My father in law has a sv1000 and I used to ride with him a lot until we both moved to different states. His sv is way faster than my xb9. I've ridden his and it's a nice bike but I find it extremely uncomfortable to ride. Also not as fun, it just doesn't have that raw factor. But overall it is definitely much stronger. Handling and braking, the buell is probably a tad better, or at least equal.
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XB vs MONSTER vs SV
- Thread starter Ilirthekosovoxb9s
- Start date
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Gloomshadow
Well-known member
you cant really compare the SV1000 to the XB12.. liquid cooled V-twins with 1000c can put out a lot more power and I think most racing organizations put them in a higher racing class, so I think its an unfair comparison. The XB would probably have to have 1400-1500cc's to match that power. The XB doesn't have the compression, nor does it have the same rate of fuel consumption as a SV1000.. look at CCS road racing rules.. the XB will make more sense if you look at those rules. http://www.ccsracing.us/forms/2015/rules/2015 asra-ccs rulebook std.pdf
go to section 6.1.3 "Lightweight Supersport" the XB12 can race in that class and the SV1000 cant race in that class.. maximum 800cc for liquid cooled V-Twin. Then the 9 or the 12 races in all other classes above this one with the handicap.
go to section 6.1.3 "Lightweight Supersport" the XB12 can race in that class and the SV1000 cant race in that class.. maximum 800cc for liquid cooled V-Twin. Then the 9 or the 12 races in all other classes above this one with the handicap.
Gloomshadow
Well-known member
more I think about it.. compression probably isn't the main factor with the XB, probably more like rev-limit.. I haven't looked real closely at SV specs but if memory serves it made like 125 horse at the crank and I remember the rev limit being quite a bit higher.. but if you look closely at the CCS rules the XB is always placed in the "slow group" but it seems to have the potential to be the fastest "slow bike" you could have.. so that is saying something at least. ha ha
go cytocis
Well-known member
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Absolutely! Anyone who's got any experience with sport V-twins (Monster, SV, or otherwise) & gets on an XB, is going to notice right away the extremely low red-line. Couple this with the obese flywheel & absence of any torque peak, & you've got a bike that's simply unlike anything else, for better or worse.
I personally love just about anything on 2 wheels, regardless of how many cylinders it's got, as long as it has even a hint of sporting pre-tense!
Gloomshadow
Well-known member
I love it.. it makes a lot of usable torque in street conditions without much mechanical complications and it yields a lot of useable power on the street when you consider how little fuel it burns... because there is no "peak torque" like you said, its real forgiving.. if you fuck up and happen to be in the wrong gear, the bike doesn't seem to care much.. it just says "ok" and pulls forward anyway. Everything the motorcycle press loved about the SV650, I think the XB9 or 12 did it even better.. I like the Lightning ergos for streetfighting more than the Firebolt but everyone has different tastes. As far as sound and swagger factor goes, the XB has the SV beat. Everyone knows what a SV is, but the XB kinda has that "dark horse" factor going on.. guys see it and don't know what you may or not have done to it. There is a perception out there with other riders that Buell guys tend to run a lot of mods that they are suspicious of.. big bore kits and all that.
Gloomshadow
Well-known member
h
Ilirthekosovoxb9s
Member
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Gloomshadow, i totally agre with you, especially here where i live in nyc, ive only seen one buell in my life lol so its really the "black sheep" that stands out of the flock
34nineteen
Well-known member
I agree with what Gloomshadow said, except for the forgiving part. It may be forgiving if you are in the wrong gear and jump on the throttle, but thats about it. In my opinion, the Buell rewards you for being on your A-game, and punishes you for mistakes. The SV just goes about business on an even keel.
I think its more about what you want out of the bike.
I had an SV650 and sold it for a XB12S. The Buell is 100x cooler and way more dynamic. Its like driving a full-blown race car on the street. The dictionary should have a picture of an XB12S next to the word "awesome".
After a couple of weeks of riding the two bikes back to back, the SV650 actually won out (for me). Here's why:
- The motor is way smoother. Even though it revs a lot more, its like buttah, for a V-twin
- Its is much quieter. Even with the db-killer removed from the aftermarket exhaust on my SV, which made it super loud, the XB makes it sound like a lawnmower.
- Shifting. I never thought the SV shifted very smooth, until I rode the XB for a bit, then went for a spin on the SV. Also, the XB clutch is much heavier than the SV. Love the Muller power clutch!
- Riding position. The XB has a very unique riding position, very upright, yet aggressive. The SV has a bit more of a forward lean, but its much more relaxed. Wider bars made it much better (Renthal Streetfighters)
-Handling. The SV suspension sucks. There are a lot of things you can do to step it up, but I think the XB is still winner unless you plan on extensive mods. My bike is my toy and I enjoy doing mods, so the upgrade-ability was a definite plus for me. The XB is ridiculously short and it feels like it should be completely unstable, but it is NOT! If the suspension is set up correct, the bike rides well and handles great. If you have never experienced a XB, do not buy one sight unseen (ala eBay). Make sure you sit on it first. It is VERY different. A skilled rider could probably defy physics on a stock XB, a squid is probably on his deathbed.
- Reliability. In the short time I've owned the XB, its almost stranded me about 3 times. I was able to fix it on the side of the road and get back home, but in the moment that "oh sh1t!" feeling is ummm, "priceless". The SV just goes.
One is like dating a porn star, the other is the girl next door.
PS. 16K miles, never dropped, mint condition $4500.
I think its more about what you want out of the bike.
I had an SV650 and sold it for a XB12S. The Buell is 100x cooler and way more dynamic. Its like driving a full-blown race car on the street. The dictionary should have a picture of an XB12S next to the word "awesome".
After a couple of weeks of riding the two bikes back to back, the SV650 actually won out (for me). Here's why:
- The motor is way smoother. Even though it revs a lot more, its like buttah, for a V-twin
- Its is much quieter. Even with the db-killer removed from the aftermarket exhaust on my SV, which made it super loud, the XB makes it sound like a lawnmower.
- Shifting. I never thought the SV shifted very smooth, until I rode the XB for a bit, then went for a spin on the SV. Also, the XB clutch is much heavier than the SV. Love the Muller power clutch!
- Riding position. The XB has a very unique riding position, very upright, yet aggressive. The SV has a bit more of a forward lean, but its much more relaxed. Wider bars made it much better (Renthal Streetfighters)
-Handling. The SV suspension sucks. There are a lot of things you can do to step it up, but I think the XB is still winner unless you plan on extensive mods. My bike is my toy and I enjoy doing mods, so the upgrade-ability was a definite plus for me. The XB is ridiculously short and it feels like it should be completely unstable, but it is NOT! If the suspension is set up correct, the bike rides well and handles great. If you have never experienced a XB, do not buy one sight unseen (ala eBay). Make sure you sit on it first. It is VERY different. A skilled rider could probably defy physics on a stock XB, a squid is probably on his deathbed.
- Reliability. In the short time I've owned the XB, its almost stranded me about 3 times. I was able to fix it on the side of the road and get back home, but in the moment that "oh sh1t!" feeling is ummm, "priceless". The SV just goes.
One is like dating a porn star, the other is the girl next door.
PS. 16K miles, never dropped, mint condition $4500.
It's funny, I ride with a lot of track people, so the attention my Buell gets compared to my wife's SV is, well, not awesome. It's less 'ooh, a Buell' and more 'ew, a Buell'. A lot of people we know race ultralight twins (read: SVs), so as soon as they spot the remote reservoir on the back of her bike, they're all drooling over it. My parents are harley people, so when we ride with them I get snubbed for my 'almost harley' that isn't a real harley and sport bike people tend to snub me more often that not for my 'almost sportbike' not being a real sportbike.
It's a good thing those types of reactions don't actually bother me. I chose my bike for me and I'm able to laugh that kind of thing off. Still, some here have mentioned the attention their Buells draw. For me, that attention is almost always negative. I can't tell you how many people I've offered a lap at the track on my firebolt and been told 'no thanks'.
It's a good thing those types of reactions don't actually bother me. I chose my bike for me and I'm able to laugh that kind of thing off. Still, some here have mentioned the attention their Buells draw. For me, that attention is almost always negative. I can't tell you how many people I've offered a lap at the track on my firebolt and been told 'no thanks'.
This was GREAT! (AND true!).
This has NEVER happened to me yet. MOST Harley guys I know/meet think it's 'cool'. Some just plain have NO clue until they SEE it. That's always funny. Some H/D guys come up and look at it. "Look at that short little thing" Wow! That's a Harley engine in there?" Classic.
Tbone
Well-known member
For me it is function over form, that is a Buell to me. I have an 09 Uly and it is like my retirement rocking chair that flys down the highway pretty darn reliably, cheaply, hassle free, etc... If I want I can twist the throttle, shake rattle and roll and hit 130 mph very easily probably everyday for the rest of my days, get on some gnarly road & grind, do a power wheelie in first sometimes second, ride 2 up easily, get over 40 mpg, maintain my own bike, it is totally stock except K&N AF, for an average guy like me, I Love it! I imagine the design team, " lets build something that can do something, focus on anything else later.."
coaldigger
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- Dec 27, 2014
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Gloomshadow
Well-known member
yeah all good comments. As for reliability and shifting and all that on the XB, in my personal experience this is how it went. I bought both my XB's used. When I first got that 12R I wasn't sure what was normal and what wasn't Here is my advice, replace every friggin bearing on the bike. Wheels, tensioner, swing arm and put caged roller bearings in the steering. Always use a new or newish clutch cable. Makes sure to get a new coil pack, wires and plugs. Owning your own blind hole bearing puller is the way to go.
As for shifting, my 2004 12R shifts slick as hell, as slick as my old Ninja 600R, not as slick as my old ZX6-R but not a big deal. My XB9SX isn't slick going from 2nd into 3rd and back... Im pretty sure the bike went down on its shift lever sometime in the past and probably dinged a shift fork. (Ill check it out later when I rebuild the motor) Just because your XB may not shift well, that doesn't mean its normal... every XB I have been on as been different, some slick as hell, some real bad ... depending on what hands that bike has passed through over the years.
Stock fuel map on my 9 sucked, it ran real lean.. hot and felt weak.. I put the race map into it and it ran faster, stronger and cooler. On the 12R, I cant comment on the stock map because mine came with the EBR race ecm. My 12 doesn't run as clean as my 9.. pops on deceleration some times. My 9 has a sweet motor and its at 75,000 miles.
As for Buell owners, I lurk around a lot on other forums .. reading what they say and I notice a lot of differences between Buell owners and "Japanese bike" owners. I can talk about this because I have owned a lot of Japanese bikes over the years. Buell owners tend to be smart, motivated, they search out problems and solve them, we make mods that actually work, we tend to be older and more patient with things. There are Japanese riders like this also but a lot of them tend to be younger and less patient, they want things done for them and they want it now. They also have a tendency to jump from one bike to another real quickly before they actually discover the potential of the bike they have. My neighbor (great guy) is like this, he went through 3 bikes last year.. each one faster than the last but he himself didn't get any faster. He is on the Honda 650F right now and I STILL eat him up on my 9SX.
As for shifting, my 2004 12R shifts slick as hell, as slick as my old Ninja 600R, not as slick as my old ZX6-R but not a big deal. My XB9SX isn't slick going from 2nd into 3rd and back... Im pretty sure the bike went down on its shift lever sometime in the past and probably dinged a shift fork. (Ill check it out later when I rebuild the motor) Just because your XB may not shift well, that doesn't mean its normal... every XB I have been on as been different, some slick as hell, some real bad ... depending on what hands that bike has passed through over the years.
Stock fuel map on my 9 sucked, it ran real lean.. hot and felt weak.. I put the race map into it and it ran faster, stronger and cooler. On the 12R, I cant comment on the stock map because mine came with the EBR race ecm. My 12 doesn't run as clean as my 9.. pops on deceleration some times. My 9 has a sweet motor and its at 75,000 miles.
As for Buell owners, I lurk around a lot on other forums .. reading what they say and I notice a lot of differences between Buell owners and "Japanese bike" owners. I can talk about this because I have owned a lot of Japanese bikes over the years. Buell owners tend to be smart, motivated, they search out problems and solve them, we make mods that actually work, we tend to be older and more patient with things. There are Japanese riders like this also but a lot of them tend to be younger and less patient, they want things done for them and they want it now. They also have a tendency to jump from one bike to another real quickly before they actually discover the potential of the bike they have. My neighbor (great guy) is like this, he went through 3 bikes last year.. each one faster than the last but he himself didn't get any faster. He is on the Honda 650F right now and I STILL eat him up on my 9SX.
Gloomshadow
Well-known member
Also, I would like to add.. whenever a "Japanese big 4" rider says anything negative about the XB, I just start asking him questions.. about 4 questions into it, he will reveal that he doesn't know what class the XB runs in and cant compare it to anything else within reason bla bla bla. They basically parrot out stock responses that they heard from other guys that don't know anything about it either.
.. as for the Harley guys, about a year ago I told a story here on BuellXB.. I went to my local HD dealer to get some things and a couple of grizzly looking outlaws in their 60s walked up to me and my 9SX in the parking lot, scowls on their faces and the skinny one said "That thing any good?" I gave him a 4 min run-down on what the bike was all about and he said "it beautiful.. used to race Yamaha as a factory support rider back in the late 70s".. I told him "Jump on".. pops ran that thing around the parking lot like a "G".. as he came back he said "This thing is fucking badass I knew I should have got one".... NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER.
.. as for the Harley guys, about a year ago I told a story here on BuellXB.. I went to my local HD dealer to get some things and a couple of grizzly looking outlaws in their 60s walked up to me and my 9SX in the parking lot, scowls on their faces and the skinny one said "That thing any good?" I gave him a 4 min run-down on what the bike was all about and he said "it beautiful.. used to race Yamaha as a factory support rider back in the late 70s".. I told him "Jump on".. pops ran that thing around the parking lot like a "G".. as he came back he said "This thing is fucking badass I knew I should have got one".... NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER.
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