Buell: Goodbye or good riddance?

The passing of 2009 somehow seems to draw the final curtain on the sad demise of Buell Motorcycles, which parent company Harley-Davidson decided to kill off in the autumn and which produced its final motorcycle in late October.  

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So how will we remember its quirky, sometimes revolutionary, often exasperating machines? Will we miss them? Should we rush out and snap up the last few examples? Or will it simply be a case of ‘Good Riddance’?

To find out we gathered together some Buell virgins, riders who’d never tried the marque, and let them loose on a cross section of the American firm’s bikes – the XB12SX roadster, 1125CR super naked and 1125R superbike. Their verdicts make fascinating reading. Did they like them? Any of them? Did they hate them even? The result is not as clear cut as you might guess.

For the full story, checkout Motorcycle News on Dec 30.