Test rode a Buell XB12 Lightning today....

[Dennis]

I had a few minutes to kill this afternoon and the H-D dealer was giving away shoulder bags with Buell test rides so I took a XB12 Lightning out for a spin.  It a pretty neat motorcycle! I really dug the motor - idle lope and all.  Short power band but lots of fun at low RPM.  10 minutes of fun and I was done though.  I was very happy to climb back onto my Bandit when done.

Free ride and a free sling bag - how cool is that?

[LensWork]

I had a Buell XB-12S before getting my Bandit. Nice bike, lots of bottom end torque, nice upright ergos, but.............

Too light, less than 400 lbs, got blown around on the freeway, and the flyscreen did not help. No real passenger seat. My wife is tiny, 5'1", about 100 lbs. and she found the passenger seat very uncomfortable (Her 1st ride on the Bandit she nearly fell asleep she was so comfortable!). Only a 3.7 gallon fuel tank, not very good range. Overall, it was a decent around town bike, but even riding from Orlando to Daytona, about an hour away, I felt like I had been beat up. Most Harley dealers know little, if anything about the Buell's, and do not stock parts for them, although they have new bikes on the showroom floor.

[Daytona]

="LensWork"] but even riding from Orlando to Daytona, about an hour away, I felt like I had been beat up.

Hey! Going on any rides in Orlando, Nothing going on here in the 2 wheel capitol that i know of.    

[Dennis]

I had a Buell XB-12S before getting my Bandit. Nice bike, lots of bottom end torque, nice upright ergos, but.............

Too light, less than 400 lbs, got blown around on the freeway, and the flyscreen did not help. No real passenger seat. My wife is tiny, 5'1", about 100 lbs. and she found the passenger seat very uncomfortable (Her 1st ride on the Bandit she nearly fell asleep she was so comfortable!). Only a 3.7 gallon fuel tank, not very good range. Overall, it was a decent around town bike, but even riding from Orlando to Daytona, about an hour away, I felt like I had been beat up. Most Harley dealers know little, if anything about the Buell's, and do not stock parts for them, although they have new bikes on the showroom floor.

Yeah, as much fun as the XB12 was to ride I couldn't see living with it.  The motor was great in its own way - the bike had a cool vibe, a pulse.  This bike was well sorted, much more so than the X1 White Lightning I took out on a test ride a few years back.  I can see why people like them but it made me want to ride my Bandit