Did a search and didn’t find too much, but I’m looking at picking up a bike for the summer and have narrowed my selection down to:
SV650
Bandit 600
Buell Firebolt
I know that both the SV650 and the Bandit are great, time-tested bikes so I’m primarily looking for opinions on the Firebolt.
How do they do?
Is there anything specific about them that I should look for when shopping around? Belt? Something about that ancient Harley engine? Etc?
Any other recommendations? I’m primarily in the market for a naked streetbike. Nothing too nasty just yet. Will be used for short commutes and easy joy rides. No tracking.
SV650s are nice, not that hard to work on, i have taken one down to nothing and back together in 2 days.
firebolt is more underpowered for what your going to pay
bandit is more comfoatable ride vs the other 2 but not as “race” orented
This depends on type of riding you plan on doing. Both the Bandit and the SV650 are sport touring bikes. I have ridden all 3.
SV650, good torque, reliable bike not bad
Bandit, decent power, great starter bike, reliable, comfortable.
Firebolt… I have one now. HOLY SHIT this is a sport bike and has a rediculous amount of torque. One thing you have to realize about Buell is that the power is rated at the rear wheel. It revs to 7500 max. That means all of that torque is there immediately and carries to redline. I have an 03 xb9r. My friend has an xb12R. Both bikes have a shit load of torque and I’m surprised someone like Willybeen hasn’t tried on of these as they are wheelie kings.
I have been in Atlanta all week riding. The Firebolt truely has been engineered well. This bike corners like no other. It’s such a short wheel base and weighs only 385 dry. I took it through stone mountain park and rode those roads pretty hard (obv, speeding) and the bike is great. The only thing I dont like about it is some of the maintenance I have had to do that I didn’t think I should have to do soo fast. I just replaced front and rear wheel bearings (03s had a recall on the rears) My friend is good friends with Max the owner of Traxxion Dynamics so we took the bike there and rebuild the forks as the seals were leaking. Nothing like a 1000 dollar rebuild for free. All in all these bikes are extremely fun and take off extremely fast.
Everyone has a gixxer or ninja or CBR, not too many people have a firebolt or buell in general. It’s definately a much cooler bike and has much more personality than most of the cookie cutter bikes out there. I went to a bike night here the other night at The Vortex (burger place) in little 5 points and everyone had what I listed my friend and I were the only people there with Buells. (he has a very built x1 lightning) People were all like “wow what is that”…especially when you start it up and it sounds like a harley, alot of people seem to be taken back by that.
This is a sport bike though and I won’t lie I’m a little sore trying to get used to this bike and it’s riding position. It’s an unforgiving chassis so if you make a mistake this bike will let you know. All in all I like this bike very much and it’s very fun to ride and again, you don’t see them everyday like the other common bikes, so you get lots of compliments.
Also like I said, I have ridden an SV650 and owned a bandit. They are nice bikes.
It will depend on the kind of riding you plan on doing. For those that say a Buell is underpowered need to ride one and then make an opinion and realize that you dont need 150whp on the street and most who own those bikes probably couldn’t handle what the bike is truly capable of. The Buell has a ton of useable power.
If I were to compare the buell to other sport bikes that have higher horsepower (the buell has alot of torque down low) I would say that riding a buell is like driving an F bod vs an equally fast import car. It just depends on where you want the power.
I am definitely leaning towards the SV. I found something in Cleveland that seems very promising, but there is a clean Buell XB9R right in Buffalo. I’m torn between what I really want vs. what is available…
Il Mostro FTW. Awesome bike, awesome look and there’s a great community for them. Just make sure you stay air-cooled, the radiator on the water-cooled takes away from it’s appearance. http://ducatimonster.org
edit oh yeah, and they can be had for real cheap too, nothing like the price of their superbikes.
I did… me and jbgti went to the buell dealership the other day and abused the demo bike for about an hour. It was fun… it did do wheelies in first 2nd and 3rd, but I didnt like the bars on it, the feel of it… or the sound/shaking…
Its def not for everybody, however, I’d def ride one again. When summer gets here, we’ll have to trade off a bit and you can ride the 10r… it redefines “takes off” quickly… anyway… congrats on the new bikes… this summer should be fun.
Be safe all
BTW… don, did you get the race ecu/exhaust? I’m sure jon will post here if he sees this… he loved his buell 9r
I was looking at the Monster, but to be honest higher maintenance costs, less reliability, higher price, less availability is keeping me away.
Yamaha FZR would also be nice if I could find a decent one. There is so much junk out there right now and it’s a nightmare trying to get a straight story out of anyone about the history of some of these bikes. I’m not going to drop thousands of dollars on a piece of shit. If anyone wants to make a personal recommendation I’m all ears. Let me know in a PM though.
ride the buell, you’ll feel the difference immediately compared to the other bikes. not a big fan personally. and really its all up to how you feel on the bike, but I like the sv the best out of those options as well.
All in all these bikes are extremely fun and take off extremely fast.