Buell XB12Ss Lightning

Buell XB12Ss Lightning “Long” – June 2007 – October 2007

Purchased: 21/05/07
Mileage:2200 miles
Price: £5500
Accessories: None

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Review:

I was fed up after my Yamaha MT-03 melted. I guess I was just even less bothered about it now. I scouted around for a new bike and accidentally clicked on a Buell link. What a mistake that was!

I had never seen a Buell before and never even knew they existed, but soon after looking at them on the net, my brother and I went to Edinburgh Harley Davidson-Buell and had a look at these machines face to face. I fell in love.

The bike was tiny, minamalist in appearance and sounded fecking dreamy. I couldn’t believe a bike this gorgeous existed! Within a week I would place my order and have one. A 1200cc V-twin bike with the best handling in the planet.

This bike is my dream bike. It handles like nothing else, is 100x more confidence inspiring than the Yamaha and goes like shit off a shovel. The whole bike screamed character, from the ridiculous vibrations at idle to the minamalist everything, to the gold wheels and rim mounted brake disk. The fuel in the frame, oil in the swingarm, the side exit underslung exhaust, belt drive (I just loved this!!)…man, this bike had it all. I was completely in love with a bike for the first time, and I just loved every second of it.

It had adjustable everything, preload, rebound, compression. Was comfy, felt amazing to ride, was the perfect riding position for me, had little design features that I loved, like the dual headlights and handlebar clamp logos, the gorgeous looks…ah, I just couldn’t believe I had a bike like this.

But there was down sides to having a bike like this. E X O T I C.

Sure, it’s no Ducati or Aprilia, but this thing is just as exotic. American. Labour and parts costs were astronomical. Service costs even more so (How about £489 for a 10k service?) There were flat spots in the accelleration and the killer thing that ruined my life: Insurance.

I am 23. I have been riding since Jan 2007 and for my to get insured on my Buell it would be £1800. That was just astounding. Couple the insurance, with 3 services a year because I commute, and various other expendatures and I was looking at round £3k a year just to keep it…no way was I prepared to do that. My bank account just couldn’t support it. So it had to go.

Pros:

• Jaw dropping gorgeousness
• Handles like no other
• Breathtaking soundtrack
• Great dials
• Great riding position
• Superb engineering
• Pioneering design
• Gorgeous wheels
• Innovative everything
• Very very very unique, hardly any others on the road

Cons

• Mega insurance
• Mega service costs
• Mega running costs
• Flat spots
• Eats oil

Some more pictures: