Well it's not my cup tea and they had a terrible launch full of problems but I like the rotax motor. They have the new 1125cr but I think it is still ugly. I would like to ride one.

 

I agree about the looks. It would take some getting used to, to say the least. I've heard the fuel mapping problems are gone though.

 

I owned one for a grand total of 3 months. Not good! The Rotax motor is strong but it has problems at crusing speeds. It surges until you get it over about 60. Heat is a major problem with the bike also. Have you ever heard of boiling fuel it does on this bike. It's a major draw back with the bike having fuel in the frame and wrapped around the engine, especially the rear cylinder. They are quick but at anything over 85 degrees the engine is running in the 275 to 300 degree range, which is not good for longevity. Buell needs to open the bike up to more air. It's cover in almost every key location. They need to change the cooling system badly. The side scoops don't do the job. Needless to say, I'm still getting warranty bulletins on the motorcycle about once a every couple months even after I sold it.

You really want to stay away from the bike unless you like dealing with problems.

Cheers

Jeff:motorbike2:

 

I

You really want to stay away from the bike unless you like dealing with problems.

Cheers

Jeff:motorbike2:

+1!! Havent met too many that havent had problems. My '02-ST is a godsend after dealing with the Buells Ive owned.

 

I have a friend with an older Buell who called in on me at work today.

I haven't verified this but he told me that the Rotax engined Buells have a recall about the gearbox, not sure why but there you go.

There is nothing wrong with Rotax engines persay, they have been making motorcycle engines for years including some BMW and Aprillia's.

DaveM

 

Yeah, that was the first run Buells. They fixed the problem since. Nothing wrong with the Rotax-engines, they are nice engines (have one in my quad, one word FAST) The Buells themselves are still "kit bike"-ish. Eric has good ideas, just a shame he's controlled by H.D!

 

John, I'm not talking about the anything except the 1125R. Most all of the other Buell products are solid! They haven't really fixed the problems that plagued the 1125R at startup. I've not heard about any gearbox problems but the cooling system and surging problems are still present. I owned a second generation production.

The Rotax motor is an excellent motor but I think all the problems are coming from the heat and ECU. There has been two updates and neither have fixed the problem. I will clairfy my previous statement and say, "stay clear of the 1125R." To give you an example the CanAm Spyder uses the same motor and there are no similar problems with it. So it leads me to believe what I've alread stated, are possibally the culprits. I think they rushed the design for the sake of money and didn't totally engineer all the components as a whole. To many band aids. Plus the Harley trained mechanics at most of the dealers know ti ti about the bikes. I was fortunate to get out from under it, for what I paid. There is no finess in a Harley mechanics vocabulary and this bike is highly tuned and needs the touch of a good mechanic.

Cheers
Jeff:motorbike2:

 

I've gotten up close on the CR . It looks like a morphed GoBot but a pretty cool GoBot . Pics don't do it justice. It's a nice amount of bike for the money since it has practically the same motor as the 20k$ KTM RC8 . If a good deal on one came up I'd consider one .

 

OHHHH dont tell me this about the bike. I love the way it look's. I've wanted Buell to make a killer bike. Maybe they will work it out. As is often the problems with new designs.

 

After posting yesterday, I went by the local HD dealer and looked just for kicks. The sales guy that came over was a dirt biker/mechanic who didn't even ride Harley's at all! So he was kind of like...the dealership's whipping boy. We got along real good!

Also interesting is that this HD dealer also now sells, get this, the MV's (which we know they bought), Hyosung's, for a short while, Moto Guzzis, and now Ducati and BMW. They actually bought out the small Ducati/BMW dealership in town and are going to operate out of a separate bldg. next year.

Back to the Buell, he said they couldn't get an 1125R last year for quite some time and then at once, they were shipped eight. On the 2nd floor alone, I think I counted seven up there. The sales guy said the boss would take any reasonable offer, but it's still a lot of money for a bike not sorted out yet. Plus, it kind of paled sitting next to MV Brutales and Ducati 848s.

 

I rode a friend's 1125R. It is fast and reasonably light, and it did have problems with heat management in the summertime along with surging injection.

Compared to my 1098 the 1125R was about as fast, about the same weight,handled similarly, braked worse, ran hotter with worse driveability... and styling is subjective of course, but IMHO you're not going to find many people who prefer the 1125R's looks over the 1098.

 

Stiles and others,

Thanks for the input. Aside from the mechanical glitches mentioned, there is no doubt that the Ducati is a thing of beauty next to the beastly Buell, IMO too. In the future, it would help Buell if they could get the glitches worked-out but also ditch those hideous side-mounted radiators. I think if this bike was perfect in most other respects and I got a great deal, I might be able to get past the looks.