I rode both the 2009 1125R and CR at a couple of demo days and came away impressed . It's tough to make accurate comparisons to my RC b/c the rides were brief , but I will say that the power is there . The bike revs out really well and the horrible 08 mapping has been fixed . The bikes were flickable but not as stable around corners , and the suspension quite stiff on standard settings . The Rotax motor produces more mechanical clatter than I expected -- I think this is a chracteristic of Rotax since the Aprilia V-Twin is noisy too . Didn't like the grabby feel of the front brake , not progressive like the RC's electromagnets ! First gear felt REALLY tall on the R , even more than the Honda's . Buell advertises the dry weight at 375 pounds but they must have weighed it w/o wheels ! Felt more like 420-430 pounds to me . On a backroad or track I think the RC would walk away from the Buell .
really, thats interesting. last review i sw put the aprilia as having more power than the rc and the buell havin more power than the aprilia...hmmm...they are sellin these things for 7 grand out the door because buell folded up shop. i was thinkin about lookin into one. i love my rc to death but its gettin a lil long in tooth now.wanted a new toy to play with. this should be interesting.
As you may know , track performance is so much more than just HP -- tractability , balance , brakes , flickability , stability , etc. . If you want to believe/compare magazine numbers , the highest HP I've seen for the 1125 is 129 HP at the rear wheel vs. 124 RWHP for the stock RC (Sportrider July 05) , and the priler is around 114 stock/restricted . So the RC isn't exactly old and tired in this company . My impressions of the 1125 were from brief rides but I've been riding for longer than I want to remember , and I think the RC would be faster around a track b/c it's so damn stable and confidence inspiring ; you almost can't make a mistake on it .
As you may know , track performance is so much more than just HP -- tractability , balance , brakes , flickability , stability , etc. . If you want to believe/compare magazine numbers , the highest HP I've seen for the 1125 is 129 HP at the rear wheel vs. 124 RWHP for the stock RC (Sportrider July 05) , and the priler is around 114 stock/restricted . So the RC isn't exactly old and tired in this company . My impressions of the 1125 were from brief rides but I've been riding for longer than I want to remember , and I think the RC would be faster around a track b/c it's so damn stable and confidence inspiring ; you almost can't make a mistake on it .
i agree about it not being just about horsepower. i was jus thinking about h ow they last rated the aprilia so much faster than the rc and now they rate the 1125r faster than the aprilia. id be really interested to see or hear about any direct experiences between the 2.
I believe you are required to wear chaps over your leathers if you take a Buell on the track..........
-Rocky-
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ROCKYMT
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."
Might want to reconsider. The 1125r will mop up a RC51
Just to let you know I have owned, street rode, and raced a RC51 so I am not bias to any bike.
My GF works at a harley dealership and I got to ride new 1125's all the time. Did a bunch of roll ons from 2nd gear to 6th with a friends RC 51 he had a full exhaust and PCIII on his bike I have a bone stock 7 miles on the odometer 1125R. I shifted a 1000 rpm sooner than red line as it was a new bike and I did not want to pop the engine lol on a new bike. Well I steadily pulled away from him 1 bike per gear. Remind you this was a bone stock 1125R
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I feel the need the need for speed!
Just remind you are going to buy a bike from a dead company.
If you want to get a bike to thrash on the track and then toss it away when the engine melts and/or the fairings get too knackered the price may be about right.
Spares for the Thunderstorm engine won't probably be an issue in the future but I would not be about so sure about the Rotax engine since H-D seems very keen to flog them as soon as possible. Honda on the other side is not a problem at all. A 2008 1000RR can be had for relatively more than a 1125.
I've also always had issues with Buell build quality. Their bikes use components the Japanese and the Italians stopped using a decade ago: it's one of the issues I've already noticed when I went to test ride the Ulysses with a purchase in mind. Their bikes handle great but feel so... cheap!
Re: reconsider.. Maybe your friend on the RC51 was being nice and taking it easy on you.. If one person tested both bikes on the track and did a timed lap THEN I would believe it. As of now the 1125R is a no-go.
Might want to reconsider. The 1125r will mop up a RC51
Just to let you know I have owned, street rode, and raced a RC51 so I am not bias to any bike.
My GF works at a harley dealership and I got to ride new 1125's all the time. Did a bunch of roll ons from 2nd gear to 6th with a friends RC 51 he had a full exhaust and PCIII on his bike I have a bone stock 7 miles on the odometer 1125R. I shifted a 1000 rpm sooner than red line as it was a new bike and I did not want to pop the engine lol on a new bike. Well I steadily pulled away from him 1 bike per gear. Remind you this was a bone stock 1125R
Don't think so man . Lap times are very often determined by more than just HP . The RC handles like on rails , even on bumpy corners , compared to the 1125 , and braking performance is no comparison . Buell should have scrapped the zlt long ago ; one of those engineering concepts that looks good on paper but execution requires more work . As for outright acceleration , the performance tests I've read peg the SP-2 as faster in the 1/4 by a couple of tenths . This confirms my seat of the pants dyno as the 1125 felt very similar in a straight line to my 05 RC .
I figure it like this. I remember reading a while ago a test between an rc and an aprilia. they threw every trick in the book at the rc and it couldn't come close to the handling of the aprilia and the Mille got better laptimes than the rc. I've seen videos of many 600s walk RCs on the straights and corners of a lot of tracks. so I figured if the Mille is faster than the rc and the 1125 is faster than the Mille then It should also be faster than the rc. I also see that a few people feel otherwise. I wonder how much if it is really substantial and how much of it is just loyalty to the almighty rc. hmmm
and another thing. I have seen hp figures for the Mille ofer the years and people are quoting sub 120hp for the Mille. I thought both bikes made similar power. over the years I keep seeing the numbers for the Mille go down and numbers for the rc go up. lol. I think people are quoting around 127 for the rc but isn't that at the crank?
Last edited by onlyoneromeo; 10-31-2009 at 05:17 PM.
Reason: typo
I figure it like this. I remember reading a while ago a test between an rc and an aprilia. they threw every trick in the book at the rc and it couldn't come close to the handling of the aprilia and the Mille got better laptimes than the rc. I've seen videos of many 600s walk RCs on the straights and corners of a lot of tracks. so I figured if the Mille is faster than the rc and the 1125 is faster than the Mille then It should also be faster than the rc. I also see that a few people feel otherwise. I wonder how much if it is really substantial and how much of it is just loyalty to the almighty rc. hmmm
and another thing. I have seen hp figures for the Mille ofer the years and people are quoting sub 120hp for the Mille. I thought both bikes made similar power. over the years I keep seeing the numbers for the Mille go down and numbers for the rc go up. lol. I think people are quoting around 127 for the rc but isn't that at the crank?
I thought the RC had elevnty million and the mille 3?
I figure it like this. I remember reading a while ago a test between an rc and an aprilia. they threw every trick in the book at the rc and it couldn't come close to the handling of the aprilia and the Mille got better laptimes than the rc. I've seen videos of many 600s walk RCs on the straights and corners of a lot of tracks. so I figured if the Mille is faster than the rc and the 1125 is faster than the Mille then It should also be faster than the rc. I also see that a few people feel otherwise. I wonder how much if it is really substantial and how much of it is just loyalty to the almighty rc. hmmm
and another thing. I have seen hp figures for the Mille ofer the years and people are quoting sub 120hp for the Mille. I thought both bikes made similar power. over the years I keep seeing the numbers for the Mille go down and numbers for the rc go up. lol. I think people are quoting around 127 for the rc but isn't that at the crank?
Weren't those tests your referring to a RSV1000R FACTORY vs Stock SP2 vs Ducati 999S? I think that would explain better track performance. And if I do recall during that same test the Stock Sp2 won the street performance rounds.
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2004 Honda RC51 (Gone), Sato Carbon Banzais, Black Sato Rearsets, Sato Frame Sliders, Scotts Damper, Ohlins R&T Forks W/ Superbike Valves, Ohlins Shock, Dan Kyle Link, Carbon Rad fins, Galfer SS brake lines front & rear, HRC Brake Pads, PCIIIUSB (DK Map), Vortex 42T Rear Sprocket, PAIR system removed, Flapper removed, Soft Rev removed, Corbin Seat, Puig screen, Rad Fan Mod, Undertail, CRG Levers, Vortex Clip-ons, Scotts Extended aluminum kick stand, Stomp Grip, Carbon Hugger, Shorai Battery.
Look , you could spend a great deal of time comparing magazine tests and dyno numbers and eventually cancel out the mods which each test inevitably does on the bikes , but the numbers I quoted above were for stock , restricted bikes , which is as close as one will get to objective numbers . The personal preferences of the individual testers as to which bike handles better is a crap shoot , good luck getting objective results there . However , I have never read that a stock Aprilia is faster around a track than an RC . And no I'm not blinded by love or loyalty for my RC-51 ; there are MANY faster bikes and that's fine by me , but none has its racing pedigree , character , and reliability . BTW , back to HP quotes . They vary according to the particular dyno and ambient conditions , as well as voodoo ! Honda says 133 HP at the crank for the Sp-2 , while Sportrider got 124 at the wheel . Take this for what it's worth .
Might want to reconsider. The 1125r will mop up a RC51
Just to let you know I have owned, street rode, and raced a RC51 so I am not bias to any bike.
My GF works at a harley dealership and I got to ride new 1125's all the time. Did a bunch of roll ons from 2nd gear to 6th with a friends RC 51 he had a full exhaust and PCIII on his bike I have a bone stock 7 miles on the odometer 1125R. I shifted a 1000 rpm sooner than red line as it was a new bike and I did not want to pop the engine lol on a new bike. Well I steadily pulled away from him 1 bike per gear. Remind you this was a bone stock 1125R
A) straight line performance does not impress (I don't know your friend but I for one am not going to slam my bike into the redline just to win a drag race, maybe he likes his bike too)
B) I know at least one privateer in AMA that was having nothing but problems blowing his Buell up on a regular basis early on.
rc51 vs 1125r
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