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Danger_dave
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - 09:21 pm: | 
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>>My head is like a helmholtz chamber.<<
Mine is tuned to D# |
Johnnylunchbox
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - 09:34 pm: |
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Mine's just empty. |
Danger_dave
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - 09:38 pm: |
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Draft: Corrections welcome.
Buell 1125CR
Another run in with a Buell.
Oh no! The last time the good folks at Auckland Motorcycles & Power Sports said ‘Dave, we need a Buell Demo bike shaken down and run-in before we put it on the fleet’ I ended up buying it.
Whether Ray and his crew knew that the XB12X was ‘my’ bike before I did, I don’t know, but when Sales Manager Bruce chucked me the keys to their new 1125CR I’m sure there was some sort of raised eyebrow, ‘you know what happened last time’, glint in his eye.
The overview of the 1125CR from the bike’s Press Kit begins:
‘Naked styling and clubman-style handlebars give a respectful nod to the nostalgic era of Café Racers.’
‘Who wrote this?’ I guffawed at first glance.
The handlebars part I will buy. Chris and the Zedman both had them on their Bonnevilles in the Halcyon days of Shed Night.
The Ed commented that was the first thing he noted too. ‘I haven’t seen those handlebars since the 60’s!’
But otherwise the ‘nod at Café Racers’ I thought was a pretty long bow to draw!’
Cast your eyes again to the above photograph and tell me where the 1125CR nods at a BSA Gold Star. The seat cowl maybe?
‘But styled in a thoroughly modern package’ the blurb then goes on to qualify.
‘Erik Buell’s 21st century interpretation of the classic Café Racer, is a new motorcycle that defies convention’. It’s about at this time that Bonehead Dave realises that CR stands for Café Racer, doh, and that the machine certainly is unconventional in the conventional Buell way.
Like it’s faired brother, the 1125R, the CR features ‘The Buell Trilogy of Tech’ - chassis rigidity, centralised mass, and low unsprung weight - as we’ve KR covered in detail in tests on the 1125R and various XB models. Fuel in the frame, underslung muffler et al.
What I did think their blurb also said well was, ‘Positioned behind the black-anodised, tapered aluminium handlebars and streamlined headlight and flyscreen, the rider has a wide-open view forward that intensifies the sensation of speed.’
I continue to favour naked bikes for road and street use for exactly this reason. It just feels like you are going faster when ‘out in it’ and all the licence keeping aspects that implies.
It’s handy because as Buell claims ‘At 170kg, the 1125CR is the lightest litre-class naked street motorcycle on the market, and combined with 146 horsepower, it offers the best power-to-weight ratio in the category.’
This thing really flies and the cornering exhilaration factor of punting along a twisty road is huge. It feels fast and potent and after a couple of very enjoyable weeks with the bike I’m pretty sure it’s not just ‘a sensation’ of speed.
Sinister Styling.
That’s what the factory calls it. ‘Love it or hate it’ styling is what it really is.
I’m sure some people won’t get past its unusual looks to appreciate the competence of the vehicle – while others of us love big ram-air scoops hanging off wild engines and have images of Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth’s Hot Rods with massive air scoops on their office walls.
Yeah – count me amongst the ‘I love the styling’ brigade – I really like the way it makes the conventional folk go ‘what the?’ And I particularly like in the way of all Buell’s designs that it’s all done for a reason.
The big side scoops house the radiators and fluid reservoir. Not only do they give a sort of ‘organic’ curve to the frontal aspect of the bike, they shift the mass of water and radiator core towards the front axle. They also swing out of the way for easier access to the engine.
I enjoyed the other styling cues as well. I had some ‘Transformers’ happening with the whole front end looks and I really like the contrasts of red and black and ‘heavy industry’ looks to the whole rear end and drive train.
The Red and black colour scheme is a photographers dream – All the right bits have been blacked out and the red contrasts – right down to the pinstriped wheels, calliper and lettering on the tyres I found appealing.
The Publisher just shakes his head and asks if I have been drinking.
But ultimately it’s about how they go.
And go it does. The spec sheet reads; Buell Helicon 1125 liquid-cooled 72-degree V-Twin engine (If you don’t work for Buell you probably say ‘Rotax’) developing 146 hp / 148 PS / 109 kW @ 9800 rpm and 82 ft. lbs. / 111 Nm peak torque at 8000 rpm.
The familiar underslung muffler (one of the numerous patents Erik Buell owns) includes a ‘Helmholtz Chamber’.
So I had to ask – What a Helmholtz Chamber be? The Helmholtz effect a phenomenon of air resonance in a cavity, an example is when you blow across the top of an empty bottle and the noise it makes – in short it reduces the exhaust noise.
Fortunately it doesn’t completely stifle the vee twin throb altogether and what is an unremarkable note at idle turns into quite a pleasant growl when wicked up, hauling out of a tight corner.
The DDFI III Electronic Fuel Injection ECM proved to be the best of the 1125s I’ve ridden so far. Only one of the four examples ridden suffered from it, but the wires carried plenty of reports of early R models suffering from throttle lag issues.
They seem to have been resolved as there were no real issues of note with this unit. It stumbled once and backfired once in the first couple of k’s and I thought ‘hello’, but as it has run in it’s been a case of hit the throttle and ‘bam’. Quite reliably and the closer you are to 8,000rpm, the bigger the bam and it all gets very rapid very quickly.
Even though Buell claims that the bike has been ‘re-geared’ for stronger acceleration I found it needs to be ridden a gear lower than I would like in heavy traffic or the directness of the drivetrain and the fueling necessitates some clutch work - or it gets a bit uneven, but really, commuting and traffic isn’t what the bike is about.
To really get the best from it a track day would be in order, but even using it as a regular street conveyance and weekend rider I found it to be an absolute barrel of monkeys on the open road.
The symphony of surge and acceleration, the very pleasant gassed up exhaust note, and the power it develops just make it a hoot.
So does the very efficient 3-way adjustable Showa suspension both ends and the way it corners like…a Buell.
Some of the bike’s capability is beyond where I took it – or anyone who wants to keep a licence would take it - on the road.
It’s fitted with a HVA (Hydraulic Vacuum Assist) Slipper Action clutch that didn’t come into play in normal road use.
What did come to the fore is how nice and solid the Pirelli Diablo Corsa III tyres felt and how well they hung on during a spirited run around the Mangawhai Heads loop.
I put in some very satisfying day rides to the North and South of Auckland city and found the bike very, very rewarding.
Flicking it along a windy road and how well if flip-flops and changes direction and its ability to change lines around an obstacle mid apex are simply delightful.
It has some of the aspects of an XB series bike in the way it’s so nice to leave it in third and carve up a twisty section and I quite like the ZTL2 brakes.
Again, for normal road use the knowledge that they are 2.5kg lighter than the best twin disc set ups is just that, knowledge, I can’t tell any difference in the performance, or the effects of unsprung weight - it would need some objective work on a race track to really tell, but that’s not what AMPS have in mind – at this stage.
I did find it very easy to do a stoppie or for that matter hoist it up on the rear wheel (closed road - professional rider) or any of the other tomfoolery that sitting astride a Buell creation seems to engender.
I found it reasonably comfortable to sit astride. It needed an occasional ‘knee break’ on the return leg of an all day ride, but that’s due to it really only needing the long red shoes and stick on nose to complete the comical look of a very large man on a reasonably compact bike (Wheelbase: 1389mm) but I found the ergos and comfort OK for a decent ride.
The demo wasn’t fitted with a passenger seat, it can do it, but carrying a passenger isn’t what the bike is about either.
This one is a more selfish pleasure.
Conclusions.
Available in Red or Black I thought the Buell 1125CR is a great fun street bike.
The ergonomics are on the sporty side of sporty, due to reasonably high set pegs (45-50 degree lean angles) and the drop bars. (A ‘traditional streetfighter’ handlebar is also available’. Nice touch with the drop bars, nice nod, give me the flat bars please.)
The naked styling lends itself to enjoyable sports riding that won’t draw too much heat at fun to ride speeds and if a day at the track is your fancy then chewing the fuel cap will see it put in some very competitive lap times. It even has a lap timer built in to the instrument pod.
Who it’s for?
Someone looking to spend $20k on a great fun road bike that raises a finger at convention. Someone who wants a bike capable of a respectable lap a track day or mixing with the quicks on a day ride but also wants the machine that makes a bit of a statement while doing it.
Someone who wants a 2009 incarnation of a Café Racer, in fact!
Eventually I snuck it back into the showroom and split while Bruce wasn’t looking - and I made double sure I left the cheque book with the Co-pilot, so the 1125CR is still available for a test ride at AMPS now – see www.amps.co.nz.
SPECIFICATIONS
BIKE
ENGINE
Type: HeliconTM liquid-cooled, 4-stroke, 72° V-Twin
Displacement: 1125
Compression ratio: 12.3:1
Bore x stroke: 103 x 67.5
Starting system: 900W electric with one-way clutch
Engine management system:
Fuel system: Dual 61 mm down draft throttle bodies, DDFI III fuel injection
Clutch: .................................................. ...................high beam, neutral, turn signals; clock
Wet, multi-plate, Hydraulic Vacuum Assist (HVA) slipper action clutch, hydraulic clutch lever effort
Transmission: 6-speed, straight cut gears
Final drive: ..............................................aver age and instantaneous fuel consumption, miles to
Constant path, 14mm pitch aramid-reinforced Veyance® Hibrex® belt with Flexten® Plus technology, 2.815:1 ratio
FRAME
Type: Black aluminium frame, fuel in frame
Swingarm:
Front suspension: 47 mm Showa® inverted forks with adjustable compression damping, rebound damping and spring preload
Rear suspension: Showa® coil-over monoshock with external piggyback reservoir and adjustable compression damping, rebound damping and spring preload
Brakes: Front .. ZTL2TM brake, 8-piston, 4 pads, fi xed caliper, 375 mm single-sided, inside out, stainless steel, fl oating disc
Rear .............Two-piston, direct mount caliper; 240 mm, stainless steel, fixed disc
Wheels: 6-spoke, ZTLTM cast aluminium 17” x 3.5”
Rear 6-spoke, cast aluminium 17” x 5.5”
Tyres:
Front .................................................. ......Pirelli® Diablo® Corsa III 120/70 ZR-17
Rear .................................................. ......Pirelli® Diablo® Corsa III 180/55 ZR-17
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 1385
Rake: 21
Trail: 84
LxWxH:
Brakes:
Length (mm)2 .................................................. ...............................................206 6
Seat height: (Laden, mm)3 .................................................. ...............................778
Dry weight: 170
Fuel tank capacity: 20.1
RRP: $19,990
Test bike: AMPS |
Josh_
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - 10:06 pm: |
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You have an editor to catch the basics and just want feedback on how it sounds?
It sounds great but the editor will be correcting a few minor details.
The specs need some cleanup also.
If you want more nitpicking:
>due to reasonably high set pegs (45-50 degree lean angles)
I think most people would consider high-set pegs a result of seat-to-peg distance (and angle) not bike lean angle.
I would also complain about the # of line breaks but the editor will fix that.
Thanks for the great read!
Josh |
Danger_dave
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - 10:36 pm: |
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Yeah an editor and a proof reader these days.
Double spaced sentence line breaks is how he likes em supplied.
It gets reasonably heavily chopped to house style and i'd probably expect to lose 200 words.
The specs get cut and paste into a template - near enough.
I want to get to where Cathcart is - he rides and then talks into a Dictaphone - then has a service transcribe it, tidy it up and it goes out to syndication as 5000 raw words - which teh mags then edit.
My take is the pegs are set high so they don't scrape and thus promote better lean angles. I'll talk to the Ed about it.
Photographed him on it earlier.
taa. |
Blake
| | Posted on Thursday, March 19, 2009 - 12:11 am: |
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Very nice work Danger man. You have a gift. |
Danger_dave
| | Posted on Thursday, March 19, 2009 - 12:43 am: |
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:-)
I had a lot of helmholtzhelp. |
Danger_dave
| | Posted on Thursday, March 19, 2009 - 02:36 am: |
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I see a few of the other things you mean now too Josh_.
You have to put it down for a few hours before the difference between what I thunked and what I typed is apparent.
I'll fix some of it later. |
Josh_
| | Posted on Thursday, March 19, 2009 - 12:12 pm: |
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I'd fix the little things for a self-publish (blog etc) but to send in you have to give the editor something to do or they'll change things you don't want them to!
(learned that one writing for my college paper) |
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