American Superpower!

AMERICAN SUPERPOWER!

Erik Buell strikes back with the EBR 1190RS

STEVE ANDERSON

ROUNDUP

THE ONLY DOWNSIDE IN THE RELEASE of the new Buell—oops!—Erik Buell Racing 1190RS is that GM has somehow managed to hang onto the "Firebird" copyright. If any vehicle ever deserved to be named after the phoenix, the legendary immortal bird that was continually reborn after repeated immolations, it's this road-going superbike that is leaping from the ashes of the Buell Motorcycle Company.

The 1190RS is very loosely based on the never-released Buell Barracuda B2 (May, 2010)—or more specifically, the superbike homologation special that was in the process of being derived from the B2 when Buell was closed. Price is expected to exceed $40,000 for the Carbon Edition, with power rivaling Italy's best. The 1190RS uses a new frame made by the same Illinois company that built the 1125R frame, and in Buell tradition, it holds just a little less than five gallons of gasoline.

That frame carries an engine that is essentially a bored-out version of the 1125R powerplant, now displacing 1190cc. Perhaps more importantly, every one of its reciprocating and rotating components has either been replaced with a part from the Buell Superbike program or a part closely related to such a part. The valves are titanium, the camshafts are straight from the 1125RR Superbike, the connecting rods are machined from forged steel blanks by an American company and the threering, 106mm pistons are lighter and stronger than the 103mm forged pistons of the 1125R. A thicker-than-1125R base gasket is used to reduce compression to something suitable for pump gasoline, while its removal allows a very rapid path to full-Superbike tune.

A new airbox—autoclave-molded from pre-impregnated material—is an integral part of the power package. It roughly doubles airbox volume compared to that of the 1125R, and it allows the bigger engine to develop its full top-end power, similar to the output of a Ducati 1198. Amazingly, EBR was able to get this engine, in this tune, through noise and emissions tests. Credit that in part to a very refined fuel map and two very expensive catalysts in the big main muffler.

Both of the 1190RS's wheels are refinements of designs that were structurally optimized via computer analysis down to the last gram and cast in magnesium, using an exotic, Americanpatented process. The front wheel weighs less than 7 pounds, the rear less than 10.

Scaling well under 400 pounds wet (minus fuel), the carbon edition of the 1190RS will perhaps be the lightest Open-class repli-racer. One accessory will be a 20-pound piece of ballast to bring the bike up to superbike weight in AMA trim.

And racing is very much in this machine's future. EBR just announced a three-year sponsorship agreement with Amsoil that will see Geoff May back on the 1125RR at Daytona, then on the 1190RS in time for the Infineon round in Sonoma, California, on May 13-15. EBR has scheduled a production run of 100 1190RSs, with exact pricing to be determined shortly. Be assured that the standard 1190RS won't be any less expensive than was the discontinued Ducati 1198R, and the Carbon Edition will be more expensive yet.

Also be assured that Erik Buell doesn't plan on being in just the boutiquesport bike business; he intends to follow these $40,000-plus machines with more affordable versions. But as the first product of EBR, the RS shows what Mr. Buell can do when unencumbered by Harley-Davidson bureaucracy and product planning.