The Buell Motorcycle Company has had a successful season in the AMA’s new Daytona SportBike class. With three rounds left on the schedule Danny Eslick has ridden his Buell 1125R to four victories, and sits second in the championship. Now the news that the AMA has approved the Buell 1125RR for competition in the American Superbike class alongside bikes like the Suzuki GSX-R10000, Yamaha R1 and the Ducati 1098R.Although the bikes that race in the American Superbike class are highly modified production bikes they are more race bike than street bike. They differ from the Buell 1125RR in that they started out life as a street bike. Erik Buell says his new bike was "designed to give privateer racers a turn-key machine to compete in the American Superbike class”. This would seem to be a new direction for the class, but AMA Technical Director of Competition Al Ludington had this to say, “They’ve got to be supported. They can’t just put them out there and walk away from them so only the factory teams can run the bits and pieces. If Honda wants to do a CBR1000RR-R with some bits and pieces that make it more suitable for AMA racing, and the price isn’t out of line and they’re willing to support it, we would certainly consider it.”
Never one to shy away from controversy, Mat Mladin had this to say about the Buell 1125RR, “It's a purpose-built race bike that's racing in a class where you have to have a certain amount of street bikes homologated every year and sold every year, to be able to be eligible to race in it. It's different rules for everybody around here. The Ducati has its rules advantages as well. Not to the same extent as this new Buell. The Buell's a purpose-built race bike.”
Ludington responded to the bike’s detractors, “Everybody can piss, cry and moan. It’s a bold step forward for Buell. They want to race in Superbike, and we want them to race in Superbike. We’re encouraging everybody we can. We’re talking to other manufacturers that aren’t in our paddock right now that are interested in Superbike racing, and if we’ve got to bend a little bit this way and a little bit that way to get them into the show it’s for the better good of the sport and the better good of the spectators. I can’t think of anything better for us than having AMA-branded, ready to rock and roll racebikes”.
Taylor Knapp and Shawn Higbee raced the bikes at the recent Mid-Ohio round. Knapp had twelfth and tenth place finishes in the two races, and Higbee came home eighteenth and fifteenth. Both Knapp and Higbee are expected to race at the Topeka round.
The 1125RR chassis is based on the 1125R design, and is powered by a modified Helicon 1125cc liquid-cooled 72-degree V-Twin engine. Increased power comes from a larger airbox and intake manifold, revised valves and camshafts, a higher compression ratio and a titanium exhaust system.
Buell will produce a limited number of 1125RR motorcycles for sale only to licensed professional road racers who will compete in the AMA Pro Racing American Superbike class. U.S. MSRP is $39,995. Orders must be placed through the Buell Race Department and delivered through an authorized Buell motorcycle dealer.
Buell 1125RR Slideshow
