Buell XB9S

If you're going to be really hard-headed about it, you could even claim that Yamaha's FZ1 isn't naked - it has a little fairing on, after all. Maybe we could call it half-naked. But then, what's the Buell XB9S? That little screen means there's more than just the headlight and clocks protecting you, and for the absolute purist that's not allowed. No, we'll accept that they're both in the buff and on that basis, there's a fair comparison to make.

Both machines owe something to other bikes in their respective manufacturer's line-ups. For the Buell, that's basically everything from the Firebolt except the fairing. In the Yamaha's case, it's mainly the engine from the R1, one of the all-time great litre sportsbikes. The chassis is all its own, though details like the headlights certainly owe a family resemblance to the R1, if nothing else. Beyond the basic concept of being naked sportsbikes, there would seem to be little in common between the two. The $17,995 Buell is a 1000cc V-twin and it makes its power low down. The $ 15,799 FZ1, as you'd imagine with its heritage, makes more power and makes it with more revs. That doesn't normally make for a reasonable comparison.

Then there's the looks. If someone told you they were both naked, you'd get an image in your mind. But look at the pictures - these are dramatically different looking beasties.

MINIATURE AMERICAN
The FZ1 is a big, stretched out bike, with a generous seat and a tourable look. Parked next to it, the Buell looks small in a way you can't believe comes from America. The Japanese are usually the masters of miniaturisation, yet this would challenge a Honda NSR250 for small dimensions.

That's not a word of exaggeration - the Buell has almost spot on the same dimensions as a 250GP machine, and it's a triumph of engineering that Buell has made it work on the road. Adding to - or should that be subtracting from - the look, is the seat. Was there a seat padding shortage in the States when they made this?

There's a pretty short squab for the rider, then a tiny, triangulated pad for a pillion, which ends about level with the rear axle. If it weren't for the fact that the bike has pillion pegs fitted, I'd think it was a single seater.

If you're going to take a pillion, you'll want it to be someone you're on pretty intimate terms with - because you will be by the end of a short ride. And they're not going to be overly comfy.

Once you've finished examining the details, like the oil filler on the swing-arm, it's time to ride. Getting in the seat would only be a challenge for someone with serious arthritis. The XB9S's seat is low and there's nothing to get in the way. You sit forward, hugging the tank almost like a dirtbike, and that's no accident.

STREET TAMER
Buell describes the bike as "a dirt-tracker tuned to tame the streets". Make that the city streets and I'd have to agree.

Filtering to the head of a traffic queue and getting around tight lanes is where the XB9S really excels. However, the booming noise of the testbike's exhaust can occasionally detract from that.

On the one hand it lets everyone know you're coming, but it can be a little embarrassing when you're sitting at the traffic lights and the car drivers around you are giving you strange looks.

Which is a good moment to mention the state of tune this XB9S is in. It's not stock - it's got $1364 worth of racekit on it, which includes a high-flow twin outlet muffler and high-flow airfilter, as well as a new ECM to suit the increased flow and increase the power.

The mods also creates a bit more noise, so owners of stock bikes won't be quite so noticeable in traffic.

A bigger annoyance is the steering lock - it's actually not bad, but I just feel like it could be a tad better. More than once I went to turn and realised the bars weren't going to give me any more. At least with the low seat height, it's no problem to make a dab if need be.

CAFE STYLE
The FZ1 offers a slightly different in-town experience. It's taller, so you have to swing a leg more to get on board. The up side of that is better visibility when you're picking lines through the city gridlock.

Yamaha has also managed to give the FZ1 the steering lock that you'd expect on the Buell, but being taller and longer, the effect is that honours are even when it comes to making an about face.

Either bike would happily take you to work and back every day in the city centre and give you enough style to feel good parking outside a caf? on the weekend too. Note, however, that people are going to hear the Buell even after you've switched off and walked away.

The fan will run with the key out of the ignition, so don't be scared when you stop and then it starts whirring at you. Even on the open road the fan for the rear cylinder kicked in occasionally to keep things under control.

COMMUTING CONCERNS
If your commute is a bit longer, the FZ1 is going to be the more appealing option - the seat is more generous and the fairing offers far more in the way of weather protection than the Buell's screen.

That's the lesson you learn pretty rapidly out on the open road. Leaving the city behind and getting out where rush hour traffic is a busy cattle crossing point gives a much wider view of the capabilities of the two bikes.

Hit the edge of town and the higher speed limits and the Buell jumps forward like the proverbial scalded cat. The low-down torque peaks at a claimed 5500rpm, where the Yamaha is barely off tick-over, and in that band the Buell makes the most of its power too.

While the power maxes out much higher, at 7200rpm, it feels pointless running the XB9S so high, as it just gets breathy and flat. Better to hook another of the five gears and dump it back down into the meaty torque at the bottom-end. Hook it up through the gears and you're cruising at 100kmh at a pleasantly relaxed 3500rpm, at which point it has plenty of go for overtaking manoeuvres left in reserve.

REV HUNGRY JAP
Hit the same out-of-town speed limit on the FZ1 and you'll need more revs to match the XB9S out of the blocks. There's no shortage of power, but you have to feed it more revs to get there - while the Buell hits the yellow line at 7000rpm, with another 500 revs to the red, the Yamaha goes on to 11,500rpm.

That's not the whole story, however. You can happily let the 'little' American machine pull away at this point. You've got a whole lot more in store when you're on the Yamaha.

Like the Buell, you'll cruise at 100kmh quite relaxed, at 4400rpm. Also like it, you can happily overtake from there. But if you want some sparkling performance, drop a couple of cogs in the box and give it a bit of a handful. Then you start to get the rush that R1 owners are addicted to. The FZ1 builds from lowish revs (around 4000rpm) and keeps on pulling to the red line in every gear. Give it that sort of abuse and you'll be deep into licence losing speeds and way ahead of the Buell. Given enough road. But going fast in a straight line is more of a touring role. It's nice to know you've got it with a bike like this, but if all you want to do is trawl the freeways, you'd be better off on something with a full fairing to keep the wind at bay. Take an exit and find the twisties.

Remember all those inner-city features? They start coming out once more when you get into the really fun bits of the world. Up in Victoria's alpine area I was rather surprised to find that there really are some alpine-style roads. Having recently arrived in Oz from the northern hemisphere, I'd been told the Aussie Alps aren't really up to a comparison with the sort of alps you find in France or Switzerland. So I sort of doubted the roads would match up to the alpine name either.

But these roads are just what I've found in the foothills and around the lower skiing resorts in France. Tight, switchback roads through the trees and some more open, flowing corners higher up. Unlike France, I noted the lack of crash barriers on much of the high stuff - get it wrong here and you're not going to hit a massive concrete block. You're going to hit the ground a fair way below you.

BLACK RUN HEAVEN
So it's nice to be on something that feels sure-footed, and that goes for either of these machines. You wouldn't want to be on these sorts of roads in the middle of ski season when they'd feel more like a black run, but with 30-degree sun blasting down, it's heaven for both bikes.

The way they attack the road is pretty different, however. That makes a lot of sense. Imagine the FZ1 taking a fair bit of its basic geometry from the R1. That's a Superbike, in racing terms. The Buell, as noted, is more like a 250GP machine. So what we have here are two bikes built to handle in very different ways.

The Yamaha follows that Superbike mould. It can run up to a corner, brake hard and deep as you lay it in, then power out with the revs nice and high.

The Buell can do that. With its massive single rim-mounted front disc, it can brake as hard and late as you please. But slamming it on its side isn't such a good idea. The chassis can take it, but ultimately it doesn't have the horsepower to drive hard from a point and squirt technique. Better to take a more 'classic' line and keep a fast, smooth arc with good corner speed. Unlike a 250GP machine, of course, you can keep the revs nice and low, relying on the torque to drag you out.

Up on the higher passes, where the roads are more open, the Buell swings from bend to bend, needing little more than single gear changes to keep it boiling. The Yamaha can do the same if you're feeling lazy, but it never feels as relaxed as you're keeping it revving much higher. It'll do it lower down the rev range, but then it loses some urgency between corners and you don't get the most from the engine. It really depends how you like to ride.

ALTITUDE ATTITUDE
Interestingly, the Buell seemed to suffer when we got it to high altitude, a surprise as most fuel injection systems can counter the thin air. And it's not like Australia can really boast the sort of dizzy heights the bike might scale in America.

More likely it was the previous fuel stop I'd made. As with many servos in rural areas, it didn't offer me the choice of premium unleaded. So the XB9S got the regular stuff and didn't seem happy on it, distinctly losing an edge to its bite. It was probably more pronounced on the race-kitted testbike too.

No such problems with the FZ1, well not that could be noticed with 143ps to play with.

EATING UP THE CORNERS
Away from the snow-free slopes and below the tree line, the road changed nature dramatically. From the more open, fast bends to tight, first and second-gear hairpins, sometimes crammed one on top of the other so tightly it was more like a series of chicanes.

Both bikes ate it up, the wide bars making light work of the constant changes of direction. Where the FZ1 felt planted though, the Buell was a bit more front-endy. That may be down to the huge 180-section rear tyre. It looks great but is almost certainly a stylist's choice - there's not enough power to need it and the bike would turn better on narrower rubber.

By the end of a long ride, and back in town with the bikes parked outside a cafe, there's no doubt which one draws the looks from passersby. It's a personal thing, of course, but I find the FZ1 rather bland in comparison to the XB9S.

A look at the prices, and you'll see there's $2500 between them, however. That could be the difference between wanting one and buying the other, and the Yamaha is the cheaper of the two.

NAKED OPTIONS
And then there's reliability. With the FZ1 I'd ride fear free, whereas in recent years Buells have suffered from variable build quality.

It's too early to pass judgement on the new-generation XB9R Firebolt and XB9S Lightning, but this particular XB9S was in the company of not only the FZ1 but four of the fastest bikes on the planet for 1500km (2002 Tour of Duty) and never missed a beat. Quality of finish was excellent too. It's a tough call, but one thing's certain. Just as there's more than one way to skin a cat, there's also more than one way to go naked.