First Ride: Revised Buell 1125R

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The 1125R was meant to be Buell’s break through, its first water-cooled engine and the bike that would move the American manufacturer from being an interesting quirky anonym to a serious contender. But, as is so often the way with Buell, things didn’t quite go to plan.

At the bike’s launch in Laguna Seca some serious flaws were exposed, so serious in fact that Buell had to delay the launch of the 1125R, redesign a few bits and organise another unveiling of this updated bike a few months later. Having not been on the original launch I was looking forward to riding the 1125R. I like Buell’s quirkiness, but having spent a day on road and track I don’t understand what the company is trying to do with this bike and think they have missed the mark.

Buell claim the 1125R is aimed at street riders rather than track day hooligans, which is fair enough, but it still has some serious issues that make it a fairly poor street bike. For a start the engine vibrates like hell. At tickover it shakes enough to be annoying while get above about 6,000rpm on the go and it’s actually quite painful. These vibes make the mirrors all but decorations and ruin the ride, and all this despite Buell fitting three balancer shafts to the motor!

Although having said that, another bike I rode didn’t vibrate quite as much as mine, which is fairly typical Buell. And while the engine has a lovely flat torque curve, which is great for the road, it feels crude to use. It’s very similar to Aprilia’s RSV-R motor, and makes virtually the same power. But this is a 10 year old engine, everyone else had moved the game on when it comes to V-twins. While I loved the fuel injection, throttle response and huge torque it doesn’t have the same power or speed as other twins.

Then there is the handling, which is really good, as long as you have the bike set up correctly. Buell claim the bike’s suspension needs to tailored to specific riders, when you buy the bike your dealer will set it up to your size and weight. Great, but I gave Buell my size and weight and the suspension setting I was given didn’t work and ruined the handling. It kept wanting to sit up in corners until I softened the fork’s settings. When I did this it handled well, but on Buell’s settings it didn’t.