| Author | Message | ||
     Spatten1 |
And yes Spike, the big Triumph is the grossest thing I've ever seen. | ||
| Blake |
Please Lord, make it stop.   | ||
| Blake |
Sean (Rocketman), You may be confusing the location of the center of mass with the concept of mass-centralization. One dictates how much forward versus aft weight bias the bike has. That would be the location of the center of mass, also know to you as the center of gravity. The other relates to how compactly the bike's mass is located around that center of mass. That would be mass-centraliztion, known to engineers as minimizing the mass moments of inertia. A solid steel ball and a four-pronged tire iron may have the same mass, and if set with their centers over the same axis, their centers of mass may share identical locations wrt that axis. Which one has the best mass centralization? That said, a bike with a greater pitching mass moment of inertia (lesser fore-aft mass-centralization) will be more resistant to wheelies and stoppies. The typical focus of mass-centralization efforts for a motorcycle is probably mostly concerned with the rolling axis to reduce as much as possible the motorcycle's resistance to being leaned and stood back up. I can see where some added distribution (decentralization) of mass fore and aft on a motorcycle with 220+ RWHP might be advantageous for stability and optimum acceleration and braking performance. But not for handling in the turns or on any street bike. | ||
| Jaimec |
Well, I don't see why anyone needs 160+ hp for a street bike either... but people buy 'em!  | ||
| Freezerburn |
The only thing people need is shelter, food and a mate(s). The rest is all decadence. Can't flame anyone for wanting more when we are all indulgent in some way or another. | ||
| Luvthemtorts |
Why do they need a mate if they have a hand  ? | ||
| Dutchboy |
Buell should be emulating Ducati in some ways so we should be paying more to wait longer for parts and service at even fewer dealerships than we are now??? That is too funny. The first time I rode a Buell was while my Ducati Monster was sitting in the shop for ten days waiting for Ducati to replace the battery after it spit acid on my rear cylinder head (I don't know how long it actually took for the battery to get there, since the dealership finally swapped a battery out of a floor model for me after I suggested it real nice like...). That test ride is why I have a Buell now (even if it took me three years to get around to it). While Ducati has played to their strengths well - frankly my Ducati ownership experience is a large part of why I prefer low-maintenance bikes, having learned the hard ($$$) way how much time and money some bike's needs can suck out of you. You're right, poor parts distribution and dealer support networks are definitely not things to emulate. Sadly Buell's already stuck with that. Even worse, they have to depend on Harley salespeople to sell their bikes, and only a few of them even try. In fairness to Buell, my experiences with Ducati, Triumph, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Harley and (go ahead, laugh) Vespa haven't left me with much confidence in any make's service - which is why I'd rather sacrifice oomph if it gets me lower maintenance needs. The less time my bike needs to spend in the shop, the more time I can ride it. The less work shops do on my bike, the less I have to worry about them screwing it up. I think the key thing is to take what your company is good at and build on it. Triumph got smart, gave up on trying to play the inline-four game and focused on retro twins and sport-oriented triples. Ducati has gotten a lot of mileage out of the Monster series. I hope Buell keeps making fun, reasonably low maintenance bikes and doesn't lose touch with what makes them special. | ||
| Rocketman |
The other relates to how compactly the bike's mass is located around that center of mass. That would be mass-centraliztion, known to engineers as minimizing the mass moments of inertia. That is what Steve Parish was referring to when he pointed out the location of certain items. I'm not confused. I understood perfectly well what SP was saying. He claimed he was referencing from what some riders had said. What do I know? I know what MASS centralization is. Trust me. I might show you a pic in the next day or two  Rocket | ||
| M1combat |
"My original statement still stands. You cannot have repli-racer performance at the repli-racer price without buying/building a repli-racer." That depends on your definition of performance and where you want it though. I'm not flaming you but I didn't pay my price to drag race. I paid for a Buell because my driveway drops me at turn three of one of the best canyon roads in my country. My XB damn sure does out perform the less expensive japanese race replicas on that road (pretty much the only one I care about outperforming them on)... Even the 1000's. Most of us here aren't about drag racing or anything of the sort... Id bet that most of us don't even get our panties in a bunch when presented with the prospect of a "street challenge". I don't either, but I can guarantee that the pace I can run on my XB is generally greater than the pace most people can run on the hosukyamakaws... And I've only got 50K miles on it... I'm not even that experienced. The XB works where it's supposed to and works exceedingly well. No one will ever be able to convince me otherwise because I've watched (and produced) it's performance time and again to the horror of those 160hp bikes. I've got my moneys worth. I haven't done it on a less than technical canyon road but I don't care to. Every time someone looks at my speedo I say "It won't actually do the 160 it says on there... it only does 140." The response I get from just about everyone that doesn't own a GSXR1K is "Well... That's certainly fast enough anyway  ". I agree. So they lowered the CG on the RC too far... they need to raise it then... Sounds pretty simple to me. Whatever... It's not a street bike... It has different needs and characteristics. I'd bet that the mass on the RC is MUCH more centralized than on an XB. I'd bet that given it's overall mass and CG that the XB's centralization of mass is just about perfect. It's not Buell's fault that Honda went too far  . /Edit Maybe they just need to decrease the rake a little to give that centralized mass location a little more mechanical advantage on the brakes???? Who knows... (Message edited by M1Combat on May 23, 2007) | ||
| Skully |
M1 - Are you referring to Hwy 89? | ||
| Spike |
I'm in agreement with you on the overall performance, but the context in which performance was being discussed was acceleration. Clearly there is no argument that once the repli-racer gets to the RPM where it makes peak power there is nothing other than a repli-racer that will keep up for the same price. | ||
| M1combat |
Ahhhh... I guess I missed the context then . I guess that context just completely escapes me most of the time when it comes to motorcycles. For me they aren't made to go straight but soooo many people get their panties in a wad when they get beat by someone in a straight line. I just don't race there is all . Simple solution . Yes Skully ... Hwy 89. | ||
| Court |
Don: You'd love my Highway 89 story . . . I hook a left of 40 onto 17 while making a shake down run from Topeka, KS to Marina del Rey. I decide what the hell and take the 337 Exit and head South on 89A. I'm less than a mile into it when blaaaaaaaaaaah. . . . no fuel. Quick switch to reserve. I did the coast as far as you can . . .start . . run . . coast drill and ran out of fuel just as Sedona came into sight. My coasting ended at the first gas pump in town. That's the luckiest I have ever been. Filled up ran back up the road, back down and back on the road to L.A. Court | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Sure buell could build a race replica... Make mine a Paris-Dakar version though | ||
| Midknyte |
you guys are going to be so pissed when they drop a 150cc mini dirtbike on us in July | ||
| Rocketman |
Not me. I've lost interest in waiting for Buell to bring a killer fighter to market. Better off building your own. At least you don't have to play the guessing game, only to be that 'disappointed' you speak of. Rocket | ||
| Bueaddicted |
 "150cc mini dirtbike on us in July" | ||
| Naustin |
I'd be ecstatic if they just came up with an optional, nice big sport touring fairing that would bolt on an otherwise unchanged uly. Maybe change up the syling on the Firebolt fairing at the same time, and redo the headlights on the Lightning seeing as there have been problems with headlights lately. Generally freshen up each model from a purely asthetic perspective. Give them a new look. The Thunderstorm engine has all the power I'll ever need. Maybe they could just re-design the engine cases and make the transmission smaller or something. I don't care about 150hp, watercooling, or beating R1s at the track. That's not why I bought a buell. I don't want a watercooled buell. Raceing is cool, but I'm content with being the fastest air-cooled v-twin. A NASCAR stock car is actually pretty useless when compared to F1, or or WRC or any other genra. But, nobody cares. Rather than try to go compete with the I4s, lets make them play our game. Lets make air-cooled v-twins the niche of motorcycle racing that is most popular. If Nascar proves anything, you don't have to be the fastest or best handling to be the most popular. Maybe the buells should be running races the day before the NASCAR events on the infield road courses to build interest with a very broad audience. Throw in a few fist fights and some trophy wives and maybe you'll have Motorcycle racing on ABC every Sunday before the NASCAR featuring Buells leading a pack of asian and european air cooled v-twins... | ||
| Mdm |
>A solid steel ball and a four-pronged tire iron nice analogy, thanks for that | ||
| Fcbuell |
heh heh... there's some enthusiasm! | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Barry the Bueller says "Buell & NASCAR.... Git R Dun "  | ||
| Molly_hatchet |
holy crap its larry the sales guy..they let u sell them hogs lookin like that...must be all the dirt ya got stuck in ur craw,,,made ya all funny n sh!t...... | ||
| Cityxslicker |
It was for Halloween. The funny thing is that a couple of people didnt know that I had "dressed-up" and was in a 'costume'. | ||
| Madduck |
Nascar and dirt track racing are very likely to happen in the very near future. AMA won't be the only organization running dirt track by this time next year. | ||
| Firemanjim |
I find it interesting that Buell cancelled a bunch of their test ride dates like this last weekend at Infineon but have a special 8 week test ride tour scheduled for later this year. And talked to a fellow Badwebber at the races that was just back at the factory and went for a tour. They were taken around by some poor PR woman who took him somewhere he was not supposed to go. Said he went through a door following behind and saw a Uly with a decidedly "not Uly" motor. And was then hustled out before being able to get up close and personal. | ||
| Wademan |
I hate to be the guy to add to this shit but my local dealership owner said to expect a liquid cooled bike from Buell this year. He has never spewed crap before... Why would he say that if it were not true? If it is true how did the fact get leaked out? I am keeping my expectations low but all I know is I am like a little girl waiting for July to roll around... I dont care what it is but just the thought that it is something radical is EXCITING! | ||
| Cgocifer |
Maybe he was talking about the dirt bikes. They are water-cooled and use some radical design cues apparently. | ||
| Wademan |
Opps, forgot the detail about him saying sportbike. | ||
| Josh_cox |
You guys are fun. July is getting closer! Josh | ||
| Imonabuss |
It's a superbiketouringdirtbike combination! I know 'cause my buddie's mom is the haidresser for a guy who works at Buell! |
