I just rode the XB9S and it is Great

[riffer]

Thanks very much to White Trash at WMCC, who kindly offered me the Buell for an hour or so, no strings attached.

My first thoughts about this bike - it's tiny in length. The bars are quite wide, giving a real 'sit up and beg' feeling, totally different to my FZR, which you lean waaaay over the tank to ride. The Buell has a real Streetfighter feel to it.

Its a really lumpy feel at idle, ad the bike shakees heaps at rest. Over 2,000 rpm this smooths out and is hardly noticeable.

WT said the gearbox would be clunky, but to be honest, it wasn't bad at all. More like a shhh-clink, than a clunk.

Power off the line is very good, an impressive amount of torque (way more than my FZR) at low revs, but it never really has that wave of acceleration you get with the inline-4. It never really feels that its working hard, but a quick glance at the speedo will indicate you are doing a hell of a lot more than you think.

Anyway, riding the bike. I took off down Kent Terrace and wound the throttle to the stop (as you do). The front got very light but never really came off the ground, and as I changed to second, I got a taste of what WT euphemistically called "flywheel effect" - interesting - the bars kind of twitch and the bike jumps forward.

As for the handling - its just as people have said. The bike just wants to go anywhere you throw it and those high wide bars (for me at least) make it feel a lot like a trail bike to ride.

The brakes are excellent, although I believe the could be much better with a new tyre, or different tyre, as there was a distinctive shudder when diving into a corner with the brakes till on. However, when I got my shit together and stopped using the brakes so late there was no trouble at all so maybe it was just my bad riding....

Jim2 - Now I understand what you said about this very bike. It truly is fun. I would rate it as one of the best bikes to try over the Rimutakas - going up Brooklyn Hill it was great on the corners - in fact its corners where this thing really excels.

If not a bike you should own before you die its definitely one you should ride before you die.

Now don't any of you rotters buy it. I want to see it sitting in the shop in a years time so they have to discount it. Then hopefully I'll snap it up for buggger all. :sly:

Thanks heaps WT.

[vifferman]

Power off the line is very good, an impressive amount of torque (way more than my FZR) at low revs, but it never really has that wave of acceleration you get with the inline-4.

That's the sneaky secret thing about the V-twins: they seem like they're hardly working, and feel really lazy. You can ride along on a wave of torque, keeping it in a narrow rev band, short-shifting and feeling quite relaxed, while actually honking along quite quickly.

Good write-up, by the way. Nice to have a different perspective on things.

[Motu]

Any twin,V,180,270,360 or any other way you like - torque at low rpm and short shift never seeing the redline.Comes with the teritory - but V twins sound better doing it.

[Hitcher]

Hmmm. Torque. Not just the preserve of big V twins, I'll have you know...

[vifferman]

Hmmm. Torque. Not just the preserve of big V twins, I'll have you know...

Quite true, but ... but... it's all in the delivery.

The VifFerraRi produces as much torque as the FahrtSturm, but @ ~9K rpm, c.f. about 4 for the FahrtSturm.

[ching_ching]

Thanks very much to White Trash at WMCC, who kindly offered me the Buell for an hour or so, no strings attached.

As for the handling - its just as people have said. The bike just wants to go anywhere you throw it and those high wide bars (for me at least) make it feel a lot like a trail bike to ride.

Jim2 - Now I understand what you said about this very bike. It truly is fun. I would rate it as one of the best bikes to try over the Rimutakas - going up Brooklyn Hill it was great on the corners - in fact its corners where this thing really excels.

If not a bike you should own before you die its definitely one you should ride before you die.

Now don't any of you rotters buy it. I want to see it sitting in the shop in a years time so they have to discount it. Then hopefully I'll snap it up for buggger all. :sly:

Thanks heaps WT.

Another possible convert methinks???

[Coyote]

If only Buell made a 250

[White trash]

After CelticNo6 giving it a good hiding this morning, Jimbo600 has just taken the XB9S for a skid around the block and a shot at the lap record!

Stay tuned, I'll keep you posted!

[Hitcher]

Hmmm. Maybe I should succumb and ride some V twins tomorrow? Dangerous. What if I like them??

[vifferman]

If only Buell made a 250

There's the terrible Buell Blast, but that's a 500.
And it's terrible.

[jrandom]

Dangerous. What if I like them??

You'd have to buy one, and then you'd need someone to 'look after' the ZRX for a few years while you decided whether or not to sell it.

[White trash]

Hmmm. Maybe I should succumb and ride some V twins tomorrow? Dangerous. What if I like them??

All welcome, no pressure.

"Yeah mate, just press hard, there's three copies...." :sneaky2:

[Hitcher]

You'd have to buy one, and then you'd need someone to 'look after' the ZRX for a few years while you decided whether or not to sell it.

Or until I died...

[Coyote]

Am I allowed to test ride one?

It's not like I have a learners licence or anything

[Hitcher]

All welcome, no pressure.

"Yeah mate, just press hard, there's three copies...."

I may skulk by. It's not for me, you understand, it's for a "friend"...