I agree lunatic... I will post some quotes off another message board from a guy that puts it to words better than I can bc he raced these, his screen name is SD26
http://www.buelletinboard.com/forums/showthread.php?7550-XB12R-vs-600cc/page3
Put me on a 600 from the mid 90's and up, and I can use that bike to do faster laps than I can on my XB12R, period.
My XB race weighs more and has less power than my 1993 AMA Supersport bike. It's kind of close though comparing times, however, to that old bike.
The old air cooled engine can either be looked at as good or bad. It's a very old design. But so much is known about it, it can be modified like a recipe. All just a matter of what you want it to taste or sound like, right? It wasn't ever really intended for the purpose it's being used for in the Buell line up, but it is an astounding chassis. This is comparing them to all of the bikes I've raced. Few go on a short list of bikes that offer the ability for me to exploit confidence along with making mistakes that don't put me on the ground.
The actual weight of the bike is only noticable to me when I'm loading up the bike to put it in the trailer. Riding, the chassis is unique in that it has a very special balance that allows me to change direction without a lot of effort, but it still maintains feel while running it hard into a corner on the brakes. The weight of the bike isn't a huge factor in upsetting the bike during on/off transitions with brake/throttle or really much of anything.
In the end, I got the Buell to race because there's money available from the factory to do so. But I'll keep racing it because there's a certain simplicity in a lot of the design that has been lost in Japanese manufacturing, I feel.
Maybe that gives us all some idea of reference for each other, but maybe it also develops some points of controversy too.
I didn't close the school, but I retired from it. Scotty Ryan is going to run it now. I worked with him for a few years, helped him move forward quickly, AMA, etc. And he's in a position where I was fifteen years ago in racing. I might be something fun for him that might or might not help him.
The Buell has been a great surprise across the board, really. No real complaints. Well, ok, the only one is that there isn't the plethora of opporunities to work various manufacturers. Exhaust, for an example. There are certain companies that have higher relationships with the racing community. Hindle, Leo Vinci, etc. And they don't make an exhaust for a Buell. A lot of things are a little different source than what I'm used to.
At the end of the day, yes, riders have fun. Even on a clapped out EX500, people usually have fun.
ASRA, yeah, in Thunderbike that would be Estok, Kern, Bilansky, Bemisderfer. At 1203cc's though, I'm going to be at a serious disadvantage. Yeah, yeah, yeah, make it up with riding, but there is a point where you can't make up that deficit in ground speed between corners.
I've known Nate for a while. Fast guy. Last year at Road America in one race, he was on his BMW and I was racing an SV1000, I had a faster lap time in the one race. My SV1000 is lighter and has more power than my Buell. Yes, my Buell handles better even after just two outings vs the time I had on my SV, but making up that space between corners is still hard.
At my local track, Blackhawk Farms, I was about three seconds off my fastest SV1000 time on the Buell. That's a long time to look at to make up.
Put Rossi on an R6 in MotoGP, and he's not going to win.
I had a really good day on the SV1000 in 2007, and I did a 1:12.7. I think Dan Bilansky's fastest time on his well worked out and worked over Buell is a 1:12.9. It's not stock inside at all.
In 2004, with the lap record at a 1:09.7 the next month, I did a 1:11.4 on my R6.
I did a 1:16.0 (I was giving myself some extra time...) in September on the XB12R. I can say that I didn't really have a fourth gear, and I still had belt drive. Going down the front straight, I did pull another Buell. I did pull an SV. I also raced in Heavyweight Superbike, which is full of 600's and 750's. I can almost keep up with the back of the pack, but only months before, on my GSXR750 which really doesn't go much faster than a 600, I can keep a bike inside the top five no problem.
Inspite of all that, it is a great bike. It is what it is on the track.
XBRR's...
Now, that's a different story. There were a few of them running around last year. I can't stay with an XBRR at Blackhawk on my SV1000 in a straight line at all. I think that they put out probably a good 127 to 135HP at the rear wheel no problem where even a Kawasaki 600 with a lot of customer available kit parts would have a hard time keeping up in a straight line.
I think some of Danny's stuff shares some ideology of the XBRR, afterall, again, that is the cool part of the H-D engine: that opportunity to fit, refit, change among all the parts opportunities out there. The cost is in reliability
