The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Bottpower BOTT XR-1 – New Life for Old Buells

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Bottpower XR-1 transforming old Buells into Flat Trackers
Bottpower XR-1 transforming old Buells into Flat Trackers

David Sánchez from Bottpower tells me they’re working on a new project. A customer wanted them to build a chassis for a street bike that will have a flat track look to it using the wheels, suspension, brakes, engine and swingarm from a Buell XB. Their job, specifically, was to build the chassis, after which the owner will finish it to his own taste. Of course, being designers, they couldn’t help but try a few ideas of their own to see how the finished tracker might look and that’s what you see here.

Bottpower XR-1 transforming old Buells into Flat Trackers
Bottpower XR-1 transforming old Buells into Flat Trackers

The Harley XR1200 is the most similar thing you can find on the market, but while the Harley weighs 250 kgs (551 pounds) and has 85 HP, the BOTT XR-1 will weigh 170 kgs (375 pounds), will have more than 100 HP, and it will have much more aggressive geometries,

Now here’s the fun part, if they find there’s a lot of interest, they just might make a kit so you can put one of these together yourself. For those of you who liked the performance of the old Buells but were never really fond of the looks or just prefer the flat tracker, this might be just the ticket. It looks like something Harley could have built instead of the XR1200, a real lightweight performer with just enough flat track look to fit in with the Harley heritage. It might be time to grab one of those used Buells before everyone wants one for the parts.

Link: Bottpower

Bottpower XR-1 transforming old Buells into Flat Trackers
Bottpower XR-1 transforming old Buells into Flat Trackers

Comments

  2. Nice idea, but the engine looks too far off the ground for a flat tracker – if they lost the underslung exhaust they could drop the motor and then get the right look.

  3. I agree this is what Harley should have built. However H.D. needs to build street legal Bikes, Emmission standards must be met (power loss), Fenders, Horn, Lights, Turn Signals and Mirrors add weight. It is relatively easy to build a lite weight racer, not so easy to sell one as new. 475 LBs may be a more realistic target weight.

    • That’s a Buell engine, already meets emission standards. The lights and horn, etc. are not on in this rendering but the target weight is what they expect for the bike.

  4. That looks pretty cool. I personally think the underslung exhaust is pretty awesome looking.

  5. Bitchin’ concept bike and could actually be built. They do need to lose the bus muffler though! Lots of potential for all sorts of projects based on Buells.

    • Thanks so much for those words. Nice coming from you. Final muffler may look different though.

  6. We don’t pretend this bike to be a pure flat tracker. The idea is to have the good handling and the funny riding of a Buell with a certain flat tracker look. The bike geometry is the same of the Buell, that’s why we keep the engine in the same position.
    The muffler doesn’t look very “flat track”, but I think that one of the interesting points of this bike is that it is not a pure flat tracker, it is a funny road bike with a flat tracker look. Also we want to keep it easy for those who can be interested in converting a Buell, so we try to keep as much Buell parts as possible (same thing applies to the front brake, for example).
    We are already building the chassis, so if everything goes well the bike will be ready in a few months.

      • I really like this bike! It looks way cool. 100hp in a 350lb bike would be great fun. I like how the engine looks too big for the frame. I like flat track / cafe racer look and color scheme. And it needs to be high so I can lean it way over. I think legally, in only needs a tail light, unless at night, for which you can probably hide a bright LED light somewhere. If you have to, put some orange LED bar ends on it.

      • Thanks for the update on that; I was wondering about that too.
        Hope you can keep the rear cylinder temps under control without a fan like on the Ulysses; that can be very annoying! Insulate that rear tank a bit to avoid vapor lock when down to the last gallon!

        Looks great (instead of wierd).

  9. The XR1200 is a nice idea and it looks good but why does it have to be so heavy? This is on far better lines.

  10. Great concept! I like it. The short wheelbase works for this concept. The muffler is a bit big, maybe it needs to be chrome or smaller or reshaped at the front so it doesn’t look so large.

    Also – I think the XR1200 is heavy because of the rubber-mounted engine…..

  11. With a 176 lb difference between this bike and the XR1200, that’s one heck of a lot of rubber! 🙂

    Anyway, this is a nice looking bike. I always liked the dirt tracker look, although it does make for a small fuel tank with a limited range.

    • I think a lot of the weight on current Sportsters is in the frame and additional heavy castings required to rubber-mount the engine…. A solid mount engine makes things a lot simpler….

    • well, have to remember, harley uses a lot more steel than that of buell. so that would make up a big portion of the weight as well.
      Very nice looking though
      Personally, I think on this rendering, using the gold tones from the forks on the pegs and bolts instead of the orange, would have make it look great!! or using orange on the forks etc….
      another thing on the weight, buell’s light were not very big, so probably not much weight there either, so using smaller components could be helping in the weight issue as well

  12. I’d love to see more of that tiny tail section without the numberplate, personally. other than that, great looks. love the intake.

  13. Before i got my 2010 1125r i’ve been wanting to build a street tracker,loved the cycleworld web surfer harley 8000 to build also the erik buell tribute (buell xb) very cool bikes,but this one takes the cake.I think just add lights and maybe a bub pipe!!! I would buy this kit over anything stortz has to offer…I would like to know how much…..

  15. An improvement, but… the bigass muffler, the oil tank swingarm, and belt drive ruin the vibe. I’d traded email with mule about a Buell based street-tracker/custom at the Seattle Motorcycle Expo. He had the great idea of downdraft carbs (throttle bodies?) buried into the tank. No monster airfilter to bump into.

  16. I’ve been looking for an alternative tank and seat for my ’96 S1 tuber for some time now. My decals have long since bubbled up, and although I like the lines of the stock rotomolded plastic, I’d love to find an XR – styled tank/seat combo, preferably with a more street – usable fuel capacity (at least 3.5 gal……). I have tried to find someone who would make me an aluminum version of the stock tank…… no luck yet!

    Mike

  17. If the Buell’s had looked like this, maybe they wouldn’t have gone under. Pretty cool.

    • Buell didn’t actually “go under” – they were going fine until their parent company decided that they wanted to redirect their “beans” (in a “bean counter” world) to their more traditional products. Things like blacker blacks and less of that pesky suspension travel that so ruins “the LOOK”.

      I agree that the Bottpower bike is totally cool! I’d just tweak it enough to be street legal with some lights.

  19. Beautiful looking bike and with 2 fuel tanks – its the way to go – AND a rubbermount engine – will make a great summer toy
    As Colin Chapman said ‘Just add lightness’ (Erik must have been listening..)
    Lots of cheapish Buells here in England now that no one wants them..

    My current 883R is way too heavy and I was expecting great things from the XR1200 when it came out – but its still too heavy.. so am still looking for a good condition M2 Cyclone

  20. Looks like the engine is mountet a bit high. With the exhaust removed, it would almost have the ridehight of an offroader if mounted with the right tires.. If the exhaust was moved to the side of the bike, the suspension could be lowered, or at least the engine mount. That would lead to a lower center of gravity (as the engine is a lot heavier than the exhaust), witch is always good for a street bike. But a nice bike indeed. I wonder what it would look like as an offroader, like the XR1200 offroaders posted on this site…. 🙂

  21. Like the tail light. Much nicer than any attempt by Harley too build a tracker style st. bike. Bus muffler, now that’s funny. ..Z

  22. C’mon, guys, lighten up on the muffler. The bike meets noise regulations, and to do that requires a lot of muffler to still provide a free-flowing exhaust. My Toyota Tacoma pickup with a 2.7-liter inline four has a muffler that truly wouldn’t look out of place on a bus, but the truck is very quiet yet its exhaust system works very well with the factory stainless-steel header. As for engine placement, David explained that it’s where it is because that’s the way Eric Buell designed the bike. Move the engine and you’ll mess with all the frame geometry. Nice bike!

    • Unfortunately this bike bike doesn’t have a truck bed like a Tacoma to hide the muffler box under and out of sight.

      Screw noise regulations! This a concept, not intended for the design/regulation police.

  23. I’m pretty sure that I know where Buell was aiming with that muffler.

    General performance muffler theory states that a muffler chamber which approaches 15x the engine displacement volume, is essentially simulating the “free air” exit.
    This allows you to tune the exhaust as is if was in-effect an “open system” without a muffler restriction, as far as the engine “sees it”.
    But, the sound levels are reduced as would be in a muffled system.
    It gets rid of the restriction, via large volume in the muffler.
    This is used in some performance car muffler designs.

    It also appears to provide the aerodynamic effects of a “belly pan”, in the location where it resides on these Buells.

    So, while it might appear unconventional(and it is), there is some “method to the madness”, and I’m sure that this was designed to aim at achieving some degree of the things I described above. Buell is an innovative designer, and he goes where other people don’t go, with some of his ideas.

  24. If you want to see a more traditional looking Buell ‘tracker with an early tube frame, check out the one built by Damian Gragory of Twin Sports a while back. It was in CW. He built a number of exotic Buell customs in his Inglewood CA shop. He was an interesting character (RIP).

  25. I always liked the original Buell mufflers and loved the way they sounded. It always reminded me of a healthy VW Type 3 with a Quiet Pack on a merged header. Yes, a large muffler equals power gains just about everywhere instead of peak (noisy) power at top end that you get with a small can. It’s too bad that vanity dictates accessory fitment.

    -todd

  26. I like it a lot, including the muffler and don’t mind the tall aesthetic at all. It has a kind of short-track meets neo-industrial look that works for me. I love the blend of boldness and function, such as the air filter and pipes.

  27. I meant to add, while looking very much its own design, it seems to have taken some inspiration from the Yamaha MT-1.

  30. What model buell is used as the donor? The older ones, like the m-2 are getting harder to find.

  31. Fantastic! I loce “frameless” motorcycles, they seem to make perfect sense.
    The Yamaha MT-01 Concept bike, the Waken, and this are all frameless.
    Is there any rigid mounting on the rear cylinder head, aswell as the front head, and the swingarm pivot? Though, I imagine rigid mount to both cylinders might allow vibes, and worse, reverberances to run amock.
    Beautiful though, I would love to see this frame standalone.

  32. I’m sorry, I hate it. I’m way too much of a fan of Erik’s designs to see them butchered like this. So many Buells wind up as donor bikes for Redneck and Mutant choppers, which is a waste of a good bike.

  33. you’re right, with this trend only few buells will be on the road tomorrow…..but this is something different, erik might have designed it and can alow a terminted brand to be still alive
    fabio

  35. I dig it, really. Any plans to use one of those number plate/headlight concoctions? Or a standalone light that mounts along side the number plate?

    BTW, the rendering is excellent, which program did you use?

  36. Thanks to all for the comments. The donor bike is a XB. The initial idea is having a clean flattrack look adapted to street use. One of the issues is the rigidity. We are using the XB engine mounts, however it is not an easy task having all tight. Another issue will be injection or carburetor. Injection if used, has to be fully modified as thottlebody can not be upright. The bike will have loads of agility and less weight than the XB. At the front we will try to install if possible a plate with two lights.

  37. That is one of the best looking “flattracker” customs I’ve seen. The stance is just right in my opion. Nice to see a complement from Mr. Mule- Buell! I’ve ridin one of those and loved it. Keep up the great work everyone!
    Robin R

  38. Simply looks awesome! As others my main concern would be the height of the engine compared to the wheel axis. Looks like center of gravity will be too high to get great handling. Looks reallly bad ass, if it handles great too, you’ve got a winner there.

  41. Yeesh. Tell the people I’m trying to buy an XB from that they’re common enough to chop up as donor bikes. Now they’re suddenly collector’s items worth tons of money.

  42. I’m an old-school Buell tuber owner and never fully warmed up to the XB’s, excellent a chassis as it may be. This, to me, is pretty damn cool.

  43. I love it. I have built a lot of customs and have been around since the late 70’s. The TT, Naked and flat tracker style are among my favorites because I dig the function first then style, and function if done right is art. So the tight styling is spot on, I would not change too much to personalize it which means it’s a damn masterpiece. One of the buells was 90+ hp at the crank so what that means is with a less lean mix, mildly hotter cams and a matched exhaust a bit over a hundred HP should be fairly cheaply attainable . Then after saving when the next rebuild is done slide in a mild to moderate stroke increase and bore to make a square engine with a little head work? Would 110 to 115 hp be out of the question on a 90 to 100 inch engine? Then later a forced air system…ah yeah dream big! I happen to like the huge muffler, it has possibilities also. A custom add-on header that snakes into one side and exit’s the other, powder coating it, as I said possibilities. Being large it will produce HP. If a kit were available I would seriously consider buying it. As is I am inquiring about replica Harley café bodywork to use with the first version of the above engine. A fast TT/café racer so to speak.

  46. I like the bike, been following Erik since the start and retrofitting some things onto an old 883 as well. I like the cafe racer look, Hate the muffler, of course, but the concept is awesome. Not everyone is a died in the wool cruiser, but we like the torque of the engine. Just look at the new 1190 that Erik has produced using Rotax blocks!!

  47. Respecto al silenciador, supongo que montan este por que cumple con la normativa, siempre se puede cambiar después de homologar la motocicleta, en general me parece extraordinaria, preciosa, que se llevara todas las miradas

  48. With respect to the muffler, I guess that this mount compliant, you can always change after bringing the bike in general seems extraordinary, beautiful, which will take all eyes

  49. Love it ! Hope to see it soon,…understand the muffler completely,..they will get used to it as they learn more about performance.

  52. I like the XB fuel in frame design just like it is,But the older tube frame bikes could use this kind of treatment.

  53. Looks ok but thats about as far as Id go,,Cant really see it being usefull in any category i know..