DD Motorcycles: BUELL X1 LIGHTNING MIDNIGHT BLACK 2001

zaterdag 17 januari 2015

BUELL X1 LIGHTNING MIDNIGHT BLACK 2001

Buell X1 Lightning 2001

Midnight Black

1203 cc V Twin Engine

Thunderstorm Cylinder Heads

Forcewinder intake K&N Air filter

Buell Racing ECM

Rino Racing Exhaust

Race Footrests Rearset CNC Alloy

Gray Aluminium LSL Handlebar

NGK Iridium Spark Plugs

Carbon Fiber Tank Panels

Black Head Bolt Cover Kit

Kellermann Turn Signals

LSL Clutch & Brake handles

Biltwell Renegade Hand Grips

Pegasus Alloy Rear Isolator Plugs

Wheels Star Dust Silver

By late 1998, Erik Buell's lively and IK distinctive sports bikes had come a long way since the Wisconsin-based engineer and former racer's first model, more then 10 years earlier.

With there distinctive styling, upright riding position, tuned Harley V-Twin motors and agile Chassis, Buells had provided plenty of speed and handling along with more fun than just about anything els on two wheels.

But Buells had suffered some problems too.

Models such as the S1 Lightning had been rather eccentric, with there big, ugly air filter, trunk-like exhaust, uncomfortably tiny seat, soft Harley footrest and tendency to overheat their rear cylinder.

That was until late 1998, when Buell introduced the X1 Lightning.

The X1 Lightning proved that founder Erik Buell and his colleagues at Harley-Davidson, which by this time owned most of the company, listened to criticism.

It combined typical Buell agression with fresh styling, a smaller air filter, a belly pan to cover the silencer, a larger seat, normal footrests and better cooling to engine parts including the rear cylinder.

It had also a stiffer frame, new aluminium rear subframe and swingarm plus upgraded Showa suspension at front and rear.

Like other Buells the X1 was powered by an air-cooled, 45-degree push rod V-twin that was intended for Harley's 1200 Sportster.
Here it was hotted-up with Buell's "Thunderstorm" cylinder heads, incorporating bigger valves, reworked ports and reshaped combustion chambers.
A new fuel-injection system helped give a best peak output of 100 PK at 6200 RPM.
This was a pretty remarkable achievement given that a standard Sporster produced less than 60 Pk.
That meant that the Buell X1 was good for a genuine 225 Km/h and the cleverly rubber-mounted engine felt amazingly smooth too.
There was a generous amount of mid-range torque.

Sharpened geometry

The chassis was also impressive.
Steering was light enough to allow rapid direction changes, due to the X1's sharpened geonometry.