Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Rlllln~ 2000 Buell Blast betting the millions of dollars in Harley profits needed to create the Buell Blast - the new single-cylinder street bike that's now on sale under Harley's sportbike label. The reason this entry-level product, clothed in impact-resistant plastic, isn't tagged as a Harley is probably because Bleustein & co . .realizes that launching it is quite a gamble, and they didn't want to risk tarnishing the Harley-Davidson name if it isn't a success. However, while the initial production run is coming out of Buell's East Troy, Wisconsin, factory, the plan is to transfer the manufacture of the Blast to Harley's new Kansas City, Missouri, assembly plant in the near future, making it a HarleyDavidson in all but the name. At that point, Harley will consider whether or not to start selling it overseas. But for the time being, at least, this is an American-market-only motorcycle. in~ SINGLE MINDED The Buell Blast· a practical means of transportation and an invitation to the masses to get involved in motorcycling. of motorcycles (like the Ducati M600 Monster as the introductory model to desmo superbiking). Instead, this is meant to be the key ingredient in getting nonbikers turned on to motorcycling either as a practical means of transportation or simply as an enjoyable leisure-time pursuit. In the past, this task has been left to the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers (although the Italians By ALAN CATHCART PHOTOS BY KOICHI NAKAMURA T he challenge of developing the next generation of motorcyclists - and the need to, simply in commercial terms - is one that all manufacturers are aware of, yet many are content to leave it to others to take care of. We're not talking about producing lead-in products to a particular range 24 APRIL 12, 2000' cue • e n e vv s chipped in until very recently with the competing ranges of 125cc ring-ding road rockets); however, what's now supplanted in the hearts of Latin youth as the must-have, rite-of-passage transportation is an array of tricked-out scooters. The trouble is, the next step up from a scooter is invariably an automobile, not a motorcycle. So give Harley-Davidson president Jeff Bleustein due credit for The air-cooled, single-cylinder OHV 492cc four-stroke engine, running two valves and hydraulic lifters developed to power the Blast, is a simple, low-maintenance design derived from the Sportster pushrod Vtwin, although Harley is keen to emphasize that, while making use of existing V-twin tooling and engineering processes to speed up development time and hold down manufacturing costs, this is much more than just a twin that's had a knife sliced through it. In fact,. the only holdovers from the Sportster motor are the 3.5inch cylinder bore from the 1203cc Sportster/Buell V-twins and their oil pump, gearbox and push rod valve gear. Almost everything else on the 88.9 x 79.4mm dry-sump engine is new, and aimed at ease of operation and durability - Erik Buell is on record as saying he sees the Buell as a hand-me-down legacy from one generation to another within the same family, with which each new member can, in due course, become acquainted with riding a motorcycle, before moving on up the capacity and performance ladders. Producing a claimed 34 hp at 6500 rpm with 30.019 foot-pounds of torque at 5500 rpm, the Blast, rather surprisingly, has no gear-driven counter-balancer - now considered de rigueur even on other companies' offroad four-stroke singles, not to mention their street counterparts. Instead, the five-speed engine is rubbermounted to the fabricated steel chassis, whose single rectangular backbone doubles as the oil tank, via a pair of Buell Urtiplanar mounts at the front of the crankcase and up by the cylinder head and a Harley variablestiffness mount at the rear of the engine, all aimed at isolating the inevitable vibes from the rider. Though the hefty exhaust silencer is located under the engine as on

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