Buell Wants To Sell You A Touring Motorcycle That Can Also Be Your Track Bike

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The new incarnation of Buell has been on a roll lately unveiling new designs and ideas for the future. Buell recently unveiled the 2025 Super Cruiser, the company’s first cruiser. Now, it’s getting into the sport touring segment with a twist. The 2025 Buell SuperTouring 1190 is supposed to be a fast touring bike for the road and given under an hour of time, can be converted into your track bike.

Back in 2021 when Buell Motorcycles came back from the dead, the company initially refreshed EBR motorcycles and put them on sale. Buell said that it would launch 10 new performance-oriented models by the 2024 model year. While Buell–which I’ll remind you no longer involves racer and engineer Erik Buell–appears to be missing its mark on 2024, the company has some interesting motorcycles in the pipeline for 2025. We’ve already seen the 2025 Buell Super Cruiser. That machine lays down 175 HP of tire-shredding and wheelie-popping performance into a Harley-Davidson FXR-inspired package. It’s also a bit weird because the brand, known for its sportbikes, has left cruisers alone until now.

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Buell’s Plan

Well, the new Buell is diving into new segments. Also shown back in 2021 was a concept for what Buell called the SuperTouring 1190. The concept, penned by industrial designer Joey Ruiter, looked a bit like a brutalist version of the Buell Ulysses adventure bike of the past. In March 2022, Buell rolled out a prototype version of the SuperTouring 1190 into Daytona Bike Week, where some motorcyclists and publications seemed to be less than impressed.

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Asphalt & Rubber, for example, said that the best way to describe it was “a lack of resources” and “generously a bit rough around the edges, and not what you would expect from a serious player in the motorcycle industry.” Oof.

Buell clearly took the comments to heart because it went back to the drawing board and reworked the motorcycle. Now, Buell is back at Daytona Bike Week this year with an updated SuperTouring that Buell says will go into production in 2025. Buell has made minor changes to the design but I think that they make a huge difference. Take a look:

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The New SuperTouring

The company says that the changes to this prototype from the last one include “a new modular front fairing with headlamp assembly, higher handlebars, foot-forward controls, and a new seat and bags.” These are minor modifications but they make a huge difference. That new fairing, for example, reminds me of the Buells of old with its twin headlights. I also love the splash of color, which really makes it pop. The seat has new stitching, too, and it adds to the improved look.

Buell is calling the SuperTouring the “world’s fastest adaptive motorcycle” while touting its modular design. If you search the web for “adaptive motorcycle,” your first results will be about accessibility options for disabled riders. That’s clearly not what Buell is going for here. Instead, Buell says that this motorcycle has modular parts that will allow it to convert from a sport tourer into a track bike in under an hour.

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The details about how this will work are practically non-existent. Buell says that parts like the fairings are modular, but that’s about it. However, a motorcycle that you can ride across the country and then convert into a track bike is the exact kind of weirdness you’d expect from a brand with Buell in its name. People already take their street bikes and strip them down into track bikes, and Buell wants to make switching between them easy.

As Buell has confirmed in its press releases, the SuperTouring shares its chassis and engine with the 1190SX and Hammerhead 1190. Or in other words, this is a sportbike with a more comfortable seat, an easier riding position, places for cases, and apparently able to convert into your track toy. Other motorcycle manufacturers have done this to make fast tourers, and it makes sense to use a sportbike base given the goal of this dual-purpose bike.

Don’t expect something revolutionary like the Harley-Davidson Pan America, though I can’t blame Buell for using an existing platform given that it’s a small company with limited resources.

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Buell has provided a few details about the SuperTouring 1190. It’s powered by a 1190cc V-twin engine making 185 HP and 101 lb-ft torque. As I said before, this engine is already used elsewhere in the Buell line, though I wouldn’t be surprised if the engine gets a specific tune for the SuperTouring. Buell says that this motorcycle features a more upright riding position than other models, various mounting points for hard or soft bags, and places for aftermarket touring accessories.

The motorcycle also features what appears to be a more substantial subframe over the donor 1190SX chassis, which would make sense since this machine would be carrying up to two people and all of their gear.

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Since the SuperTouring is borrowing a chassis from the 1190SX, it also benefits from Buell quirks like perimeter brakes and fuel stored in the frame. Look closely and you’ll notice that the false tank is the same tank that the 1190SX gets. The borrowed frame may mean that the SuperTouring also comes with a fuel capacity of 4.5 gallons, which could put it slightly behind the competition when it comes to endurance. For comparison, the Harley-Davidson Pan America has a 5.6-gallon tank.

Buell says that these changes were a direct result of feedback from Buell fans. The company plans on beginning production in 2025. Pricing is expected to be from $21,995 and Buell is currently accepting $50 pre-orders.

(All Images: Buell)

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9 thoughts on “Buell Wants To Sell You A Touring Motorcycle That Can Also Be Your Track Bike

  1. Mercedes! Good to see you again, I loved you on Jalopnik.

    The fairing is a tasteful callback to the S2 Thunderbolt and the Ulysses, and does a lot to tie everything together and make it distinct from the 1190SX. The seat looks surprisingly upmarket, comfortable enough to skip a gas station or two if not empty the frame-in my experience 4.5 gallons is plenty if you don’t push it, but it’s good to stretch every few hours, anyway. The bags look like an afterthought, but a good one, like a splash of ranch on your chicken and bacon pizza

    J. Ruiter is a brutalist and that kind of stark, austere design is perfect for Buell, a company distilled down to its pure essence and better known for the ride than the look. There’s enough 65 peice fairing, flame surfaced, tech-laden Transformers motorcycles out there, especially in the Touring market, I think people will appreciate the simplicity and the no-nonsense analog experience that this bike is built to provide… I know I will!

  2. I don’t mind the choice of bike coverage, I look upon the fields of Autopia as varied crop.
    That’s cool by me. There is plenty of coverage of other bikes out there on the www for those wanting more. I’m happy with a weird slice to read.

  3. This is another Buell-ism, a logical fail and I vote nope.

    There are basic rules for a track bike, don’t track your daily and don’t race anything you can’t afford to drop. If you must try for lap times with a sport touring bike there are better proven choices.
    .

    1. I understand what you’re saying but f!@k that, I dragged my Road King floorboards around Mid-Ohio years before King of the Baggers! I believe in tracking whatever you have, and if they can keep this around the 17,000 that a Pan America costs so I could maybe afford some crash bars, I could see myself tracking this a LOT!

  4. Mercedes – I’m pretty sure at this point you’re just gaslighting your motorcycle-centric readers. I can’t imagine any other reason for your recent post history. Don’t get me wrong, I love your stuff, but lets take an objective look at your last 5 motorcycle posts:

    1. This one first. No one – literally, no one wants a track bike for actually using at the track wants that bike to be a sport touring bike as well. The use cases are so vastly different that both modes will be compromised. Add to that the fact that its vaporware from a namesake that personally broken my heart several times (I owned a Ulysses) and we’ve moved from just “bad idea” to the absurd.

    2. https://www.theautopian.com/here-are-five-cheap-new-motorcycles-you-can-buy-for-less-than-5000/ – I like the thought here, but you included the navi (not a motorcycle), the V-star (older than most of your readers), and the CFMoto which has zero support in the US and is iffy from a quality perspective to begin with. I’ll give you a point for the RE – it’s a decent choice if you -have to have- a new bike. But why? There are so many great almost new (used) motorcycles out the for less than 5K – why buy new?

    3. https://www.theautopian.com/this-fighter-jet-inspired-electric-motorcycle-costs-just-4600-and-its-coming-to-america/ – first, It’s not coming to America – there’s not even a dealer in India. Second, all the specs are for the limited edition which is expensive and still manages to be slow. I could go on, but I commented on that post.

    4. https://www.theautopian.com/the-2023-honda-xr150l-gives-you-the-purest-form-of-motorcycling-for-just-3000/ Why? Just why? In no world should you buy a new bike that’s terrible on road and off road with safety features from 1988 as your first bike. You mention it has retro switch gear that looks like its from the 80’s – that because it -is- from the 80’s

    5. https://www.theautopian.com/this-electric-motorcycle-can-go-60-mph-and-folds-up-small-enough-to-fit-into-a-wagon/ – I rest my case. This is a crowd funded one-off with a bicycle hub motor I can buy that on alibabea here: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Powerful-Max-Power-12kw-15kw-Hub_60838119882.html?spm=a2700.7735675.0.0.11d76121Jz9YBB&s=p

    I have to know have you been tasked to write about the strangest and worst motorcycles in the world or are you genuinely ignoring things like the new Transalp because you’re genuinely attracted to these bizarre outliers of the two wheeled world?

    1. Hello! I’m not entirely sure what you mean by “gaslighting” because writing about weird, maybe bad motorcycles shouldn’t lead you to question your own memories or reality. Or at least, that’s the definition of gaslighting that I’ve always been taught by professionals. I continue my coverage of Buell because even though I’m disappointed in what it’s become, I’m interested in seeing where it’s going. It’s the same with Smart; it’s no longer in America and building silly crossovers, but I can’t stop watching. I guess it’s like watching a slow car crash?

      At any rate, I do admit that our motorcycle coverage could be better. I’m the only one here who rides and admittedly, I genuinely gravitate toward the weird, forgotten, unreliable, and unloved, just like I do with cars. I mean, my dream bikes have always been Buells and my daily machine is a crappy Triumph from the late 1990s. That said, I see your point and we can do more articles on more normal motorcycles! I apologize if our coverage has been maddening in some way.

      Though, I will say that in terms of reader reception, most people seem to enjoy learning something new about a motorcycle that they’ve never heard about before, so the weird stuff will continue.

      1. I used gaslighting on purpose because I’m starting to think you may actually be on to something. And please do continue the motorcycle content, even when the bikes are terrible by any modern standard. I still enjoy the read, and you’re one of the main reasons I’m a subscriber.

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