Rev comparison: XB and 1125

[fahren]

I am bike-curious: as an XB rider, I don't know how it feels to ride an 1125 at what I would presume are a lot higher rev's than the air-cooled 1200's. I just love the low grunt feel of the XB powerplant, and I don't have the benefit of experience on other sport v-twins like duc's or Aprilias. I have to believe the handling is out of this world on an R or CR, but don't you really need to get the Rotax up to a much higher rev level than on the XB's before it starts to really flow?

[kokomochandler]

ive got both bikes. they handle the same to me but is awesome so its cool. but the clutch is super smooth and easy to pull and i hit the rev limiter all the time on the xb after riding the cr all day.

[RT Performance]

the rotax still has lowend grunt just spins a ton more.
haven't got to ride my 1125 much yet (DAm snow)

[x1cr]

yea, snow is killin me too...forced a ride in yesterday,wasnt too cool though.
I didnt haVe an xb, but I did have an x1 so as far as the engine I would imagine the x1 and xb feel similar(i'm assuming).
The cr pulls pretty good in the low r's but after 6500 or so it pulls like a freight train-sounds different too from there on up-sounds like a race bike to me.
Being used to the speed and power of my x1, the power of the cr surprised me big time. The kind of power that makes you think . Gotta make sure I know this bike and my limitations before i get comfy at speed.
Ice cold roads and tires dont help either!

[JeepinBueller]

I feel like I can speak since I just came off of my '03 XB9R a few months ago and getting the '09 CR mid-December. The XB definitely has the upper hand in below 3,000 rpm in the torque department. I remember pulling away from stoplights at near-idle on the XB.

But now, remember when you're ringing the XB out full tilt and hit the rev limiter?... that's when the CR goes into insane mode and the front end starts pulling up from the ground. The CR pulls just fine from 3,000 rpm up, but really likes to cruise anywhere from 3,500-4,000 rpm.

[jaytea]

I have an XB12S that I've owned for around 4 years and an 1125 that arrived at the beginning of the year. The XB engine is very different from the 1125 and is used in a very different way. The XB engine has huge amounts of torque that can be used from low down in the rev range. Big vee twins are renowned for this. If you own an XB you will be well aware of how to use this power. But loan your bike to a sports or four cylinder rider and they will be revving it and getting nowhere, they may even tell you the engine is running flat. The only other ride who would understand the way to use that power would be a Harley rider (I am going to say no more than that). The XB is not the smoothest of vee twin engines and will not pull from as low down as some of the Japanese big vee twins i.e. Honda VTR1000. You really need to keep it above 2000 RPMs and very shortly after that the steam train torque comes in.

My 1125cr is still not quite run in yet (because of the bad weather we have been having in the UK). The bike was delivered with the cafe racer (ace) handlebars which are great at over 70mph and as such make the bike seem very different in handling to the XB12s.(Thought I was getting a 2010 bike but got a 2009..... I didn't pin the salesman down to the model as I just expected it to be the latest model). They are going to change the bars FOC as I am now too old for the painful more radical sports riding position.

The 1125 is happy running at anything above 3000RPM and is very smooth without the shake of the XB engine. Below 3000 it tends to snatch and feels like there is 6 inches of slack in the rear chain. The transmission is also very noisy at low revs, but I think this is to do with the slipper clutch as the gearbox is really sweet.

The bike I rode at the dealers had high bars and I actually felt it was easier to ride than the XB12s although you need to keep the revs up 1K more than the XB, but remember it also revs half as high again. Very easy and very predictable until you hit around 7000 RPM when you enter insane mode. I didn't spend too much time in this mode on the dealer bike but will spend more time in this blurred vision mode once run in and my “hanging on for dear life” muscles have had time to develop more. :D

It is most definitely a Buell just the next generation on with a high performance engine.

[fahren]

Good to know, especially about the "insane mode." I can already go way faster than I should on the XB, so I might as well settle in and just enjoy the grunt. Thanks, guys.

[browland]

Yeah most of my riding is around town and campus type stuff so 5th gear is rarely used. So sticking with the ear splitting xb is prolly the best for me

[kalifornia]

all Im gonna say is, good thing the 1125's have more power