Buell Motorcycle Company
Encyclopedia : B : BU : BUE : Buell Motorcycle Company
The Buell Motorcycle Company is an American motorcycle manufacturer based in East Troy, Wisconsin and founded by ex Harley-Davidson engineer Erik Buell. Since 1998 it has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harley-Davidson. The company is the only significant manufacturer of "Sporting Motorcycles" in the United States.
Buell motorcycles were first built in 1983 by a partnership between Harley-Davidson and Buell. Mr. Buell started with a stock Harley-Davidson "Sportster" engine, then modified it and bolted it to a frame of his own design.
Models
Most Buell motorcycles use four-stroke V-twin engines. These engines were originally built from Harley-Davidson XR1000 Sportster engines, after the 1000s were depleted Erik Buell used a basic 1200 Harley-Davidson Sportster engine.
In 1995 the engines were upgraded with Buell engineered parts and further upgraded in 1998. In 2003, Buell introduced a whole new engine--so efficient and lean running it passed emission tests well into 2006. It also incorporated, but did not invent, the inside-out front brake and "fuel in frame technology." (first for the industry).
Buell claims that what differentiates their motorcycles from their Harley-Davidson origins is the "Trilogy of Tech": mass centralization, low unsprung weight and frame rigidity. Two of the notable innovations are the use of the hollow frame as a fuel tank and the hollow rear swingarm to hold the engine oil. These features help create a leaner and more agile sport motorcyle compared to the previous generations.
Current production models, as of December 2005, are the Blast, Firebolt, Lightning, Lightning CityX and Ulysses XB12X. They also produce 50 XBRRs for factory and dealership racing teams. Earlier models included the RR1000, RR1200, RS1200 West wind, RSS West wind, S2 & S2T Thunderbolt, S1 Lighting, M2 Cyclone, S3 & S3T Thunderbolt and the X1 Lighting. The Blast is the only model to use a 492 cc, 34 hp single-cylinder engine. The highest performance bike is the Firebolt XB12R and Lighting XB12S with an 1203cc engine that develops a claimed at the crank 103 horsepower (77 KW). The Ulysses is the first all-terrain motorcycle produced by Buell.
Trivia
The Firebolt XB12R '05 street and race (Buell Racing tuned) versions are featured in the Playstation 2 riding simulator Tourist Trophy from the makers of Gran Turismo 4.External links
- [Official website]
- [UK Buell Enthusiasts Group,]
- [SacBorg, an open-microphone motorcycle enthusiasts site.]
- [Buelletinboard, Buell enthusiasts forum.]
- [The BadWeb, Buell enthusiasts forum.]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.