| Author | Message | ||
     Fadboy |
2 October 2005 JUST DON'T WASTE YOUR CASH ON THE ULYSSES Buell Ulysses XB12X With Scott Piecha And Paul Myles A RIDER of the new Ulysses adventure sports bike from Buell will, in my opinion, experience less an odyssey of discovery than a full-on Greek tragedy, despite its Roman name, writes PAUL MYLES. Some vehicles are doomed to labour under a disparaging nickname and, henceforth, this weirdo from Wisconsin will doubtless be known as the Useless-es because this bitsa deserves all the slings and arrows coming its way. Here is a motorcycle that fails to achieve any of its goals as a sports bike or as an adventure tourer. I confess it saddens me to so comprehensively deride the American bike manufacturer because I am one of their biggest fans and an admirer of the company's innovative genius, Erik Buell. But his first foray into biking's equivalent of the highly competitive sports utility market is nothing short of a misadventure. Launched on Sardinia this week, scene of historic wars between the armies of Rome and Carthage, the bike had many of us fighting our own battles just to keep it on the road. Its long-travel soggy suspension made even mildly brisk progress a constant chore and sometimes even potentially dangerous as some experienced riders were thrown into the path of on-coming traffic as the bike stubbornly refused to steer on the brakes. Off 'pavement' the story just gets worse. The grumpy old Harley-Davidson 1200cc V-twin engine that lends character to Buell's superb sports bikes is a liability on the loose stuff, snatching horribly at low revs and forcing the rider to slip the clutch to ensure smooth power delivery. And despite Buell's professed addiction to low centre of gravity, the bike feels high and unwieldy, not helped by a seat height that seriously challenged my 32-inch inside leg measurement. This alone should scare off anyone under six-feet, while those over the bar should be scared off by the price - some £1,500 more than better competition from England, Europe and Japan. But, hey, every manufacturer is allowed to lay an egg on stage now and then, so we can only hope that the Ulysses is confined to the realms of ancient history as soon as possible and that Buell get back to producing more of their superb sports bikes we know and love. | ||
| Milar |
Of course it has a "soggy suspension". Of course it's tall. ALL bikes in this catagory are softly sprung and tall. >and that Buell get back to producing more of >their superb sports bikes Never send a sportbike lover to test an adventure tourer. M | ||
| Chadhargis |
Humm...seems contrary to every other review I've read of the bike, as well as my own personal opinions. Maybe the didn't have the suspension set up properly, or they got a Friday bike or something. Maybe someone peed in this guys Wheaties... | ||
| Jlnance |
I'm sorry he doesn't like it. I don't begrude him his opinion. But plenty of people seem to love the bike. | ||
| Brotherbuell |
Wow...what planet are these guys on. The only thing I can figure is that these Brits must have ridden the left hand drive stateside model and got confused, fell off and hit their head. (Message edited by Brotherbuell on October 12, 2005) | ||
| Aeholton |
Interesting point of view. I feel I can ride my Ulysses faster than my M2 in the twisty parts. As for having to slip the clutch on loose stuff, I agree that 1st should have been lower geared for off road riding. As for laying an egg...I think Buell is the goose and the Ulysses is the proverbial "Golden Egg". Oh one more thing...Buells come from Michigan, not Wisconsin. | ||
| Chadhargis |
They do? I thought they came from East Troy, WI? Just down the road from Milwaukee. http://tinyurl.com/dy3ol | ||
| Jim_sb |
Sounds to me like the writer prefers hard core sportbikes. Oh, and on a good day I'd say I was 5' 9" and I'm not scared off the Uly. Somebody tell that guy to quit whining and man up!  Jim in Santa Barbara | ||
| Bomber |
angst and ennui are staples of the British car and bike mags -- displaying one's knowledge of hstory and creative language use often override real content, IMnotatallHO (ymmv) could also be that the bike wasn't set up for the guy? | ||
| Goo |
And, who is this guy? Is this a biker magazine? I don't want to use time on some unknown writer in an unknown(for me) magazine.... I had my 5th test today and now I'm happy. After changing front tire the bike was very stable. My dealer has been patient with me, and now he's gonna get the deal (haven't told him yet, but he don't read this site, I hope) | ||
| Brat |
The writer should be doing obituaries! I've ridden my Uly solo, two up and two up with baggage, all with the stock factory settings, no wallowing etc as described. My only grievance is the "too tall" first gear for off road, the aerodynamics above 60 mph seem to suck, (a lot of wind buffeting and the bike seems slightly squirrelly) and gear indicator light would be nice (4th and 5th seem similar and I'm always checking that I'm in 5th) | ||
| Chadhargis |
Funny how people see the same bike so differently. I think a lot is personal preference, riding skill, and physical size. For me the windshield is perfect. My head is in good clean air. | ||
| Two_buells |
their still pissed that we won the war  | ||
| Lowflyer |
If I hadn't bought mine, I would still be saying that this Uly is the most fun I have ever had on 2 wheels and I have ridden the German, Jap and British equivalents. They are all quite capable bikes and fun in their own right, but man, they just don't have the fun factor dialed in the way this Buell does. I don't know if it's the wheelie-popping low-end torque or the fact that I can crank this bike through a curve like none that I have never ridden before. I often find myself almost dragging a knee just turning into and out of my driveway. It's hard not to pull a wheelie in the parking lot of my work everyday when I leave. I hope this writer's opinion does not deprive someone of the experience I have had. When I'm not riding my Uly, I am thinking of excuses to ride it. | ||
| Trojan |
To put this test into context, The People is a Sunday 'Newspaper' (and I use that description in its loosest sense) of the gutter variety with no knowledge or speciality in bikes of any sort. They normally specialise in headlines of the 'Freddie Starr ate my hamster!! ilk, so don't attach much credence to anything printed between its covers! I doubt if the 'tester' actually rode the bike in the first place. If you want to see a more objective test then this weeks Motor Cycle News has a group test against the BMW GS1200 and Ducati Multistrada. The Buell comes in a very close second to the BMW only because it lacks the off road ability of the Beemer, although on road it beats it pretty soundly. They both knock the Multistrada into a cocked hat  The only comment that I thought funny was that they referred to the front end styling of the Uly as 'Odball'. Compared to the other two bikes I thought the Uly front was very restrained! | ||
| Buelluk |
The current Bike magazine test of the Uly was also less than complimentary ,although not as ludicrous as the People article. | ||
| Trojan |
The current Bike magazine test of the Uly was also less than complimentary ,although not as ludicrous as the People article. Funnily enough, also written by a bike journo that I haven't heard of before. I can't believe that they are testing the same bike as MCN. The fact that he didn't feel confident on it without someone else there to help pick it up speaks volumes of his ability (or lack of). | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Chances are they just don't like the idea of an American bike taking away from European profits. Imagine what would happen if a good percentage of the BMW crowd became ULY converts. | ||
| Henrik |
Matt; thanks for the background info on those journalists and hence their writing. Not that I will discount anyones opinions, however it's always good to know where people are coming from. Henrik | ||
| Bumblebee |
I have one question, did he actually ride it?  Sometimes I get the impression these motoscribes don't actually try the bike they are writing about. | ||
| Eor |
Off 'pavement' the story just gets worse. The grumpy old Harley-Davidson 1200cc V-twin engine that lends character to Buell's superb sports bikes is a liability on the loose stuff, snatching horribly at low revs and forcing the rider to slip the clutch to ensure smooth power delivery. I'll have to say I agree somewhat with that observation. | ||
| Diablo |
I just bought the latest 2 best selling motorcycle magazines in my country (Greece) with the reviews for the Ulysses launch (Moto Magazine & 0-300 Magazine). Both of the journalist and riders where impressed with the bike and the Buell staff (including Eric Buell that was playing around himself)and the conclusion is that the Uly is a very good motorcycle. Since one of them is the Greek Superbike Champion for 2005, I am sure that he tried to "squeeze" the XB to his limits so I don't think this MATTE is very serious... |
