Issue 137 : October - November 2004
Buell City X
Yamaha T-Max
Yorkshire Pudding Rally
Ducati's "Centopassi" Event
Bristol Show
South of England HOG Rally
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Buell City X
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Buell City X
While most modern Japanese bikes come from a team of designers using state of the art CAD packages, others come from the mind and pens of individuals. These bikes tend to stand out from the crowd and there is no doubt that the new Buell Lightning City X XB9S (to give it full title) stands out! The City X is an 'urban streetfighter' and is the first to use see-through translucent bodywork in the few places that it has any. A new process allows the bike to have a blue colour scheme, but all the mechanical elements to be seen through it. However, there is not a lot of it due to the very minimalist styling that has been applied by its creator Eric Buell. The bike first surfaced in his conscious way back in 1984 when the original Terminator film hit the screens. The war torn streets when Arnie arrived back in time, generated the idea of producing an aggressive naked bike that could deal with all the hazards of town riding. It may have taken twenty odd years to actually come to fruition, but the wait has been worth it and Eric is rightly proud of it because it also brings back a fun element to motorcycling. Using the smaller of the two Lightning models as a base model, the bike has been stripped of its already minimal bodywork, making it the ultimate naked production bike. The bars have been replaced with flat style motocross items complete with a crossbar and have guards over the levers just like dirt machines. The seat has been heightened for better visibility over other traffic and the wheels have been shod with Pirelli Sync tyres for maximum grip. The overall styling is very aggressive and this accentuated even more by the black lower body-panels, wheels and frame. Hopefully these will minimize the effects of the grime on the bikes looks when subjected to constant town use. Heart of the bike is the Buell Thunderstorm 984cc fuel injected V-twin engine. It is tuned to deliver the more useable mid-range power that is needed for town riding rather than high top speeds. Peak output is a thumping 63.14lb.ft of torque delivered to the rear wheel through a drive belt. As one might expect in a bike coming from Buell it is all put together with his 'design trilogy' in mind. That means frame rigidity; mass centralization and low un-sprung weight have all been priorities. Likewise for a bike to survive the cut and thrust of town life, it also comes with an ultra short 1320mm wheelbase and a 21 degree fork angle with 85mm of trail to give a quick responsive feel.
The weather too almost helped to recreate scenes from Terminator as we rode around Canning Town for the photographer. It quickly became clear that the raising of the seat has also altered the riding position and made it more comfortable in traffic. (Ed: Ian Kerr is six foot eleven.) It also means that it is easier to pick a path through or along the outside of traffic. The massive single 375mm inside out disc gripped by the six pot caliper can stop the bike instantly with just a caress of the brake lever. This is exactly what you need with taxis regularly doing u-turns every time a pedestrian just scratches their head on the opposite pavement. Thanks to the minimalist bodywork and bar protection, should the worst happen the results are not likely to be too catrostrophic! The bike is very flickable and it responds instantly to minimal rider input and thanks to the low down grunt the bike is quite relaxing (relatively speaking) to ride. It is actually reasonably good fun to ride in town despite the traffic and after a while you begin to feel you have the ultimate tool for the job. Dispatch riders would like it were it not for the fact that there is literally nowhere to strap luggage and thanks to the material used, magnetic tanks bags are a non starter. Pillions too get a bad deal and much more that a quick twenty minutes on the back may result in charitable thoughts towards public transport! Take it out of town and onto some country lanes and you start to appreciate that Eric Buell has not forgotten his days as a top flight racer. The handling is as good as it gets and the bike can be easily flicked from one side of the tyres to the other with consummate ease. On the open road such as motorways the comfort levels at the legal speed limits are good, although there is virtually no weather protection. However, the bike is clearly well up to a reasonable commute each day and the benefits of its excellent town manners will compensate for the slight disadvantages out of town. In a lot of ways the City X is a large Supermoto that comes complete with attitude. Its rugged appearance may mean that it out psyches other vehicles at the traffic light GP allowing it show a rapidly diminishing rear light to even the best of sports machines! More riders though are realizing that with the increased use of cameras, high top speeds only put your licence at greater risk. Sports bikes are uncomfortable in traffic and hence many are just Sunday or track day toys so bikes like the Buell begin to make more sense. With a price tag of £5,995 it makes a lot more especially as you get something that stands out in the bike park. Like other similar bikes not designed by a department or computer, it has individuality and a soul, it is not perfect, but far more important than any of this, it is a lot of fun! Ian Kerr |
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Mean lean and inexpensive
So a bike designed for the streets, just had to be launched in a city, but it was not a hot Mediterranean one, but good old wet, rainy, London. Trendy, modern Dockland and some of the undeveloped areas of the East-End, both clogged with traffic, provided an ideal test area for the bike to see if it lived up to its claims.