Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Buell motorcycles-any owners?

They were always kind of on the edge of my awareness when they were being made. Now they're looking like a good value on the used market. Any comments from people that own or have owned them would be appreciated. I'm trying to put a bike made in WI with an internal combustion in my garage.

Stay away from the XB's. You can not get any parts for them. Get a "tuber" (tube frame) that has a Harley Sportster engine in it. You will always be able to get powertrian parts from Harley and aftermarket, the rest of the parts are easy to find online.
Buells are worth more as parts donors that whole bikes. You can buy a nice XB for 4k and sell the parts on ebay for 8k.

My all time favorite Buell is the X1 Lightning. Fast and powerful, 100 hp out of the box that can be brought up to 125+ and a tube frame that can be straightened if you happen to go into a corner a little to fast.

My son bought a cheap used 883 Sportster and I put all the X1 parts in the engine and a Mikuni carb. It flys now.

How about an 88 inch kit from Axtell in a "tuber" ?

Built a lot of them.
Little port work to the Lightning heads, Woods 9B or Red Shift 605 cams, Mikuni HSR45 and a good exhaust and they will make 115- 125 hp @ 6500. The real fun is the 120 lb/ft torque! You can wheelie the heck out them.

They are probably a sin for a Catholic to own. To much fun!

The XBs run way too hot. Sticking a tuned sportster motor inside a twin spar aluminum frame was a genuinely bad idea. They run so hot that you feel like your inner thighs are going to blister. No I am not kidding. There are kits with reflective blankets that will redirect some of that heat that are moderately effective. The engine fan does not pull enough heat to significantly lower engine temps particularly to the rear cylinder. Getting caught in a long traffic jam on the highway is dangerous on a Buell.

It's too bad, they were the best handling American motorcycle ever made. Ducatis don't handle any better. I loved mine, it just wasn't reliable.

i test drove one of the lightnings in the early 90's when they first came out. coming from a lowrider to that was quite a shock. that friggen thing flew. one of the mechanics at the dealership went along on my bike during the ride and at the first light was yelling at me to slow the F down. it was a hoot. got a free shirt out of the deal too. but i kept the lowrider and still have it.