| Author | Message | ||
     Bullitt |
Kittrelle went on to say later (and I'm paraphrasing him since I didn't lift it) that if this bike turns out to be a flop, Buell will cease to be a viable entity. That's a pretty bold statement! S**T! I don't know where he gets his info, and for that matter he could be totally off the mark. My gut tells me he's right, though, and if he is the XB9R is a make-it-or-break-it deal for BMC. So, you think service, P + A, etc, sucks now? How about if H-D decides to pull the plug?!! | ||
| Blake |
"Viable" is not necessarily synonymous with "supported." By "viable", I'm sure Reg is speaking to the future success of the company to grow and compete for additional market share. | ||
| Greasebag |
Isn't it "late April" YET ?!?!?!?  | ||
| Mikej |
One more week and it will be one month closer.  | ||
| Blake |
Jim dug this up and posted on the SacBORG site. January / February 2002 issue of Street & Strip Magazine. By Peter Jones This is a new one. At the Buell Firebolt XB9R intro in Las Vegas, Nevada, a Buell engineer told the press that the Firebolt had been tested for wheelies, stoppies, and burnouts! Never before has any manufacturer admitted that any one rider in America would ever do such a thing to a bike, not to mention admit that their product was especially worthy of such things. (And of course, Buell doesn't condone those kinds of things.) At least two manufacturers won't even allow such use of their bikes to be recorded on film at their intros. And they cringe when they find out what we've done with their products once we get them home without a chaperone. More power to Buell! The Bike The "design purity" concept also includes not having parts that are not necessary. For example there is no carrier for the front rotor, no cush drive, no link for the shock, and no adjustability for the rear axle. In fact there isn't even any paint on the bodywork since the color is in the plastic. You might have heard of it in the past referred to with the acronym KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid. But "design purity", says it with more elegance. Did the design purity define the engine design too? There is no water jacket, water pump, radiator, or cumbersome number of valves or pistons. The air box has zero resistance due to the size of the air filter element and it is fed air through a tunnel in the left frame rail. The air intake below the frame isn't really a ram-air intake since it's open at the back to direct air for cooling the rear cylinder. So why such a engine design? Reasons include an air cooled engine is lighter, only a narrow twin could fit into such a small chassis designed to be nimble, two valves to provide more torque than four, overhead cams make an engine taller, radiators are ugly and, as mentioned earlier, this design requires fewer parts. The Ride The riding position of the Firebolt is what Buell calls aggressive yet comfortable. And it is. Undoubtedly, a great deal of power can be found by opening up the exhaust system since it is severely restricted as stock. That would make the bike sound better too, and I don't mean by making the thing unduly loud. But as stock, on an open road I did manage an indicated 120 mph while still having a long way to go before hitting redline. The best thing about the Firebolt is that it's a tiny bike and would be easy for riders of all experience levels to feel comfortable riding. It will also most likely prove itself to be a great bike for wheelies, burnouts, and stoppies, all things that torque, light weight, and air cooling are a natural for. | ||
| Jima4media |
This is an excerpt from the Thunderpress January 2002 issue... The XB9R Press Introduction Riding a Firebolt Buells latest lights up reviewers By Reg Kittrelle The Motor Company dropped its other technical shoe - the first being the V-Rod - with the press introduction of the 2003 Buell Firebolt XB9R in mid-November in Las Vegas. A dozen or so press folk had been invited to this party, most all roadracers of one level or another. To assure that only the motorcycles got a close look - and not the track surface - track time was alternated between a fast group (mine), and a REALLY fast group. Each Firebolt had been set up (suspension rebound, compression and reload) in advance to match our different sizes and weights. Not for experts Only My first couple of track sessions could be filed under forgettable. I was having trouble adapting to the bike, and couldn't seem to get relaxed. Getting over than required, I discovered, that I forget the way I would handle the track on my Lightning S1, and concentrate on learning the XB. A 21-degree fork angle is associated more with a trials bike than a high-speed sportbike. This steep angle implies quick-as-a-whippet turning and, coupled with a short 52 inches of wheelbase, a snappish character that repays a misplaced wheel by tossing the errant rider. This however, is not the case. While the specs may dictate "expert rider only" and certainly rewards same with precise handling, there are also very friendly to the less than expert rider. Midturn corrections, wrong lines, inept braking (hey, been there, done that) are forgiven without penalty. More so, in fact, than with the current model Buells. There are numerous great-handling performance motorcycles, and there are numerous forgiving motorcycles, but finding both those traits in the SAME motorcycle is rare indeed. XB rips! Further proof of this came on the BattleTrax course. Laid out on a 900-foot by 400 foot portion of the speedway parking lot, the course was one-third mile long with 33 turns; a definite suspension workout. My experience with BattleTrax has shown the Lightning X-1 with its buckets of torque to be the king of courses like this. Make that the ex-king, as the Firebolt ripped this course, besting several competitive brands that were brought in by Buell to be used by the journalists for comparison. Among them were a Yamaha R6, Suzuki GSXR 600 and a Ducati 900 Monster. The Firebolt should be showing up at your local dealer in March. Look for a retail price of $9,995. That's less than the current X1 and, for my money, a lot more motorcycle. | ||
| Jima4media |
The whole Thunderpress article... The XB9R Press Introduction Riding a Firebolt Buells latest lights up reviewers By Reg Kittrelle The Motor Company dropped its other technical shoe - the first being the V-Rod - with the press introduction of the 2003 Buell Firebolt XB9R in mid-November in Las Vegas. Yes, your read about this radical new Buell within these pages back in the August issue. But that was just the techno-babble stuff. The real proof of the pudding is when it dribbles down your chin - or in this case, actually ridding the critter. Wanting to wring as much publicity as they could from the event, the Harey crew offered up a two day press fest at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway that included track time, a street ride, and a BattleTrax. Just to make sure that all the scribes went away happy, they threw in a steak dinner and a private showing of The Art of the Motorcycle at the Las Vegas Guggenheim Museum. The Racy portion took place on the "Classic" tack, a 1.8-mile club level roadrace course situated just outside the main high-speed grandstand track. It's a tricky track with a couple of decreasing radius turns and very few reference points. This layout allowed the Firebolt to reach speeds in the 115-120 mph range, fast enough to evaluate Buell's latest, but not so fast as to scare the juices out of you. A dozen or so press folk had been invited to this party, most all roadracers of one level or another. To assure that only the motorcycles got a close look - and not the track surface - track time was alternated between a fast group (mine), and a REALLY fast group. Each Firebolt had been set up (suspension rebound, compression and reload) in advance to match our different sizes and weights. Not for experts Only My first couple of track sessions could be filed under forgettable. I was having trouble adapting to the bike, and couldn't seem to get relaxed. Getting over than required, I discovered, that I forget the way I would handle the track on my Lightning S1, and concentrate on learning the XB. The Firebolt is a physically small motorcycle. With a dry weight of 385 pounds (according to Buell - we didn't weigh one) and a wheelbase of 52 inches, it could be easily mistaken for something more in the area of 250cc, rather than the 984cc that it is. Factor in its relatively steep 21-degree fork angle and you have the formula for a quick-handling, fast, compact motorcycle. And it is all of that, but there's something more, and it's what makes the new Firebolt a standout in the very competitive sportbike market. A 21-degree fork angle is associated more with a trials bike than a high-speed sportbike. This steep angle implies quick-as-a-whippet turning and, coupled with a short 52 inches of wheelbase, a snappish character that repays a misplaced wheel by tossing the errant rider. This however, is not the case. While the specs may dictate "expert rider only" and certainly rewards same with precise handling, there are also very friendly to the less than expert rider. Midturn corrections, wrong lines, inept braking (hey, been there, done that) are forgiven without penalty. More so, in fact, than with the current model Buells. There are numerous great-handling performance motorcycles, and there are numerous forgiving motorcycles, but finding both those traits in the SAME motorcycle is rare indeed. The 984cc Firebolt motor is unique to this model, sharing very little with the V-twins found in the rest of the line. It's powerful, certainly, but not a giant killer. With a claimed 92 crank horsepower figure around 80 at the rear wheel...and its light weight, the Firebolt is not going to be embarressed anyplace, but its strongest virtues lay with its superb chassis. XB rips! Further proof of this came on the BattleTrax course. Laid out on a 900-foot by 400 foot portion of the speedway parking lot, the course was one-third mile long with 33 turns; a definite suspension workout. My experience with BattleTrax has shown the Lightning X-1 with its buckets of torque to be the king of courses like this. Make that the ex-king, as the Firebolt ripped this course, besting several competitive brands that were brought in by Buell to be used by the journalists for comparison. Among them were a Yamaha R6, Suzuki GSXR 600 and a Ducati 900 Monster. The third part, the street ride, I passed on, (I was busy at the BattleTrax course) I have ridden the XB9R on the street enough to know that all the positives of the track and BattleTrax show up on the street: great handling, super brakes and more than enough power for your street shenanigans. The Firebolt should be showing up at your local dealer in March. Look for a retail price of $9,995. That's less than the current X1 and, for my money, a lot more motorcycle. | ||
| Tripper |
$9,995, only $305 more for a GSXR-1100? hmmmmm I better call the insurance agent for another opinion. Tripper (#9 on the list but just found out a transfer is imminent. Can you mortgage a Firebolt?) | ||
| Jssport |
Will there be the std 49 state models and a KA CARB version?,.. or will they all be canister models? | ||
| Blake |
From SacB.O.R.G.... more transcribed opinions on the XB9R... Pat - Rider - posted 12-31-2001 12:07 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is part of the Motorcyclist magazine review of the Firebolt. I haven't seen this info anywhere else, so I poked it into my computer, and copied it here. Springtime for Sportster Shortening the stroke of an engine, the conventional thinking goes, lets it rev higher, process more fuel and make more power. That's what Buell's powertrain engineers did with the XB9R, taking the stroke to 3.125 inches from the original Evo Sportster's 3.812 (circa 1986). At 3.125 inches, 7500 rpm results in a piston speed of approximately 3900 feet per minute - just about the same as your typical 14,000 rpm Japanese four-cylinder- all of which have strokes of approximately 1.7 inches. Guys who race Sportsters will tell you, though, that rods and pistons aren't the real problem area when spinning a Sportster to 7500 rpm; the problem is the dread valve float. The Sportsters valve train -- four cams deep in the cases actuating four long pushrods (via hydraulic lifters), four rocker arms and four big valves -- was never intended to rev that high; the weight of all those items adds up. While each valve assembly has no choice but to follow the cam open, the only way to close the valve has always been to use heavy springs. Otherwise the valves, at some rpm, just stay open. And if an intake hits an exhaust, or if either hits the piston, the result is ugly and expensive. Seventy-five hundred rpm, as a matter of fact, is crowding the valve-float limit hard according to our dragracing pals at Hot Rod Bikes. The key to making the XB9R engine hang together, according to Lead Powertrain Engineer Dan Grein, is the XB's new progressive-wound, single-ovate valve springs - NASCAR-derived technology. These are lighter than previous double-coil springs -- particularly at the valve-keeper end, which is doing most of the flying up and down -- thanks to the beehive design. Other lightened valve-train components and new cam profiles allow more valve lift than before, while requiring less seat pressure to close the valve. Less seat pressure means less friction and less heat. And, the engine guys managed that while using cams with less overlap than before, which means low-end torque isn't sacrificed either. Pushrods do have advantages in this application, though admittedly minor ones. Keeping the heavy cams and their oil low in the cases is good centralization of mass, and keeps the engine a bit shorter, also. (The XB engine now has oil jets aimed at its piston bottoms to aid cooling.) Pushrods let air circulate all around the heads, too, which means air-cooling, after all these years, still gets the job done: no coolant, no hoses, no water pump, no radiator. As for durability, Grein says the new engine's been tested extensively in all sorts of climates and conditions, and everybody at Buell is confident you can run the XB WFO all day long across the Mojave if you want to, no problem. We shall see. - John Burns. | ||
| FB |
Blake, with the dark background it's difficult to tell, but i'm assuming you were hanging off on the correct side, oui? nice work, chemosobby :-) XOXOXO, Ferris | ||
| S320002 |
I don't think anyone has mentioned it yet but, it looks like changing the belt on the XB will be realitivly painless. Remove four bolts on the upper swing arm brace. Remove three rightside peg mount bolts. Relieve tension on the belt with a 1/2" drive ratchet/breaker bar. Replace the belt. Bolt things back together. I haven't seen the bike in person yet so this is based strictly on pictures. I could be off by a bolt or two. Greg | ||
| S320002 |
Oops! Forgot to remove the front pulley cover. Looks like you could do the entire procedure with the bike on the side stand. Greg | ||
| Jasonl |
It does seem like an easy bike to work on. | ||
| Buellzebub |
it looks way better in person, can't wait to ride one |
