Italian.......? Noooo, they are, quite frankly AMERICAN IRON, the brainchild of racer Erik Buell, the fledgling Buell Motorcycle Company's assets were purchased by Harley Davidson in the early '90s and the first Buell/Harley venture was the S1 Lightning, a radical looking naked hooligan bike, followed by the the S2/S3 Thunderbolt and on to the M2 Cyclone....built around the venerable Sportster 1203cc motor, the powerplant quickly evolved from 71 HP to 101 HP in a few short years. These bikes were based on Erik's "Trilogy of Technology" featuring low CG, lower unsprung weight, and a host of other innovations. Erik's vision was to build an AMERICAN sportbike that could compete with the best of the Japanese warriors which were dominating racing. In 2002, the radically different XB series was born featuring closed-loop fuel injection, oil in the swingarm and fuel in the frame. For a little more history, visit www.buell.com or www.badweatherbikers.com
In short, I own/ride one....among others. I have a '99 M2 Cyclone with full Buell race kit, Mikuni HSR42 flat-slide, Andrews N8 cams and other assorted goodies.
