I have decided to get my motorcycle license. I signed up for a course next month and I'm going to go buy the necessary accessories soon. I've been asking around for options about what to get for a starter bike. A lot of my friends who ride have said Buell Blast is the best options. They say it's an affordable, low maintenance, and easy to ride bike. They also say it's got enough power to keep me entertained for sometime so I won't be immediately looking for something bigger (like many people have said I would with a 250). I've found several in my area that are around $2k. What do I need to know about these little guys?
A Buell Blast won't have the power to keep you entertained much longer than a 250 would. I also wouldn't say they're especially low maintenance. I really don't see the appeal.
My wife started out on a Blast. They are durable bikes. Their only weak spot is the intake boot, they have a tendancy to dry rot and develop leaks. Depanding on your size and build, it may or may not be a good long term bike. I couldn't ride it more than 30 miles at a time without getting a serious case of monkey-butt, the wife on the other hand could ride it all day.
As far as maintanace is concerned it's about as low maintance as it gets. Air cooled, single cylinder, belt final drive. Change the oil and primary fluid every 5 thousand miles, check adjustment of the primary chain once in a while is about it. Replacement parts are dirt cheap.
The only real downside to the Blast (or any Buell at this point) is Harley-Davidson's shuttering of Buell and their seemingly antagonistic handling of Buell customers and parts supply.
Osterkraut wrote:
A Buell Blast won't have the power to keep you entertained much longer than a 250 would. I also wouldn't say they're especially low maintenance. I really don't see the appeal.
I dunno, it was just highly suggested to me by several people. They don't require valve adjustments the belts are supposedly easy to change and cheap. The appeal is I can find on 07 Buell with 1000 miles for 2k.
The first thing to do is loose the stock exhaust, it must weigh 20lbs and is a piece of junk, put a vance and hines, kirker, etc. on it. Then you rejet the carb a size or two larger because the bikes run very lean from the factory. The carb boot is a failure because the heat and vibration pretty much beat everything up on the bike, it is only a 15$ part though.
If you plan on keeping the bike change the oil and primary fluid every 2500miles, preferably less. Actually you can change the primary at 5000miles but I would do it more. Both are easy to change but some people complain about changing the primary fluid because you have remove the foot bracket. Using univeral joint it is only a 15-20 minute job. Setting the primary tension is kind of weird as you tighten it down then back it off, if you don't do it right you'll hear a whine from the gear box. I tune it by ear now.
Not much else to say other than the blast is a great city bike to ride in Frisco as it is small and light and has plenty of torque. Sure the sv650s will pass you, but for the cost I think the blast is a good bike and you don't see them everyday. They are very low maintanence and are tough little bikes, I'd like to see someone drop a ninja or SV a bunch of times and see what breaks on it.
