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/303159
EBR 1190RX FIRST RIDE P88 mapping of said motor's fueling at part throttle and/or low revs, this allows the 1190RX to hug a tight line in slower bends, and it's flickable and easy to change direction on. It also doesn't give you the feeling that it wants to tip into turns, as you might expect from reading those geometry numbers. There are times when it certain- ly doesn't feel like a meaty 185 hp twin-cylinder 1200cc Superbike, more like something half that ca- pacity in the way it steers. Again, the EBR steers brilliantly well. It has a calculated, confidence- inspiring turn-in, with good feed- back via the Showa fork from the front Pirelli, and well-chosen suspension settings that helped it ride the few bumps at Jennings very well. Plus, there's no hint of understeer once you switch the power on exiting a turn. So, even when trail-braking into an apex, the RX didn't feel it wanted to tuck the front, with the Showa fork compressing under weight transfer that threatened to unload the back wheel as that unique, ventilated single 386mm GSK floating perimeter steel disc (gripped by the equally innovative Nissin eight-piston 'inside-out' caliper), did its job in slowing the bike from hard on in fifth gear – even if I needed to squeeze pret- ty hard to make the caliper grip the rim brake firmly. But once again - as on the RS - I didn't experience any of the brake fade or pulsing of the brake lever that some riders have claimed to experience on Buells fitted with such a brake. And even in faster third gear bends, it was possible to save yards of track distance – and thereby time – by holding a tight line. Part of the reason for that is that this is an old-style twin and as such the new EBR is the po- lar opposite in terms of character to the Panigale, even if they have much in common in terms of al- ternative chassis design. The American V-twin differs from the Italian one mainly in having the traditional reserves of bottom-end V-twin grunt and midrange torque that the ultra short-stroke Panigale motor lacks, having jettisoned this in pursuit of more performance at higher rpm - in an effort to coun- 1. The 1190 RX uses Buell's trademark perimeter front disk brake that's mounted on a hub- less wheel. 2. The author liked the Buell's footpegs. 3. The cockpit shows off the bike's instrument panel. 4. The exhausts emit a nice and lusty sound at low rpm, but turn it up and the thunder becomes a howl at 7000 rpm. 5. The EBR is powered by an 1191cc Rotax-designed V-twin that is fully assembled in EBR's plant in East Troy, Wisconsin. 1 2 3 4 5