Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Geodes ic spaceframe wraps tightly around V -twin 's cylinders. Bu ell 's floating di scs a n d fouropposed -piston ca lipe rs at front , while a single di sc with dual-piston caliper are fitted in the rear. Metzeler bia s-ply Comp K tires are mounted on 17-inch polished sp un a lu minum Mitchell wh eels (larger than the 16inch Dymags of the R R IOO ) - a O 120170 on a 3.5-in ch rim at front a nd a huge 170/60 on a 4.5-inch rim at rear. Marzocchi's full y-adjustable MIR fork s grace th e front of th e machine, a nd are fitted with Buell 's Acr (AirControll ed T echnology ) anti-dive. At th e rear , a si n g le nitrogenpressurized Works Performan ce shock absorber is slu ng horizontally under th e mot or , operat ing in torsion ra ther than com pressio n, with two threaded rods running th e length of the shock p roviding spring pr eload adjustm ent. The linkage is of th e risin g rat e vari ety. and warn ing lights for hi gh beam, neutral , turn sig na ls and oil pressure keep the o pera tor informed. Firing the mot or , one is immediat ely overw helmed by th e ferocio us vibr ati on , and revvin g the engi ne a t idl e produces a strange sensa tio n as th e rear end of th e bik e rises and falls not iceabl y. Once underway, however, th e buzziness magicall y disappea rs (at least above 2500 rp rrU. The bar -end mirrors whi ch shook VIOlentl y at idle, suddenly pro vide a crystal-clea r view of th e roa d beh ind. A yank o n th e quick-turn th ro ttle p ro vid es immediate res ponse (no do ub t helped in part by the tun ing wizard ry of J oe Minton , who fett led o ur early production model' s car bs), wi th no a nno ying flat spots like those found on some J apan ese sport bikes. The V-twi n produces go bs of torque at relati vely low rp m, an d th e bik e lunges off the corne rs. It will easily pull from just. above id le to past redline in any gear. It is so mewh at reluctant to rev, how ever, du e to th e heavy flywh eel. Bu t that isn ' t necessari ly a bad trait, as it redu ces the likeli hood of lighting up the rear tir e, or worse, high-siding. The vague shifting action was our biggest gripe; the lever required far too much effort and provided little feedba ck. Experimenting with the height of th e shift lever or adj usting the clutch might help, but tim e was on e luxury we didn 't ha ve. As it stood , it was virtually impossibl e to Racy. but not a racer The Bu ell ' s h eritage may b e derived from the race track, but it boasts all of the necessary street bike accoutrem ents. The starting procedure introduces one to an assortment of stra nge swi tchgear. First of all, th e . ignit ion has two clicks - tu rning th e sw itch to the " o n " p osition Rearsets are beautifully made; exhaust exits a head of rear tire. ' activates th e ignition, while turning it further to th e " headligh t" position ligh ts it. The headlight sometimes took a few moments to illuminate, and was insufficient for night riding - but whether this was ca used by a weakbattery oris standard behav-ior we're not sure. Nex t, an electric petcock toggle switch lives in the left side of the fairing, and illumina tes when in th e reserve position. The cho ke lever is equally odd (looking like ,a shifter on a IO-speed bi cycle), and is located inside the fairing on a su pport bracket. A 120 mph s~edometer, 8000 rpm tach om eter (wit h 6100 rpm redline), Buell's Uniplanar mounting system isolates engine v ibration . engage second gear until th e mo tor was sufficiently warmed up (the time period required seemed rather lo ng) . The four-speed 1200 doesn' t need a fifth gea r . nearly .as bad as th e leth argic 883 (which revs uncomfortably high at freewa y speeds ), but it , would benefit greatly from the extra cog. The seating position is unique _ amo ng street bikes, with the most simi lar being BMW's new K-l. It's a long reach to the clip-ons , and even taller riders will find th emselves forced to ride 'with chest on tank, tu cked in behind the windscreen . The fuel tank intrudes far betw een th e riders legs , making it extremel y difficult to hang off. Longer-legged riders will bang their knees o n th e fairing bulges, due to th e proximity of the ai r cleaner on the righ t side. But unlike the BMW, the Buell's fairing is not padded there, and o ne ride in jeans jarred our tall est tester 's kneecaps to the point 'that he swore never to ride the Buell without padded leathers! Also, the heels of one's boots hit the fairing where it is supposedly cu t o ut to eliminate th at happening. The seat is fairly comfortable, b ut o ne is a lwa ys conscious of the oil tank filler cap located beneath th e operator's bum. All told, our testers found the bik e's ergonomics ra ther awkward. The bi ke seems best-suited to rid ers with short legs and long arms, and from what we've been told, that fits Erik Buell to a " T'" The RR l 200 is a high-effort machine to rid e fast. With its tiny 55.5-inch wh eelbase and steep 25degree rak e, th e steering is exceedingly qu ick, but one needs to shove on th e stubby clip-e ns like no bik e we've ridden before to get it turned. The Buell feels m uch lon ger th an it is - more like a raki sh , 60-inc h Du cat i V-twi n - in that it holds a line in fast sweepers lik e it 's on rail s. It also exhi bits so me reluctance to cha nge lin e mid-corner. A steeri ng damper is fitted, and th e bik e never shook its head. At th e limit, both en ds push si m u lta neo us ly , and th e underwh elming horsep ow er mak es th e bik e relucta nt to break th e rear end loo se. The Metzeler tires are not th e stickiest available, bu t th ey are th e eq ua l o f a ny in terms o f rider feedb ack - a highly desirable trait in a street tire. On a negative not e, the Buell tak es the better par t of an interstate's width to turn around; th e clip -ens hit the fuel tank too early to allo w low-speed maneuverability. But th en again, race bik es don't do Ll-turns ... The Buell req uires an unorthodox (by today's standards) riding style more like the style used by racers of th e Hai lwood/ Agos tini era . The rider tucks in with head down, and subtl y shifts his weight from side to side, butt firmly o n the seat. There's no kn ee draggi ng or hanging off on the Buell. We di d experience so me brake lever pulsing du e to what we were told was excessive manufacturing tolerances in the discs . Buell 's fourpi ston calipers require very little line pr essure, and tight manufacturing tol erances (in the .0001 to .0001-in ch range) are necessary. The tolerances on our test uni t's di scs measured in the .0007-inch range, so th ey were clearl y ou t of th e ballpark. Buell has since switched vendors, so this problem sho uld be cured in future exa m ples. In spite of th e pulsing, the brakes were easily modulated. T hey seemed to get excessively hot (p ro bably due to the aero front fend er ), but th ey never went away. Like a race bik e' s, the Buell 's rear brake was more a matter of convention than function. T he suspensio n of our test uni t had just been tweaked by Gil.Vaillancour t of Works Perfor mance, and performed admirably. Greenbacks. and lots of 'em Bue ll on ly plans to produce some 200 RR1 200s. Each bi ke is hand-built by o ne p erson , using an assemblyline system whereby th e bike is moved to the parts su pp ly rather than vice-versa. When finished, th e builder signs a comp letio n certificate. Buell moved to a new, larger, 10,000-square-foot facility lat e last year, and kep t the old facility for fabri cati on work . The Bu ell RRI200 is not for everyo ne. Those who would consider purchasing o ne already kn ow who the y ar e; the y don 't need a road test editor to make th e decision for th em. The Buell is for th e di scriminating enth usiast - the kind of guy who doesn 't want to be th e second Bim ota owner on hi s block . And for whom price is a seconda ry considera tio n. And it is th e price th at ma y be the sin gle largest det errent to Bu ell o wnersh ip - at $ 13,695, a sticker shock-inducing figure which guara ntees exclus ivity. • Aero front fender hides Mitchell wheel and Buell's own brakes. Buell RR1200 Engine type .. OHV. air-cooled. f our-stroke V-twin Bore x stroke . . 88.8 x 96.8mm Displacement • • __ : • • • 1203cc Compression ratio ••• ••• 9 .0 :1 Carburetor, __ • Keihin 40mm CV Horsepower ••• • ••• •• • 55 bhp Torque ••• •• •••••• 62Ibs.lft. Valves per cylinder •• ••••• Two Starting system • • • •• •• Electric Ignition • •• • • •• • ••• Electronic Lubrication •••••• Oil. dry sump Redline .•. •.•. • • •• 61 00 rpm . Primary drive •• • • • Triplex chain Final drive • •••••••••• • Chain Final drive ratio ••• • •• • •• 2 .19 Frame •••••• Chromemoly steel with Uniplanar powertrain isolation system Rake ••••••••••••••• • • 25· Trail • ••••• •••• •• •••• 3 .6in. Front suspension •••• Marzocchi M 1R te lescopic fork with ACT anti-dive. Fork tube diameter •• • • • 42mm Front wheel travel •••••• 5 .8in. Rear suspension •• •• Swingarm w ith Works Performance unit , Rear wheel travel •••••• 5 .0in . Front brakes • ••• •• • Dual Buell 310mm cast iron f loating rotors w /four-piston cal ipers Rear brakes • •. • • • Single Bue ll 230mm cast iron floating rotor w /dual-piston cal iper Front wheel •••••• 3 .50 x 17in. M itchell spun aluminum Rear wheel • •• ••• 4.50 x 17in . M itchell spun aluminum Front tire • ••• • • • • 120/70-17 Metzeler Comp K Rear t ire • •••••• • • 17 0/6 0 -17 Metzeler Comp K Claimed dry weight • •• 435 Ibs. Overall length • • ••• • ••• • N / A Overa ll width ••••• •• • • • N / A Overa ll height • • • • • ••• •• N / A Wheelbase •• •••••••• 55.5in. Seat height •••••••••• 31 .5in. Ground clearance •• • • •• 5 .3 in . Fuel capacity ••• • • • • • • 5 .0gal. Colors ••• Black/orange/yellow Retail price • • •• • • • •• $13.695 Manufacturer . . Buell Motor Co . 64 W31751 Road X Mukwonaga. WI 53149 414/392·3170

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