Fast Havey Bikes: September 2011

By late 1998, Erik Buell's lively and IK distinctive sports bikes had come a long way since the Wisconsin-based engineer and former racer's first model, more than ten years earlier. With their distinctive styling, upright riding position, tuned Harley V-twin motors and agile chassis, Buells had provided plenty of speed and handling along with more fun than just about anything else on two wheels.

But Buells had suffered some problems, too. Models such as the S1 Lightning had been rather eccentric, with their big, ugly air filter, truck-like exhaust, uncomfortably tiny seat, soft Harley footrests and tendency to overheat their rear cylinder. That was until late 1998, when Buell introduced the X1 Lightning.

The X1 proved that founder Erik Buell and his colleagues at Harley-Davidson, which by this time owned most of the company, listened to criticism. It combined typical Buell aggression with fresh styling, a smaller air filter, a belly pan to cover the silencer, a larger seat, normal footrests, and better cooling to engine parts including the rear cylinder. It also had a stiffer steel frame, new aluminium rear subframe and swingarm, plus uprated Showa suspension at front and rear.

Like other Buells the X1 was powered by an air-cooled, 45-degree pushrod V-twin that was intended for Harley's 1200 Sportster. Here it was hotted-up with Buell's 'Thunderstorm' cylinder heads, incorporating bigger valves, reworked ports and reshaped combustion chambers. A new fuel-injection system helped give a best yet peak output of 95bhp at 6200rpm. This was a pretty remarkable achievement given that a standard Sportster produced less than 60bhp.

That meant the XI was good for a genuine 140mph (225km/h), and the cleverly rubber-mounted motor felt amazingly smooth, too. There was a generous amount of mid-range torque, and the bike sat effortlessly at 70mph (113km/h) with instant acceleration on tap.

Pictures of '99 Buell X1 Lightning

So it was only a natural progression that when he decided to go the sportier route and build something decidedly un-cruiserish, he wedged a Milwaukee-born power plant into his sport frame. As things came along and the bikes took shape, as is often the case, the offspring looked quite like its creator; which is to say, the bike was quite quirky at first. It had a number of cool features that onlookers admired, but it was decidedly homebuilt, in both look and feel. Not much of the quirkiness -- or coolness, mind you -- has faded since then. So with the 1999 Lightning X1 the legacy continues onward with a number of improvements over the first vehicles that came out of Erik's garage.

The new bikes are significantly better assembled and, despite one recall as of late, they've held up quite well, even under the somewhat substantial girth and ham-fists of our day-to-day test crew. The styling, though, remains a love it or hate it affair. Motorvation still comes in the form of a 1203cc air-cooled, four-stroke, 45° V-twin, with the 1999 iteration getting its oxygen/petrol mixture fed to it by fuel injection as opposed to the carbs found on previous Buells.

The tranny is a well-spaced, five-speed constant-mesh unit with a final drive ratio of 1.6 to 1 that provides positive, though sometimes clunky gear changes. The wheelbase checks in at a stubby 55.0 inches, with 23° of rake and 3.5 inches of trail hanging off the steering stem in the form of Showa inverted forks with both adjustable rebound and compression damping. The rear of the bike still retains the somewhat awkward extension type Showa shock, adjustable for rebound, compression and preload.

The motor on this bike is rather peppy when you consider it came from a Harley donor. But, when compared to recent Japanese machinery, it lacks in some ways. Despite the fat torque curve of the Buell motor, one of the main complaints with the Buell centered around the narrow power band. The real power spreads from only about 4000 - 6300 RPM. Anything below 3200 rpm and the thing shakes side-to-side like our girlfriend's heads when we mention sex. Rev it up to above 6300 and its the EFI management system pulls the plug from your bathtub of power. For a sporty bike, this isn't a wonderful thing as it necessitates an inordinate amount of left foot movement when you should be focusing on the approaching turns.

Again, this is a performance Sportster and not a race bike. Still, we race Buells, but mainly for the same reason others race dogs -- 'cause we can. The bike's ergonomics have come a long ways, though. As a complete package, they're not the usual Harley fare, but they are by no means 996-esque either.

The bars have a reasonable bend to them and the seat is 100-percent better than the version on '98 Buells. The airbox doesn't look quite like the bread-box, like on other models, and the X1 seat actually has padding between your ass and the frame's backbone, which is, like we need to say it, a nice touch. Between the seat and pegs is a decent amount of room, where even staffers in excess of six feet found reasonable comfort. The tank is sculpted quite nicely as well, with decent indents for the knees, though when the bars are turned to full right lock, the thumb grazes the tank.

This is presumably due to the larger grip needed to accommodate the throttle pipe and only a minor niggling trait, which is part of the love, and curse, of Buells anyway. Riding the bike is, at first, a bit of an unusual experience. It's one of those times in life where you almost dread doing something but, once you're in the process you find yourself smiling. This bike's domain is a twisty back-road comprised of mostly second and third gear turns. Use the motor correctly and it will tug out of corners nicely. When slowing for the next corner, however, tug on the front brake lever and the single 340 mm disk and the six-piston caliper will stop you.

When you push the bike hard, you start to feel the front suspension bottom over braking bumps and the chassis become unsettled by mid-corner bumps. Cranking on the suspension clickers was somewhat pro-active in getting rid of these handling traits, though we suspect some of the cause stems from the bike's 440 lbs dry weight. Though, since it's set up to be an all-around machine, this is not a surprise, and when this is taken into consideration, the back-road handling seems rather impressive.When the ride's over, you sit back pondering what just happened, and you can't quite put your finger on the cause of smile on your mug. You just know that, as a whole, you enjoyed the experience and you'd like to have an encore performance.

Maybe, but you're not sure when because, for all the things this bike does well, and for all the steps forward it has taken recently, it is still, after all, a quirky creation. It's a tough bike to place into a niche. It's not really a sportbike when compared to an R1, or even a CBR600F4 for that matter.

Buell

The original Lightning XB12S takes the Buell Street fighter to the edge. The Thunderstorm 1203 V-Twin engine delivers a well-rounded portion of torque, thanks to the Buell InterActive Exhaust, a valve in the dual-chamber muffler controlled by the ECM that adjusts exhaust flow according to riding conditions to optimize engine power. A coarse-texture seat and athletic riding position offer outstanding control. A new, stiffer swingarm and smooth-shifting transmission up the performance ante for 2006. The Lightning XB12S is offered in Midnight Black, or with a new Valencia Orange Translucid airbox cover and flyscreen with Midnight Black front fender and chin spoiler, both with high-gloss Translucent Amber wheels.

Buell

Buell Lightning XB12S features:

Buell Thunderstorm 1203 fuel-injected air/oil/fan-cooled V-Twin engine
103 peak hp, 84 ft. lbs. peak torque
Buell InterActive Exhaust
New easy-shif ting transmission
New Goodyear Hibrex drive belt with Flexten Plus technology
New lighter, stiffer swingarm design
New air intake location
New Valencia Orange Translucid bodywork
Fuel-in-frame, oil-in-swingarm
43mm fully adjustable Showa upside-down fork
Fully adjustable Showa rear shock absorber
Buell ZTL front brake system
Translucent Amber wheels
Flat track-style handlebars

Buell

Buell

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