2011 Erik Buell Racing 1190RS:


KTM RC8-esk tail and tank. Ducati-ish side fairings, 999-ish nose/projectors and 175bhp. The side view is quite sexy but I don't like the exhaust. It looks slightly too short and the two tips are ugly. The Buell Lighting looks like a home made bodge job and the 1125R is ugly as sin (both have a nice sound though). Has Buell finally made a sweet bike? The side view is pretty sweet (less the exhaust design). I'm not a fan of the front view though:

I like the centered (and slightly 'hidden' second) projector but the rest seems slightly off. The mirrors look way too wide and goofy. I'm not a big fan of a carbon fiber twill weave on bigger surfaces (a plain weave looks much better IMO) but I do really like the color of the bike especially the black version shown below (this is the best angle, although that's true for most bikes). The color options are "Abraxas Inferno, Boreas Frost, Burnt Armor and Pitch Black":


So what do you think? This bad boy will cost between 40 and 50K US (depending on the accessories and the non- vs carbon version). Only a 100 will be made.

 

I would say it's the best looking one yet... but over all I'm still not a fan of the Buell styling. You nailed it on the nose/headlight setup, straight off of a 999/749.

 

I like how the rear wheel looks, those front brakes look monsterous and with the projected hp figures + some insane torque figure I read about it looks like it could be a real hot rod. I can see what they were trying to do with the exhaust, but I think that thing would look pretty badass with dual exhausts... leave it up to the owners to do a 2-1 setup if they want. Sounds more like a race bike than a production bike so $40k can be justified, but there's about 10 bikes ahead on the list I'd prefer.

 

It sure is their best looking bike so far but there are still things I don't like about it like the front fairing. That headlight setup does nothing for me, the exhaust, the really long exhaust bracket and of course (like all manufactures) the ugly rear fender. I'm digging the wheels and like all Buell's the massive rotors up front. But at $40-$50K I will never be able to afford one.

 

heck yea they do. they flipped the setup, the caliper doesnt slid over the outside of the rotor, it gets tucked into the inside of it. thats some pretty slick engineering. same size calipers, extremely large rotors. same braking, much cooler brakes, i love the idea.

 

Except that Buells only use a single front caliper and rotor setup. I'm not sure why they do this, you would think if it was an advantage, other brands would hop on board. So far, I've only seen it on Buells and the Ninja 250 .

 

Probably a styling thing. However the rotor is quite a bit bigger than the one on the Ninja plus it's an 8 piston caliper.

I kinda like the way it looks but it would be much nicer if it had it on both sides.

 

The Ninja bit was partially joking and to show that Buell doesn't have any sort of copyright on the single disc/caliper setup. You are probably right that it's more for asthetics and their sort of "go against the grain" mentality. I'm just thinking, at that price, why not toss two 8-piston calipers and giant rotors on that thing .

 

ah. i was unaware it was only one sided..