Buell crushes the old
…and in with the newBuell founder Erik Buell has been caught up in a crush – and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Finally resigned to the fact that the air-cooled single-cylinder 500cc Blast just doesn’t fit into the Buell lifestyle, the 10-year-old model has been now been unceremoniously banished from its range in a most emphatic fashion: via a crusher.
Here’s what Buell had to say on its official website: “The Buell Blast was a cute little motorcycle. It just never made much of a sportbike. But, as luck would have it, it makes a killer ottoman. Or end table. Or art piece. Through an innovative process known as crushing, we’ve turned a limited number of Blasts into colourful metal cubes, each numbered and signed by Erik Buell himself.
"Hey, there’s no denying the Blast’s aforementioned cuteness. But there’s nothing cute about racing or riding a sportbike the way it was meant to be ridden.”
Erik only intimated those thoughts.
“We don’t do cure little bikes, so it doesn’t really fit in with the brand. Sometimes you have got to be ruthless. We’re back building real American sportsbikes.”
The Blast has never been sold in Australia, so I’m not sure if any ottomans are available locally...
While one model goes, the new hottest ticket in Buell town is the 1125RR, a race-only model intended for use in the AMA superbike title.
The Buell 1125RR features a modified Helicon 1125cc liquid-cooled 72-degree V-twin engine with a larger airbox and intake manifold, revised valves and camshafts, a higher compression ratio, titanium exhaust system and other weight-reduced components.
The 1125RR chassis is the standard 1125R design with fuel-in-the-frame, plus a billet axle adjustment system and chain drive to allow gearing changes. Suspension is managed by Showa.
The machine is selling for $US39,995 (about $A57,000).
The standard road-going 1125R is on sale in Australia, and is joined in the local line-up by the 1125CR, XB12R Firebolt, XB12XT Ulysses, and XB12Ss Lightning.
Click the following link for more information on Buell in Australia.
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