Does anyone have a Buell Lightning?

[Gingernut]

Does anyone own/has anyone owned a Buell Lightning?

The reason I ask is because I was looking round the local Harley/Buell dealership the other day and I saw the new Lightning CityX I really like the look of the bike, but I was wondering how it compares to its more established Japanese counterparts, Hornet, Bandit etc.

Thanks,

Gingernut
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[loply]

I love everything about that bike except for the fact that someone cut 12 inches off the seat and made it look like a toy bike instead of a real one.

bet its fun though
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[MarJay]

I hear it is a bike of dipolar opposites.

It has a frame and design ideas taken from a bike of the future...


And it has the engine from a 1920's tractor.

It has radial brakes and a very stiff frame. It also has sharp geometry, but apparently the radial brakes add enough gyroscopic force to the front wheel to prevent the bike being twitchy.

It holds the fuel in the frame, but apparently only holds about 15 litres. The engine is not amazingly efficient either - which means a poor tank range.

The engine is about as far from a japanese bike as one might find. Its air cooled and has a fair wedge of grunt. It is wheezy at the top end and it has some odd cooling issues apparently.

I'd love to have a go on one, but I don't think I'd want one as a day to day bike. RiDE mag had a long termer that dropped a valve... and experienced numerous drive belts snapping.

However, if its for you then go for it.

Oh and they are about as comfortable as a razor blade with wheels!
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Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[california_rookie]

[Robby]

Nice bikes, but not something I'd consider for a commuter.

The engine was designed in the early 50s, and hasn't really been updated much since. Its a narrow angle V twin with no balancers, so it shakes around a bit. Its air cooled, so the rar cylinder runs a high chance of overheating.

Oil in the swingarm sounds like a nice idea, but I think of it this way. The oil is at best 6 inches away from the engine, and I would assume gets there by a flexible external oil line. The drive belts are prone to snapping, and bits of them flailing around the same area as that fragile oil line.

They do look cool though.

[dotti]

I particularly liked this review https://www.motorbikestoday.com/reviews/Articles/buell_xb12s_lightning.htm especially how he compares it with a RS125 !

There are tons of reviews on this link too (for all types of bikes) https://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/clasqm/homepage.html

I hope this helps somewhat.

Paul
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[ash t]

I love the looks of them if you dont mind me adding my opinion.
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I'm with you Ash

[Gingernut]