Join us for your very own track adventure at Barber Motorsports Park. (Photo: Fonzi) » More Photos

Braking is typical Buell, and they are going their own way as usual. Using the ZTL (Zero Torsional Load) system, no that’s not something you experience in an airplane bathroom at 30,000 feet, the 1125R uses just one single 375mm stainless disc that attaches to the outside of the rim. Lighter than a conventional dual disc set up, a single eight-piston caliper gets the job of pushing the pads onto the wild looking disc. And work well it does. With good lever feedback, strong progressive power as you squeeze, more stopping power was not a thought I entertained all day. In the rear a more conventional 240mm stainless steel rotor is used, although it does have its caliper mounted directly to the inner swing arm, which is said to save another 1.5 pounds of unsprung weight.

A hydraulic slipper clutch lets you feed the power out when you select the first of the six close-ratio gears, and this uses a HVA (Hydraulic Vacuum Assist). This works very nicely when you shift down one too many gears at the wrong moment, and I assure you the only reason I did this was to be able to report it works. Taking power to the rear wheel, Buell has employed their own unique belt drive system, and the quiet, clean Goodyear Hibrex final drive set up is as much as five pounds lighter than a chain drive system.

Visually, to me the Buell is going to be an instant take it or leave it machine. Bordering on the weird, you aren’t going to confuse it with another brand in a parking lot full of motorcycles. The big front fairing was designed to give the rider “Quiet Zone cockpit aerodynamics.” Flowing the wind over and around the rider, the lack of soreness in my neck attests to the success of the design. With VIR using a long, front straight, a rider spends a healthy amount of time pushing winds close to 145 mph with his melon on a smaller sport bike, so I for one appreciate the design here. Featuring six individual headlights, there are three per side in a horizontal plane. LED turn signals are found up front in the mirrors, while coming in the more traditional fashion out back. The cockpit area is very clean and nicely finished, with a big analogue tachometer sitting on top of a smaller digital speedometer. And, gracing the top of the 47mm forks is a 25th anniversary triple clamp signed by the great man himself, Erik Buell.

With plenty of track time during our day of testing, the Buell and I became very good friends by the end of our ride. Sweet shifting, lots of strong predictable power, and top shelf handling made for some entertaining stories with the sport bike guys in between sessions.

Comfortable and quiet, it’s a real track day sleeper for us old geezers, and with some suspension tweaks, a performance exhaust and some stickier tires, it could do some serious damage.