Buell Motorcycles

The Buell Motorcycle Company

The first Buell motorcycle, the RW750, was built in 1983 purely for competing in the AMA Formula 1 motorcycle road racing championship. At that time, Erik Buell was a top contending privateer motorcycle racer. After completion of the first two RW750 racing machines, one of which was sold to another racing team, the Formula 1 series was cancelled. Buell then turned his focus towards racing-inspired, street-going machines utilizing engines manufactured by Harley. In 1993, Harley-Davidson Incorporated joined in partnership with Buell Motor Company as a 49% stakeholding minority partner and the company formed was renamed "Buell Motorcycle Company". In 1998 Harley purchased majority control of Buell, and it has been a subsidiary ever since. Since then, Buell has utilized modified Harley-Davidson Sportster engines to power their motorcycles.

courtesy of Wikipedia

Buell Models

Buell engines are designed to be street-friendly both in fuel efficiency (up to 70 M.P.G. with the Blast), and in power (the 1203cc version produces over 100HP). They are also simple and easy to maintain. Buell two-cylinder engines utilize computer controlled ducted forced air cooling (no radiator or liquid coolant, just a variable speed fan that only activates as required), two valves per cylinder, a single throttle body, zero maintenance hydraulic valve actuation, and zero maintenance gear-driven cams.

Lightning XB-12 Series

The Lightning XB-12 series is the "naked" sportbike, also known as a Streetfighter bike. You can learn more about the Buell Lightning XB-12 at this lens.

Firebolt
The Buell Firebolt series is another naked / streetfighter sportbike. Learn more about the Buell Firebolt at this lens.

Buell 1125R

In July, 2007, Buell announced the 1125R, a sportbike which departed from Buell's history of using Harley Davidson style powerplants and tapping into the XBRR racing bike learnings. The Helicon%u2122 engine uses four vertical valves per cylinder, dual over-head cam, liquid-cooled 72 degree V-Twin displacing 1125 cc and producing 146 hp (109 kW). It produces 83 ft·lbf (113 N·m) of peak torque but varies less than 6 ft·lbf (8.1 N·m) of torque from 3,000 to 10,500 rpm. There is a vacuum assist slipper clutch to give predictable drive performance in hard cornering and deceleration and a 6-speed transmission. Although this powerplant is manufactured by BRP-Rotax, Austria, it is in fact designed to detailed Buell specifications.

Visit Buell Motorcycles to learn more about this American motorcycle manufacturer.