beansbaxter
Needs a life
Posts: 5911
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posted September 10, 2005 01:37 AM
 Edited By: frEEk on 15 Nov 2005 20:57
Buell Ulysses XB12X Review: First Impressions
[edit: article removed at author's request]
   
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trenace
Needs a job
Posts: 3056
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posted September 10, 2005 01:55 AM
So is there enough steering lock that if the rear wants to slide well out in a turn on a dirt / gravel / whatever road, you have the steering lock to accomodate it?
Or is there a risk that there isn't enough steering lock, so you can't flat-track it for fear of running out of being unable to steer the front as needed?
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted September 10, 2005 11:23 AM
where does this writeup come from?
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fish_antlers
Administrator
The Truth is Out There
Posts: 21896
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posted September 10, 2005 01:44 PM
beans.... u write that?
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trenace
Needs a job
Posts: 3056
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posted September 10, 2005 02:18 PM
Oh, my mistake, I guess I should not have assumed that. Not knowing, I thought that perhaps he wrote review articles, as has been the case for other mods here (or for all I know, he still may.)
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islandswede
Parking Attendant
Posts: 1
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posted September 12, 2005 07:28 PM
If thousands of words in defense of marginal design is required to sell this bike, would you buy one?
If' you've ever seen a solid Moose Aluminum skid plate punctured by a rock, would you trust your "reinforced muffler" as a skid plate?
On the tarmack maybe, in the dirt, NOT.
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squidlydiddly
Expert Class
Posts: 247
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posted September 13, 2005 03:42 PM
quote:
If thousands of words in defense of marginal design is required to sell this bike, would you buy one?
If' you've ever seen a solid Moose Aluminum skid plate punctured by a rock, would you trust your "reinforced muffler" as a skid plate?
On the tarmack maybe, in the dirt, NOT.
Very true on both points Swede regarding the Buell Useless.
But regarding the first point, BMW arguable made a success of 'selling a story'.
From what I can see, BMW honed the "Great Story" to a science, and perhaps Buell shall follow suit. In order to make sure they were the only one who could tell the story of "tubeless tires on a spoked rim" they bought the exclusive worldwide rights to the Akront patented rim that has the spokes at the outside and allows for tubeless tires to run. Want that highly desirable feature? Gotta buy a Beemer. If they had just bought a license (like I'm sure they were pitched on) we could all have that feature.
As for the frame, I've long been a fan of the big adventure bikes / desert racers, and over the years have ridden several versions of the GS's. I could never understand / experience what all the hubbub was about with the big Beemers performance. Upon each and every return to the dealership they went right into "the story" about the Telelever suspension and how it made any other kind of suspension obsolete etc.
The fact is that BMW added a ton of weight and vulnerability to their engine for the sake of not having a traditional frame. They bolted the Telelever steering head to the front of the engine way above the engine block, necessitating a very heavy engine / transmission casting instead of using a light steel frame, presumably all to serve a marketing reason!
If they had to make the bike less good to better tell a "new story" then I think they would. They were reeling from the problem of having discontinued the airheads (complete with collectible "last ones") only to find that the K bikes didn't fly as well as they thought.
The verification of all this might be found in the fact that BMW finally woke up and produced the r1200gs with a light steel frame... and the engine lost an astonishing (claimed) 65 pounds.
I'm not just trying to rag on Beemers or hijack this Buell thread, but it is a good idea when buying any kind of specialty product to find out exactly what the maker's "story" is.
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A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
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George Bush
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posted December 20, 2005 09:20 AM
What's wrong with a Buell, boy?
Solid Americun Iron!!!!!!!
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