Buell XB9R Firebolt
It would be a bad mistake to under-estimate the ability of Buell's latest sports weapon. Okay, so it's not the most powerful toy on the market, and it's definitely a bit quirky. Like carrying the fuel in the frame and some of the oil in the swingarm. OThe previous generation Buells also had some unusual characteristics, and were nevertheless pretty sharp tools on a windy road.
This one has to be seen with fresh eyes. Forget the odd techno and just hop on and ride it. Parent company Harley and Buell itself may strike me off the Christmas card list for this, but I swear the XB9R is as easy to ride on first meeting as a late-model Honda CBR600. Which really is high praise.
There is nothing to learn. You get on, stab the button, pull the clutch, snick first, and bumble off. It handles fine in the city, with strong and predictable brakes, and admirably neutral steering. It's small - very small - on the lower side of the 600 sports bike scale. A tall person can still cope.
I took it up through the hills out of Brisbane, which is mostly tight and unpredictable, with the odd fast sweeper thrown in. It steers super fast and gives very intimate feedback to the rider. You can lean and keep leaning, and it keeps talking. On faster turns it walks around a little but fails to do anything worrying.
Suspension on the Morgan & Wacker-supplied bike was about perfect, set up for a rider of my weight. If I owned it, I'd be tempted to soften the front a tad, which comes down to personal taste.
The powerplant on ours was the heavily-restricted Oz version, which was pretty good in the tight stuff but left you wanting more as the road opened. It revved nicely through the midrange and the transmission was by far the best we've come across from this company. Again as good as the Japanese opposition, which is a significant improvement.
I'm told a different ECM and more open pipe will free up the stock Oz power from 70 to the full-house 92 USA-spec, while torque remains the same. Which answers some performance questions.
If you're after a serious sports road bike that has a lot of street cred, with handling ability to match, have a look at the FireBolt. The Lightning X1 was good, but this is a generation ahead. And a good thing in its own right.
Story: Guy Allen
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