A bike that is made to go fast on a racetrack and one that comes with all the tools to be a good street bike. (Photo: Fonzi) » More Photos

Producing a total of 146 crankshaft horsepower, the new 1125R is also the most powerful Buell produced so far. The peak figure is made at a lowly 9,800rpm, with a solid 82 ft. pounds of torque thumping out at 8,000 rpm. Feeling deceptively fast, the Buell never gave me the feeling it was working too hard. Running down some guys on Japanese sport bikes, I know Harry and I gave them quite the shock with our mirrors and lights in place, but this is the nature of the Buell. A bike that is made to go fast on a racetrack and one that comes with all the tools to be a good street bike.

The stiffest chassis yet produced by Buell, the new IRC (Intuitive Response Chassis) appears to differ only slightly from existing models. Personally, IRC sounds like some sort of new therapists couch to me, but the unique looking frame still doubles as the gas tank, holding 5.6 gallons of motion lotion between its rails. The cast-aluminum swing arm is also new and pivots in the engine cases for additional rigidity. Healed way over in VIR’s downhill sections, the bike was as solid as a rock, and it would take some sort of demonic behavior to upset this chassis.

Suspenders are from the “Land Of The Rising Sun,” with a Showa inverted 47mm fork where it’s supposed to be, and a fully adjustable Showa single shock to keep your arse off the rear wheel. Set up on the soft side, as our test units were demo bikes, I decided to leave things alone and work on riding smoother. While it would have been nice to eliminate some dive, it did make for some fun using the super strong brakes to pass people into turn one, before getting into a mess when the suspension bottomed out. Wheelbase is 54.5 inches and you can certainly feel it. On a motorcycle like the older Ducati 999, you are always aware of the bike’s length in the tighter turns, the Buell doesn’t exhibit any of this feeling. And, I was surprised how I could change lines and pass people in the tight stuff, where my preconception was it would be more difficult to turn.