Eric Buell Racing 1190RS first look!

[Grubber]

It's $US40k too - It is the all carbon, all unobtainum, hand built, racer - with the stuff on it to get 'homogenized' for AMA.

The plan will be for an affordable street machine - eventually.

Which makes a lot of sense. Tend to sell after they do well on the big circuit.
Anything similar on the road would look mean, but not sure about the brakes either. they kinda look a bit ugly and have heard they not so great to use. Depends somewhat on how you use them off coarse.

[avgas]

Buell? I thought they were dead? Nice looking tho. Reminds me of Bimota.

And for that reason I WILL buy one.
Can't wait to see the nekkid one

[ajturbo]

Like Big Dave said... the 40k (US) is for the 1st limited edition race bikes.. and I bet they are ALL pre-sold
The ACTUAL street version for mere mortals will be more affordable....I just hope it will sound just as great as the CR.....

[slowpoke]

'Similar' bike won the AMA series.

Dave, I know you always look at Buell through a rose tinted visor but you know as well as I do that "Daytona Sportbike" class is/was a joke. Jacking the rules so that the latest and greatest 1125cc twin from Buell only had to compete against 600cc IL4's and ancient 1000cc Aprilia RSV1000R's did nothing except prove it couldn't compete against all the other open class bikes that weren't allowed in.......

.....which is exactly why you didn't mention which series it won. A win for the ages it was not.

I've nothing against Buell's (sorry, EBR's) but just wish Eric Buell would put his ego in his back pocket and show a bit more common sense. But once again the buying public will be left kinda confused, kinda interested and kinda buying something else.

[Big Dave]

Dave, I know you always look at Buell through a rose tinted visor but you know as well as I do that "Daytona Sportbike" class is/was a joke. Jacking the rules so that the latest and greatest 1125cc twin from Buell only had to compete against 600cc IL4's and ancient 1000cc Aprilia RSV1000R's did nothing except prove it couldn't compete against all the other open class bikes that weren't allowed in.......

.....which is exactly why you didn't mention which series it won. A win for the ages it was not.

I've nothing against Buell's (sorry, EBR's) but just wish Eric Buell would put his ego in his back pocket and show a bit more common sense. But once again the buying public will be left kinda confused, kinda interested and kinda buying something else.

I have no rose coloured anything, nor loyalty to any brand. There are products I like because they work well or suit my requirements, but if someone else makes a better one - I'm there.

All I have stated is fact. A similar machine won AMA races. Your opinions on personalities and the merits of handicap racing are your opinions.

And his name is Erik. Having hung out with the guy I can assure you that ego is not his issue. I'd call it steadfast belief in his designs and research.

Not a win for the ages I do partially agree, but then substitute Britten and BEARS in the same argument and you could start a fight with most Kiwis.

[Big Dave]

Best non-ego moment for me was in the Australian Alps and we stopped for a photo shoot.

I was looking down the Snowy River Valley away from the bikes when Boris from AMCN pokes me in the ribs and points at Erik filling my bike from a Jerrycan.

'Betcha Tamburini wouldn't be filling your bike on an Agusta launch hey Dave'.

My ego however - sheeesh.

[Big Dave]

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufactur...iew-90439.html

[Big Dave]

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[slowpoke]

I have no rose coloured anything, nor loyalty to any brand. There are products I like because they work well or suit my requirements, but if someone else makes a better one - I'm there.

Haha, I reckon what you've already written about American bikes in general speaks volumes for where your heart lies. Not that that's a bad thing, considering your job it's actually kinda cool that you are still passionate about any bikes.

All I have stated is fact. A similar machine won AMA races. Your opinions on personalities and the merits of handicap racing are your opinions.

And his name is Erik. Having hung out with the guy I can assure you that ego is not his issue. I'd call it steadfast belief in his designs and research.

Fair comments, but it beggars belief how the 1125r looked the way it did and why the ZTL brake is persisted with other than the fact Erik (oops!) likes them, and despite road tests/opinions to the contrary. And belt drive for a sports bike? How expensive/inconvenient is it gonna be to change the gearing on that?

Not a win for the ages I do partially agree, but then substitute Britten and BEARS in the same argument and you could start a fight with most Kiwis.

C'mon Dave, you're a smart guy: a Buell beating up on bikes half it's size in a lower tier national series is hardly the same as beating Factory WSB Ducati's ridden by World Champions. It's not even the same as the current restricted Ducati's beating the unrestricted 1000 IL4's. The Britten was one of the fastest bikes in the world at the time, and no Buell (or EBR) is anywhere near that. I think you need to go back and revist that first paragraph big fulla...........

My apologies for ranting but Buell just frustrates me with making some really cool bikes, with some clever engineering that I'd be very interested in if he just followed a bit more of the KISS principle. This latest thing is no different: lose the carbon fibre frippery, bolt on some tried and true brembo monoblocks, sell them for half reasonable money and his solvency worries would be cured as he'd sell 'em as fast as he could make 'em.

[Big Dave]

Nothing to revise. It's handicap and class racing. The rest is relative and the merits are a matter of personal opinion.

FWIW I am equally as enthusiastic about the Concours 14, the R 1200 GS, the Yamaha Tenere and the new Triumph Tiger XC - and a Dozen others.

I gave my personal bike of the year to a BMW. My heart lies with vehicles that are fit for purpose.

I report my own observations and don't accept unsubstantiated statements contrary to those experiences. That's not carrying any torches.

The brakes - I'm happy with the brakes on my Uly, the reason he sticks with it is it's 2.5kg of un-sprung mass lighter than a GSXR set up and reduces wheel flex under load.

My guess is the the belts are Harley's idea. It was entirely their company. No longer though. I still like them for street use.

The Britten analogy is that everything I've been presented states that its most notable achievement was it won the BEARS World Championship - which is a limited/class race. The 1125R won a AMA limited class championship. I don't think they are of equal merit either, but nor do I think Buell's is without. Relativity.

Erik and his people consider John an inspiration too.

[AllanB]

I like the stance and the nose. Otherwise I yawned as I do on most new releases and especially every time I hear Erics name. I see he is still pissing around with the same old tart - interesting how the only other division of motorcycledom to embrace the front brake layout is the TV chopper builders!

[Big Dave]

But conversely to choppers his designs are relatively cheap to manufacture. Usually due to the one component-two jobs where possible mantra.

[Ocean1]

My apologies for ranting but Buell just frustrates me with making some really cool bikes, with some clever engineering that I'd be very interested in if he just followed a bit more of the KISS principle. This latest thing is no different: lose the carbon fibre frippery, bolt on some tried and true brembo monoblocks, sell them for half reasonable money and his solvency worries would be cured as he'd sell 'em as fast as he could make 'em.

Buell's an engineer. Expecting a good engineer to do it the same way everyone else has always done it is expecting too much.

WRT the inside out brake, every iteration since the original XB variant has shown improvement. If that system can be developed to, say 95% of the performance and capacity of the current benchmark then it wins by virtue of it's secondary design intent: reduced unsprung mass.

Given it's performance as measured directly against traditionally armed and lighter competition in both braking and handling related to front end mass I'd say they're at least on par. How much more development is there in Buell's front brake? Dunno, but 5% will see them clean up that particular arguement.

I don't see you're kiss analogy, they're not complex machines by comparison to most, and I bet there's fewer components on my CR than any comparable Japanese machine. As for carbon, it's not an expensive option for some parts, and if you always do what you've always done...

[ajturbo]

i have my blinkers firmly on.. i love the buell...
i took a 675 for a test run late last year for the day, loved the sound.. but i am the first to admit, i couldn't ride it properly... revved tooo much..
so i know now that the low revving bike is for me...

[Drogen Omen]

I love the new bike, and its great that Erik is inovative and resoursfull enough to keep his business going even though the idiots at Harley Davidson closed him down.

i cant beleive those idiots at Harley owned a majority share of Agusta and didnt even crossblend any of the tech into their vintage bikes...


Harley Davidson 1940's technology at 2011 prices... lol that always cracks me up...