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| SIT UP STRAIGHT: The SX has supermotard 'bars with crossbar and handguards… |
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| SAFE, MY MATE:…plus a protective grille across the double headlights |
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| HERO BLUE TRANSLUCID: The translucent body parts give the bike colour while still allowing some mechanical elements to be visible through the material. |
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| BOLD FACES: At night the instruments have a soft blue glow. |
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BUELL XB9SX: The Lightning CityX has off-road styling for the inner-city jungle. |
Low seats and unique styling for 2005 Buells
August 31, 2004
Buell has released details of its upcoming 2005 models, including two interesting new variations on an existing theme.
The four current "fuel-in-frame" models (XB9R, XB9S, XB12R and XB12S) continue virtually unchanged but Erik Buell has taken the streetfighter genre a step further with a XB9SX (pronounced City Cross), a motorcycle with off-road styling that's intended strictly for the urban jungle.
Actually the Nine is ideally suited to inner-city action with its agile handling and mid-range torque – a scooter on steroids, if you will.
"The Lightning CityX is our urban streetfighter, a bike that's especially suited for aggressive city riding," said Buell.
"This is a bike for the rider who loves to dodge traffic, power away from lights and use the agility of a sports bike to charge through the urban jungle."
The SX also has the first see-through body panels on a modern motorcycle; the air box cover (dummy fuel tank, Cyril) and flyscreen are made of a new translucent plastic called Hero Blue Translucid that gives the bike colour while still allowing some mechanical elements to be visible through the material.
In a way, it's the ultimate naked bike.
The gauge faces and perforated tail insert are also blue and at night the instruments have a soft blue glow. The cast alloy rims, chin fairing and front mudguard, however, are plain black, the last two in self-coloured plastic that's practically scratchproof.
The bike is fitted with high, wide supermotard-style handlebars complete with hand guards, crossbar and a protective grille across the double headlights plus a new, flatter seat for an upright seating position.
A soft rubber X Guard protects the top of the air box cover when the bike is carrying a tank bag.
Mechanically the SX is identical to the earlier Nines except that it's shod with Pirelli Scorpion Sync tyres, chosen for their aggressive tread pattern that gives outstanding grip on broken tarmac surfaces – American inner-city roads must be as bad as ours!
The XB9SX will sell for $8 695 (about R58 000) in the United States; it will be available in South Africa from the first week of October – local prices will be announced then.
Low Flying
The other new Buell is the XB12S cg (centre of gravity) model; it's an otherwise perfectly standard XB12S with a cutaway saddle and lowered suspension that together reduce the seat height 45mm to 725mm for the benefit of the vertically challenged.
It's not a scam, by the way; reducing the vertical displacement between the bike's centre of effort and the rider's centre of mass really does lower the cg of the unit as a whole.
Visually, the tail-dragging 12 is distinguished by graphite grey frame and swing-arm with translucent amber wheels; the body panels are in the bold blue that is starting to become a Buell trademark.
There are no plans to bring the XB12S cg to South Africa but the cutaway saddle is available here as an optional extra to fit the standard XB12S, which will lower the seat by about 25mm.
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