Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127713
RIDING IMPRESSION 1 Buell S2 Thun erb 995 d olt IIfjr By David C. Walsh (Above) M otorcycle imitating art? The Buell S2 Thunderbolt is truly a uniquelooking machine from any angle. This limited-production sportblke Is made in the USA. (Right) Left s ide view shows off the Buell's slim saddle and curvaceous bodywork. A bulbous, free-flowing exhaust silencer runs tn ' jus t under the frame 0\ 0\ ...... 22 en years ago, Eric Buell could easily have been presumed just anothe r dreamer with a nifty bu t ephemeral idea to prod uce an American-made sportbike. When it was first introd uced in 1986, the original Buell RR1000 created a sensation. And lots of controversy. Among the to rtu red ques tions : Can a Harl ey-based "spo rt bike" succeed in a field long the p urview of Japan ? Why should anyone try build ing such a thin g? If it falls flat, wo n' t tha t emba rrass Harley-David son ? Legions of Harley faithful were apoplectic . " Bue ll," th ey'd tell you , " may be smart. But he's wro ng, man!" There's m uch less of that now. In early Janu a ry , 1993, th e Har le y -Da vi d son Mot or Co. officially linked hands w ith Eric Bu ell , ren egad e specia ls bu ilder. Once, Buell had played the sup plican t, happy to get so me engi nes and "in formal" tech su p po rt. ow, the one- time Ha rley engineer was ceding 49 percent of Buell Motors to his former employer; getting in the bargain, cash, a good ly supply of 1200cc Sportster powerplan ts, major access to the factory engineering de partmen t, incorporation into the Harley dealer netw ork, promoti onal tie-i ns and other valuable stu ff. Wha t a difference a decade makes. The tenaciou s d esigner had finally caused hidebound H-D execs (as change-resistan t as most Harley owners) to appreciate the innovative Buell "space frame," vibration damping system and kindred idea s. Just as im p o rta n t, Harley was flu s h wi th fund s, the di rect resul t of massive sales wroug ht since introd uction of the excellent Evolution motor in 1983. "Why not," th e Wise Men in Mi lw aukee th ou ght, "give the thing a try? If it's popular, ou tsta ndi ng! If not, the w aiting list for our tradition al cruiser line is only about...three ye ars!" As always, success enco u rag es risk-taking. Sure, many H-D enthusiasts still consider th e words "Ha rley s por tb ike" a he in ou s oxy moron . But many ot h e r Americ an riders are exci ted; for years they've clam ored for a made-in-the-USA s port ma ch in e . Aba n don th e Ha rleyDavid son masses ? Ce rt ai nly not. Fill a growing niche? Why not. . Helping accelerate the interest in Buell amo ng sport bikers and the traditional Ha rley majority, of course, is the dramatic progress of the Harley-Davidson VR1 000 race bike. It's a motorcycle primed for an excellen t finish - if no t the win - at Daytona this year. Even jaded road race pundits foresee Harley victories at important tracks in '95. As to the do ub ters, after three years of stu dious ly ig nori ng develo pmen ts by . Harley's race dep artmen t, expect to see man y more of them in the gra ndstan d s during Speed Week. The trick le of gu ys wearin g chaps, vests and blase ex pressions Mil grow to a strea m at Daytona '95. And this year they'll be applaudi ng as the VR' s ex ha u st n o te bo om s ac ro ss th e infield. In short, rath er than the hostile com men ts greeting the original Buell through the late-80s, genu ine interest and smiles now ema nate from Harley trad itionalists on seeing the latest Buell incarn ation. The new S2 Thunderbolt, that is. Nowhere was this more evident than in Frederick, Maryl and. This sma ll town with its surround ing woodlands, rolling hills and fields are solid Harley country, a place where you' d think spo rtbikes of any stripe would be abominated. But it isn' t so. I spent a d ay touring the region with a Buell and was su rprise d . Watching th e bike fro m insid e a restaurant where I'd stopped for lunch, it was striki ng to see the variety of people who 'd gather around the uni que machine wi th its lustrous blu e coat and aggress ive, hu nkered-down attitude. "Hill men," kids, grey-sui tors and wo me n who di dn' t realize that the '70s had passed, all stopped by. . H arley rid ers o f course, know the Buell, One, astride a bright red versio n of Knucklehead my dad rode in World War II, grin ned broadly and waved as th e Buell rumbled past at a crossroads. Acce p ta nce is good . And the Buell Thunderbolt definite ly is not your father's Har ley-Davidson. What it is, is a torqu e-rneister (or monster). It has the sort of grunt that commercia l winc hes u se to d ra g g rou n ded fre igh te rs on to sho re. Low -e nd and midran ge torque, in fact, are abso lu tely amazing. Open the big H-D twist grip , even in fifth gear, and you lunge ahead, experiencing an al most shaft d rive-like