcycle sold on the street are Cruiser type. Then just under 20% of bikes sold are Sport Bikes. The remainder of the motorcycles sold are everything else. So if you are looking at the market as a whole, Sport Tourers do not sell. The advantage Buell has is it already has a good seller in the Adventure bike market. I really wonder if KTM950/990 out sold Ulys in the US. Now take a popular model and slightly modify it with existing parts and all you have done is expanded the appeal of an already popular bike. It's just plain smart business. So now Buell has a Sport Tourer with very little invested. It's a WIN WIN for Buell and customers alike. (Message edited by M2nc on January 23, 2008) | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
I am planning on dragging my SS thru the parts bin and make a SST out of it. Now I don't have to mess with custom shocks to put the uly rear end on my SS. I understand the marketing in calling the new bike an XT instead of an ST. Hopefully I get a few part numbers and get started.......... (Message edited by Lost_in_Ohio on January 23, 2008) | ||
| Naustin |
For all the discussion of the term "parts-bin" I think it needs to be pointed out that everybody here who is saying that the bike needs a fairing, has said that they should have grabbed one more PART out of the BIN and stuck either the 12R or the 11R fairing on the XT. As long as they were already in "the bin" why did they leave off the fairing? As much as they touted the "Quiet Zone" on the Eleven, and went on and on about how important still air is to rider comfort and fatigue - How could they leave that critical ingredient out of the XT package?? I mean, maybe the problem is that Buell just doesn't understand the ST market? The assertion that ST bikes "don't sell" is bullshit. Sure, the market is smaller, and the buyer more discerning, but that just means you have to have a better - or the BEST -- product to do well. Saying that that genera "doesn't sell" is a damn cop-out; what it really means is that you can't best the competition. Please forgive my frank opinion... (Message edited by naustin on January 23, 2008) | ||
| Mtownxb9 |
Further, the touring segment of motorcycle sales only comprise 10% of the market and sport-tourers are lumped in that figure, it's really a small niche market. I do think that the XB12XT will find a market simply because there's been lost sales of Uly's due to their tall seat height. I can see some Harley bagger owner conversion especially from those who bought FL's and are disappointed with their performance. I didn't think I'd see myself on a sport-tourer, but the Lightning is beginning to feel a little cramped, I like the Uly, but just too tall for my comfort, so a potential customer for an XT. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
i know i will never be dissapointed with the flhtcui(bagger) but i could also be twice as happy to have the best of both worlds. now if i can just hook up a good stereo system on it along with a cruise control on the tuly, that would make my millenium. | ||
| Oldog |
I am excited about the new XT, I cant see riding a Uly size [ price ] bike off road but a sporty tourer with the unconvnetional Buell goodies, bags and none of that "kitchen sink itus" that alot of the baggers seem to have. I like it !, ( It makes more sense for me than the 1125 ) | ||
| Swampy |
Is there a picture of one yet? Maybe one with me sitting on it? | ||
| 5liter |
Piqued my interest. Uly was too big for me. This seems a little more my size. | ||
| Towjam |
Below is an excerpt from a message I sent to Erik back in March of last year.. ...I have one small request for future product consideration: I’m short - 5’6” on a good day. With that in mind, I would love to see an XB with all the amenities of the Uly but with yet a lower seat height than even what’s now stock on the ’07 Uly. I was hopeful that the lower seat for ’07 would allow me to consider the Uly for my next purchase but even with the suspension set to the softest setting, I can barely tiptoe the bike. I don’t need or desire offroad capabilities so I would give up the additional ground clearance just to have firmer footing on the pavement... Not really expecting someone in his position to take the time to respond, I was totally blown away when he did write back and included this in his response... "...we certainly are listening to the market overall, and know there are some other models or variants that might be popular. As time and funds permit, we will continue to expand the reach of the XB with new derivatives... Regardless of whether or not someone sees the XT as simply a "parts bin" bike, it definitely fills a niche and demonstrates that Erik and company are listening to their customers. As for me, I put my money where my mouth was and placed a deposit yesterday. This will be my 4th Buell and the one I've been waiting for Buell to build all along. | ||
| Bad_karma |
First time that I have felt the desire to buy a XB. Now lets get the 1125 fairing and an 88 in it. Joe |
