Time for a motorbike list
- Thread starter Rasher
- Start date
gninnam
Is it a hobby or a disease
Always fancied a Buell but always a bit worried as a very niche product.Just added this to the collection. I've been after a good one of these for years. These are such fun bikes...
Note: those are not my other bikes in the background.
It looks fantastic - is this the Rotax engine?
gez
pfm Member
I always thought Buel's used a Harley engine?
The engine in the Buell shown is the 1200 Harley Davidson based engine. The 1125cc engine is the Rotax engine which came out in the 1125 series of bikes in 2007. Eric Buell swapped to this engine mainly to get his bike more competitive against the Japanese bikes in the USA racing scene. Also, after 2010 when Harley Davidson sold its 49% stake in Buell they needed another source of engines. The bike shown is the XB12 Lightening and uses a Buell version of the Harley Davidson 1200 Sportster engine. It was a specially built engine by Harley for Eric Buell, with Thunderstorm heads, special cams and quite a few other changes including balancing for a 7000rpm rev limit. These engines pushed out just over 100HP. They did a 984cc engine too which was a little sweeter to rev but didn't have the grunt of the 1200. The bike shown is one of the last Buell Lightenings that came to the UK. It is a 2008 bike. Buell swapped to the Rotax based engine in 2010 when Harley Davidson pulled the plug on Buell to concentrate on their own bikes. Shame as Buell had made over 100,000 motorcycles. For completeness Buell are still in business, all be it without Eric Buell and still making motorcycles. I had an XB9 Firebolt (984cc engine) back in 2002 which was a terrific bike until I made the mistake of getting the Buell stage 1 kit fitted to it, which ruined the engine characteristics. I sold it on but always wished for another.
Mullardman
Moderately extreme...
Short and undistinguished list here..
Late 1960s. Royal Enfield Crusader Sport.
Then briefly, a Durkopp Diana 250 cc scooter..with electric start!
Never got around to passing a bike test and got my first car..a 1958 Opel Olympia Rekord.
Couldn't afford cars AND bikes through 70s
80s I couldn't afford to use our only car to get to uni as a mature student, so got a Honda CD175 s/h which wasn't strictly legal..for a few months till I got a Honda CB125T. One of the last before power restrictions on 125s, so a massive 15.5 bhp at the back wheel or somesuch. Still it was a little screamer revving to about 12k, or nearer 20k on a missed gear change...Great fun.
I always had a dream to get a vintage British bike, something 500cc upwards restore it and take it across the pond to 'do' Route 66.
Obviously not a big enough priority though as I never got close.
Now I can afford to get a full license and a big bike..but at 75 it's possibly not a great idea....
Late 1960s. Royal Enfield Crusader Sport.
Then briefly, a Durkopp Diana 250 cc scooter..with electric start!
Never got around to passing a bike test and got my first car..a 1958 Opel Olympia Rekord.
Couldn't afford cars AND bikes through 70s
80s I couldn't afford to use our only car to get to uni as a mature student, so got a Honda CD175 s/h which wasn't strictly legal..for a few months till I got a Honda CB125T. One of the last before power restrictions on 125s, so a massive 15.5 bhp at the back wheel or somesuch. Still it was a little screamer revving to about 12k, or nearer 20k on a missed gear change...Great fun.
I always had a dream to get a vintage British bike, something 500cc upwards restore it and take it across the pond to 'do' Route 66.
Obviously not a big enough priority though as I never got close.
Now I can afford to get a full license and a big bike..but at 75 it's possibly not a great idea....
Its never too late Mull... Carpe diem!Short and undistinguished list here..
Late 1960s. Royal Enfield Crusader Sport.
Then briefly, a Durkopp Diana 250 cc scooter..with electric start!
Never got around to passing a bike test and got my first car..a 1958 Opel Olympia Rekord.
Couldn't afford cars AND bikes through 70s
80s I couldn't afford to use our only car to get to uni as a mature student, so got a Honda CD175 s/h which wasn't strictly legal..for a few months till I got a Honda CB125T. One of the last before power restrictions on 125s, so a massive 15.5 bhp at the back wheel or somesuch. Still it was a little screamer revving to about 12k, or nearer 20k on a missed gear change...Great fun.
I always had a dream to get a vintage British bike, something 500cc upwards restore it and take it across the pond to 'do' Route 66.
Obviously not a big enough priority though as I never got close.
Now I can afford to get a full license and a big bike..but at 75 it's possibly not a great idea....
Royal Enfield are making great bikes at present like the interceptor and at great prices too.
SteveG
pfm Member
I also had one of those - I don't have a picture of mine to hand but it was the same colour as this one:
Great bike and a good bike quicker than the 12hp 2-strokes some of my friends had. Sadly I also had my first proper bike crash on it when a driving instructor pulled out right in front of me. Despite loads of witnesses etc. (it was in the grounds of the university I was attending at the time) it took about a year for his insurance to pay up as he was disputing liability to try and keep his job. I replaced it way a Kawasaki AR125LC which was ok, but I much preferred the Honda.
Is that Traprain Law in the background, skyline just in front of the headlamp?I also had one of those - I don't have a picture of mine to hand but it was the same colour as this one:
Great bike and a good bike quicker than the 12hp 2-strokes some of my friends had. Sadly I also had my first proper bike crash on it when a driving instructor pulled out right in front of me. Despite loads of witnesses etc. (it was in the grounds of the university I was attending at the time) it took about a year for his insurance to pay up as he was disputing liability to try and keep his job. I replaced it way a Kawasaki AR125LC which was ok, but I much preferred the Honda.
Mullardman
Moderately extreme...
Mine was Black and Red ..natch.I also had one of those - I don't have a picture of mine to hand but it was the same colour as this one:
Great bike and a good bike quicker than the 12hp 2-strokes some of my friends had. Sadly I also had my first proper bike crash on it when a driving instructor pulled out right in front of me. Despite loads of witnesses etc. (it was in the grounds of the university I was attending at the time) it took about a year for his insurance to pay up as he was disputing liability to try and keep his job. I replaced it way a Kawasaki AR125LC which was ok, but I much preferred the Honda.
Similar to this but without the orange.
Honda CB 125 T (1977 - 1986) - Schicke Drehorgel
Die Honda CB 125 T kam 1977 im "Euroline"-Design und orientierte sich damit an den größeren Modellen. Modell und technische Daten.
nippon-classic.de
SteveG
pfm Member
I suspect I'll end up with a Royal Enfield at some point as well - I know quite a few folks that have them and like them.Its never too late Mull... Carpe diem!
Royal Enfield are making great bikes at present like the interceptor and at great prices too.
SteveG
pfm Member
Not a clue - that's a Honda photo rather than one of my own!
wow&flutter
pfm Member
Stunning piece of machinery there. I noticed the pulley hanging below the bike and it took me a minute to work out what I was looking at!
I know what you mean. It tensions the toothed drive belt. Buell's are full of really clever engineering, e.g. the fuel is in the frame, the oil is in the swing arm. What looks like a fuel tank is in fact a large airbox. The exhaust sits under the engine for low centre of gravity and the large front disc has the power of 2 discs but because the disc is located at the rim the wheel + spokes can be very light and these are just for starters. Just waiting for the Spring to get a few rides in...Enfield boy
pfm Member
When I owned a Sprint 955 I went to look at some Harleys, I was quite keen on the Road King and touring 1200 Sports. The dealership was exactly opposite the Police Station, all demo bikes had the stage 1 tune (really loud exhaust) and thundered in and out under the nose of the plod. The bike that left the biggest impression (it was tiny) was the Buell, so clever, looked and sounded great. Pity it was no use to me for European touring!
That's hardly clever engineering! Toothed belts with a tensioner have been old news since for ever. A neater solution would be sorting out the pivot and driveshaft centre positions so that the belt length didn't vary under suspension movement, but that's hard. OIF is nothing new either, triumph did that in the 60s. Likewise a "fuel tank" airbox is very common these days.
Now that does make sense and is an interesting bit of engineering. Moving discs and calipers away from the axle increases braking power and allows the use of a lighter wheel, at the expense of losing caliper mount rigidity because it's now out on legs rather than being bolted directly to the fork. Now that's an interesting compromise, I'd like to see the thinking on that one. It's not obvious how that trades off.
I will depend on how heavy the exhaust is. On todays motorcycles the exhaust is a very heavy item and complicated inside too.
gez
pfm Member
I learned to ride on a Honda 125 Superdream, exactly like the one below. It was a 12hp engine. I think by that time Honda (and other marques) weren't actually restricting them but designing them to be 12hp from the drawing board. Bought it second hand and was ripped off, the previous owner had put STP or something in the oil, because as as soon as I had the first oil change it stopped revving properly, the garage looked in to it and reported that both cylinders were very low compression. Never the less it lasted me long enough to get me past my test.I also had one of those - I don't have a picture of mine to hand but it was the same colour as this one:
Great bike and a good bike quicker than the 12hp 2-strokes some of my friends had. Sadly I also had my first proper bike crash on it when a driving instructor pulled out right in front of me. Despite loads of witnesses etc. (it was in the grounds of the university I was attending at the time) it took about a year for his insurance to pay up as he was disputing liability to try and keep his job. I replaced it way a Kawasaki AR125LC which was ok, but I much preferred the Honda.
Unfortunately when I went to the one day part one test session, during practice/training it was impossible to complete the figure of 8. The instructor, thinking I just wasn't doing it right took the bike off me to demonstrate how to do it "properly", and promptly failed to complete it. Handed the bike back to me saying "you'll never do it with that, the steering isn't straight", there was ever so slightly less lock in one direction making it impossible to turn the bike tight enough on one side of the figure of 8, (it wasn't noticeable during normal riding). The instructors answer? "Use my RD250" needless to say I was rather apprehensive at the idea of taking my test on a bike with twice the capacity, to which the instructor said "You'll be fine. Just remember three things: a) being a two stroke there's no engine braking b) also you can't let it burble like a 4 stroke else it'll probably stall and finally c) don't rev it past x revs or you'll fly through that fence over there".. yup very confidence inspring. Past my test on it though
That is one very smart looking motorcycle. It's only an entry level model too.I learned to ride on a Honda 125 Superdream, exactly like the one below. It was a 12hp engine. I think by that time Honda (and other marques) weren't actually restricting them but designing them to be 12hp from the drawing board. Bought it second hand and was ripped off, the previous owner had put STP or something in the oil, because as as soon as I had the first oil change it stopped revving properly, the garage looked in to it and reported that both cylinders were very low compression. Never the less it lasted me long enough to get me past my test.
Unfortunately when I went to the one day part one test session, during practice/training it was impossible to complete the figure of 8. The instructor, thinking I just wasn't doing it right took the bike off me to demonstrate how to do it "properly", and promptly failed to complete it. Handed the bike back to me saying "you'll never do it with that, the steering isn't straight", there was ever so slightly less lock in one direction making it impossible to turn the bike tight enough on one side of the figure of 8, (it wasn't noticeable during normal riding). The instructors answer? "Use my RD250" needless to say I was rather apprehensive at the idea of taking my test on a bike with twice the capacity, to which the instructor said "You'll be fine. Just remember three things: a) being a two stroke there's no engine braking b) also you can't let it burble like a 4 stroke else it'll probably stall and finally c) don't rev it past x revs or you'll fly through that fence over there".. yup very confidence inspring. Past my test on it though
Another question - why do modern 125s sound so awful? Every time I see one going past in town it sounds like a fat bloke farting into a sack. The only exception I've come across is a "Mutt" style one that sounded as you might hope a small single to sound. It did at least have a *bit* of a thump to it.
GavinA
pfm Member
Vincent did oil in frame even earlier - my Comet had it in ‘58 and it wasn’t new!