The Better Handling, Lower Buell Ulysses XB12XT
May 7, 2008 – 7:45 pm
Buell, as a company, not only manufacturer’s products that defy several conventions, the business itself appears to be defying the challenging sales trend within some parts of the industry. During January and February, the sales were up according to the Director of Product Communication for Buell, Paul James stated. Even though the exact figures weren’t available, that’s a very interesting fact when considering that Harley Davidson, Buell’s parent company, has been experiencing an impact from the economy within the United States which is tightening.
There is absolutely no doubt that the forward momentum really owes a great deal to the late-2007 release of the V-Twin 1125R which was liquid cooled and highly anticipated, especially considering the dealer fill, which meant that every single dealer out there that wanted an 1125R was able to receive one. However, the current sales success for the company is also because of the humble Ulysses. The Ulysses is one of the nine bikes that have made it up the product line, six of those bikes carry the XB letters, out of all of those, the Ulysses is known to be the strongest selling machine.
Even despite the venerable racing history of Erik Buell and the influence that it has had on several of his bikes, the strangely named and off-looking Ulysses with seventeen inch wheels, dirtbike style handlebar’s, sporty rubber and over six plus inches of suspension travel obvious wins the day.
Since Buell has had the time, they must also have the wisdom. Or at least they have heard the media, corporate executives and consumer’s cries. In the event that there was one single thing about this bike that could be perceived as a tendon to the Achilles in order to dominate the sales even further of the adventure tourer, it would more than likely be all of the spring that it has in its step. With the present aforementioned suspension travel, the seat height is a little short-statured, which is ever pavement-loving rider’s worst nightmare at thirty one point eight inches.
The official marketing for the Ulysses XB12XT speaks that the bike is a sport-touring adventure motorcycle. Each individual bike is targeted at experienced riders that have different backgrounds. The X models is for all of those that have dirt experience and the XT models are for those that are dedicated sports riders. However, both of them are wanderlust within their own hearts.
One of the absolute greatest things about the new Ulysses is that it is greatly the same as the first Ulysses. In fact, there are very little things that separate them. On one hand, you have the XB12XT that uses a brand new forty three mm inverted Showa fork that is fully-adjustable and travels six point five inches. On the XT, the rear suspension travel is four point nine versus six point three inches on the X style. The XT also uses the exact same remote preload adjuster that is remote preload. When digging into the lower suspension, Buell’s Test Technical Expert, John Bunne stated that the fork is very unique to the XT and that it isn’t just a hack job that has been done on the springs.
Tags: Buell, Ulysses XB12XT, V-Twin 1125 R
