The 1125 was rushed onto the market prematurely before niggles were ironed out and I don't think that the push came from Erik to do so. But compare that with my 1198 that split it's radiator - a problem that's been ongoing for years with the 1098. When I phoned the Dealer he didn't even want to see the bike before reordering a new warranty rad (£700 ) as he told me exactly where it had split, and Ducati had supposedly cured this problem with a redesign. Post production problems aren't unique to Buells.
Out of the box, the Duc didn't handle at all and despite the crap about 'fully adjustable suspension', it required a respring at both ends to get the static and rider sag in the ball park for pretty average weight - where as, my 1125 was bang on with the springing.
I wonder where Ducati would be if they'd bought MV?

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If your dreams don't scare you, they are not big enough.

With Ducati paying for a rad and the suspension fixes, it makes you wonder if they too are making a profit... I guess they sell more bikes than Buell did, what with the Monsters and stuff.

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08 Specialized Langster

I forked out for the springs which improved things no end, and then revalved the forks. Better, but still not on the money, so I then shelled out loadsa dosh for full Ktech DDS fork cartridges and DDS rear shock. What I've spent on suspension would've bought me another 1125
Having said that, the 695 Monster that Mrs Adam rides around on is a brilliant little tool

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If your dreams don't scare you, they are not big enough.

Ya gotta remember that an S1 cost nearly £10k when first sold. Apart from the shock/ swing arm recall, all the others were pretty cheap fixes. How much does an earth strap cost a manufacturer?
Similarly, the 1125 was a ten grand bike, until Harley pulled the plug and discounted them to clear the floors.

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I started out with nothing and still got most of it left.

But the dealers put a claim in for time.

Check this one - http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/m ... 263561.pdf - flasher unit.

Dealer can claim 0.4 hours of time. What is Black Bear's hourly rate? Ticking on a ton I would guess, so this flasher unit that has gone from Italy to Wisconsin to Newmarket and fitted will be costing knocking on £40. I agree that it is small, but they add up...

No wonder the dealers are passing trade in bikes straight on to Germany...

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08 Specialized Langster

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Mithered ta death.
92 MB
96 S2T
98 S1W
00 M2
01 X1
03 P3
10 CR

I wonder if the Vincent owners had such difficulties as the company buckled under? With such a limited number ever made, you can barely even find a running example of a Vincent Lightning for under $100K. One can now build an entire bike from newly made parts. Maybe the followers of Buell will cause the same result sometime in the future. Both brands share similarities-uniqueness and loads of "personality" (not to mention the whole "frameless wonder" likeness).

Here's hoping...

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08 Specialized Langster

It will be interesting to see when the new Indian 111 cu in motorcycles get seen on the road and riders switch from HD to Indian.

They didn't do this with Victory though did they. That bar and shield logo has a lot of brand power to those who know nothing about motorcycling plus are parts a problem when they want you to buy the bikes new. Parts will only be an issue when insurance companies rate the bikes in higher classes but I expect the Harleys are high any way. Back when I left college I went for a job at Hella desigining headlights. The Mondeo had just been released and Hella made the headlights which came on an assembly that held both headlights. Due to this the insurance companies threat to up the group by one for all mondeos as you had to have both headlights if you only needed one. So at Hella the lights came out of a flash ultrasonic welding machine that stuck the clear fronts to the reflectors and the black plastic support holding both the headlights. Then on to a man with a small Rekord bandsaw with a jig on it to saw the assembly in half.

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Buell S1
Buell S3 (Topless for now)
Buell XB12S
Piaggio X8 400ie
Yamaha XTZ750 Super Tenere (x2)
Suzuki GSXR750WR
BSA B441VS
FJR1300

...and then into a box with two bent pieces of tin and 20 pop-rivets so that it could be joined to the other side! I always wondered why, and you couldn't have made that up, so thanks for the enlightenment!

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'98 M2 Razorback, it's a keeper.

I wonder how the warranty will be on this one if it sells
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Buell-XB12-Sc ... 3f28f97eb7

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Buell Ulysses XB12X 06/08

I was stunned when I saw it not just at the Heath Robinson nature of the setup but the twat who designed it that way in the first place.

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Buell S1
Buell S3 (Topless for now)
Buell XB12S
Piaggio X8 400ie
Yamaha XTZ750 Super Tenere (x2)
Suzuki GSXR750WR
BSA B441VS
FJR1300

Factory Gate Price. It's all they're interested in.

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'98 M2 Razorback, it's a keeper.

Another item to note; I just priced a standard paper element air filter for my XB from HD......just over £70 for a desposable!

During my experiments with the standard XB12 muffler and air filter on my 9, I have a sneaking suspicion that the standard paper filter makes better low to midrange torque than my K&N (or maybe it was just running richer?). I thought I'd try a new one as my old unit had covered around 12k and two summers.......not at that price.

Does the regime at HD want to stop selling spares all together?