Well, that time became this weekend at the Powersports Dealer Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana, when Mr. Buell rolled out his new 1190RS streetbike. After Harley-Davidson killed the Buell Motorcycle Company, it restricted Buell from building streetbikes, allowing construction solely of racing motorcycles based on the previous production bikes. That agreement has now ended. Buell’s vision of producing an American sportbike enters a new chapter with the 1190RS, a serious evolution of the 1190RR racebike privately campaigned during the 2010 AMA Superbike season with rider Geoff May.
Buell’s RS is cloaked in fresh new skin, now with a full fairing in a slim and edgy new design constructed of carbon fiber. Its nose is now much pointier, fitted with a pair of projector lens headlights stacked atop each other similar to Ducati’s 999 but in a more streamlined layout.
Meanwhile, the tailsection is skimpier than anything we’ve seen before, with just slits of bodywork underpinned by a spidery cast-magnesium subframe built in the USA.
Speaking of magnesium, the wheels of the RS are quite special. Magnesium alloys aren’t normally used for streetbike wheels, as the pounding from bumps and potholes can damage the stiff and relatively brittle metal.
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