Welcome!

So last week after postponing for much too long I finally got to ride a Buell Lightning XB9SX CityX.

Fortunately I was escorted by a fellow Bueller who showed me around the unknown territory of Johannesburg(South Africa) which greatly improved my ride, as I didn't need to worry about where I was going, but only needed to focus on my riding.

Sadly me only managed to cover about 120km, of which about 80km was in horrendous traffic. Initially I wasn't all that keen on lane-splitting with a bike I didn't know, but I meshed so well with the CityX that in retrospect I've very happy that I did do so much traffic riding.

The bike is an absolute dream to ride, and within a few minutes I felt more comfortable with it than I did on my GSX-R600 after almost a year of riding it. Yes it vibrates the crap out of you, but I actually enjoyed that because it tells you there's real power between you legs, unlike the Japanese Four that just make a whole lot of noise and doesn't have much to show for it.

The demo bike I had ridden was a '05 with factory Race Pipe, which makes a ridiculous(in a good way) amount of noise, and inspires a lot of confidence because you know cars will hear you, long before they need to see you.

I managed to lock up the rear in the middle of traffic, because like an idiot I downshifted it like a japanese superbike and just dropped the clutch, very quickly being reminded of the huge amount of torque that I'm playing with. Even in those circumstances the bike was a breeze to control, and I felt well with in my own abilities.

At higher speeds the rear tyre did feel a little bouncy, but afterwards I was told this was because the suspension wasn't specifically setup for me. The wind problem wasn't hardly what I expected it to be after reading some reviews, and I found it's perfectly fine to sit bolt-upright, and that crouching behind the flyscreen was in fact counter productive.

The only thing that I didn't like was the 1st to 2nd gear throw was a bit too long, especially for someone like me who broke three toes not too long ago, and was constantly reminded of that fact. I have been told however, that the 2007 models have had a significant clutch and gearbox upgrade which should sort out this little problem.

Needless to say I am now a Buell convert, and I've already placed my order. The bike is unlike anything that I've ever ridden before, and I look forward to spending many miles riding it. Hopefully my bike will be here before end of October, or at worst beginning of November and then I'll be able to post some more comments here.

So expect this Blog to turn into a Buell Journal, with ride for ride updates as I go along.

And after much deliberation I've decided to go for Hero Blue!