Steve Crevier is racing a Buell 1125R in Canadian Superbike against a whole lineup of Japanese inline fours and placed 3rd in the 2008 season opener. Steve is mixing it up with GSX-R1000s, ZX10Rs and Yamaha R1s and beating them despite a weight and horsepower disadvantage.
If the win itself wasn’t enough, listen to what Steve had to say:
“It’s quite amazing,†said Crevier, a six-time Canadian Superbike champion. “We only got the bikes last Friday, and the crew has been slaving for a week solid. We even had to use a DOT rear tire because our rim was too narrow for the slick. It got a little mushy at the end but it felt OK.â€
So running a week old bike on a DOT rear tire, he placed 3rd. The first place Kawasaki had 173 horsepower at 378 pounds, 2nd place Yamaha, 176 hp at 400 pounds and the 3rd place Buell had 134 hp at 409 pounds.
I have a hunch a lot of the Buell boys are smiling, as well they should be! I wonder what some Japanese and Italian companies think about this new bike.
Thanks for the tip, Gary!
Link: Canadian Superbike
Related: Buell 1125R 2nd and 4th in French Top Twin Race
Related: Buell 1125R Takes 2nd and 5th in German Debut
hoyt says
That’s a refreshing name on a podium (see photo of “Buell” on Steve’s leathers) even if you are not a Buell fan. Competition is grand.
Congrats to Buell, Steve and his crew.
…and the rear tire manufacturer. Talk about a promo opportunity. I didn’t see which brand of tire was used. Anyone know?
ROHORN says
The list of bikes that finished behind it is also says a lot.
What I would really love to know is why this bike seems to do well outside the US – some good Moto-ST results would be a welcome development.
Are the export bikes better than the US spec ones? Or are teams outside the US better at finishing the development process that Buell can’t do (or H-D won’t allow) themselves?
When a “This is Not a Racebike” does well in sprint races against “superior” machines, yet does miserably on the street (according to magazine writers…..), well, what is going on with this bike?
Tom says
Congratulations Steve Crevier!! Congratulations Buell!!
Rohorn, there is one Buell 1125R racing Moto-ST and if one thing goes wrong with that one bike over the course of a 500 mile race, it might not finish. That’s the harsh reality of endurance racing.
The Buell has led in both of the Moto-ST races it’s raced in. Sometimes it takes a little time to develop a race bike.
In nearly every race any 1125R has raced in, they have been near the top of the field. It’s a brand new bike and brand new bikes sometimes have technical glitches, but its performance so far has been nothing short of AMAZING.
Even in the Cycle World review in which they had some problems and chose the Ducati over it, the Buell was clearly faster than the Ducati in nearly every measure.
zipidachimp says
met steve once. very determined guy. good choice to force a disadvantaged bike to the front. attaboy steve!
ROHORN says
Tom,
I agree completely!
Moto-ST is the only US national series that keeps my interest anymore*. This bike is one of the big reasons why I follow the Moto-ST race results. I really do hope Buell succeeds with this bike – and that it points to a spectacular future.
*Except for FX – and only when BMW is involved……
Chris says
Those specs seem pretty crazy. What’s the 1125r’s secret? Torque curve? Rider skill? Easy and sharp handling? Gearing ratios?
Tom says
Rohorn,
What do you think about next year’s AMA line-up?
It looks like it will basically be Moto-ST, FX, Superbike and a Rookie cup.
I love the fact that each race will be so unique and have its own character. I hope Tirumph, BMW, Ducati and Buell will all put some effort into the FX portion (600 Superbikes).
My only concern with the format is they claim to not be making the Superbike (Literbikes) the “premier” class . . . but I have a feeling the fans will force them to switch that idea around by the time they really get going.
ROHORN says
Tom,
I absolutely LOVE it, but a lot of internet chatter says otherwise.
The existing fans might not like it, but they aren’t growing the sport at all, in my opinion. I’d love to see some real big sponsorship in this sport – that will require a LOT of growth.
Literbikes is destined to be the next BOTT – the support class that burns brightly (maybe) then dies of terminal boredom. In my opinion, that happened a long time ago. I’m guessing the sanctioning body knows that – and is giving the fans a chance to find out for themselves.
Tom says
Just announced: Prize for “Superbike” (variation of FX) will be $50,000.
Wow! That will get some people’s attention.
J.B. says
Yeah Baby !
aaron says
I don’t want to knock the buell, (not the 1125r, anyways) but the canadian superbike series is shorter on top end talent than, say, ama or wsb. crevier is a 6 time cdn superbike champ, a 4 time (canadian) 600 supersport champion, and has 3 (canadian) 750/open titles. he also took the AMA 600 Supersport championship in 1998. pretty much one of the top riders out there in this series, so I’d guess he’d place top three on any other bike in the field. still, good for buell, any company that fields a racebike up here in canuckistan will get my thumbs up.
(oh – my cynical half, the one that says a good driver/rider can make all the difference – wants me to post a link to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvc5rDc4Fc0&feature=related
a master of the Nürburgring takes a few laps in a diesel ford transit van with a 0-60 time of 21 sec. somewhere around 30 seconds in, she’s swearing at a fireblade for slowing her down….)
Tom says
Crevier’s an OUTSTANDING rider, no doubt.
Interesting to look at what he did last year. Last year he qualified 8th and finished 4th in the first round on his R1, so his results were eerily similar to what he did yesterday.
. . . and of course last year after starting well but not great, he finished very, VERY strong, so here’s hoping he can do something similar this year.
It’s a good bet that the R1 started the series with similar power and weight to the competition. This year he has huge room for improvement once he and his team get some time to work on the bike.
Michael says
Awesome. Crevier’s obvious skill not withstanding, it’s refreshing to see something different do so well against the inline-4 status quo. I admire Buell for sticking to being different. Perhaps it’s finally paying off!
gtada says
Fantastic performance. It’s too bad that the bike is so darned ugly! Usually good racing results translate into sales, but I wonder with this bike being so ugly if it’ll have any effect at all.
hoyt says
Kind of makes you wonder if that ugly-ness is contributing to the performance on the track…is this bike the most aerodynamic on the track?
Every bit of drag reduction helps when you are down on power.
ROHORN says
The results are here:
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=32775