Retrospective: 1989-1993 Buell RS1200
1990 Buell RS1200
Talk about making a silk purse out of a sow?s ear?that?s what Erik Buell managed to do back in the late 1980s. Now, nothing wrong with a sow having ears, all the better to hear when feeding time comes around, but when the hoglette (i.e., Harley Sportster) became a true sports motorcycle it was time to pay attention.
Back in 1986, Buell, an engineer at Harley-Davidson, decided he wanted to build a fast Harley, and found out that the Motor Co. was selling a bunch of its XR1000 engines that were being discontinued. Obviously he got a deal. The stock 1983 1,000cc V-twin was rated by Harley at an immodest 70 horsepower, but only 57 of them showed up at the rear wheel. With a little refinement from a Harley ?high-performance mod kit? that figure could be upped a bit…for track use only, of course. The Buell Motor Company was incorporated in February of 1987. It was the chassis that would require attention, and a very stiff, triangulated frame was created out of round alloy tubing, with all the pieces being straight, as Buell felt this would give maximum rigidity to the whole machine. His specialty was frame and suspension, and he did put together a pretty spiffy number in the RR1000 model, eligible for the AMA?s Battle of the Twins races. A full fairing completely concealed the Harley engine that Buell was so proud of, even though large letters on both sides of the fairing read ?Powered by Harley-Davidson.? Dang!
Move forward to 1989, and Buell has bought s...
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