Hope this is not too dumb a question, but I see this "Sportster/Buell" thing all the time, so who can tell me what the connection is?

the early Buells had sportster motors....

the new ones have a different case but most of the internals are the same as a sporty and most parts are interchangeable...

That's a little vague Griz. Sportster/Buell in relation to what? You mean like parts and stuff or what they share in common?

Think of the Buell as kind of the high performance Sportster. They bumped up the power, gave it a stiff chassis with more sport oriented geometry & riding position, fitted powerful brakes, sport oriented suspension, 17" wheels with radial sporting tires, etc. But like Stevo sez, the motors have many interchangeable pieces, and last time I was at Capitol Drive, they were being made on the same production line.

Thanks, guys. So basically, the Buell was originally based on the Sporty, and continues to share the same "family line."

Hmmm...It would be interesting to see the MOCO put a Buell motor and some performance suspension into a Sportster. Or is that a bit over the top!?:)

I'm not sure how many, but some of the Buell's performance parts have been incorporated into the last few years of Sportsters. The heads. I think...

Others here will know....

Tim

I'm not sure how many, but some of the Buell's performance parts have been incorporated into the last few years of Sportsters. The heads. I think...

Others here will know....

Tim

04+ 1200's have the Buell heads.

Hey Griz, I think of the Buell has the natural evolution of the Sportster. Consider the roots of the first '57 and the changes the Sporty went through for the first ~20 years and if it had continued down that path, and followed trends, it would have become what the Buell is. But, and I'm glad for it, HD is big on tradition and also wanted to keep their "intro-cruiser" so the Sporty has only mildly evolved on it's same basic platform.

04+ 1200's have the Buell heads.

Hey Griz, I think of the Buell has the natural evolution of the Sportster. Consider the roots of the first '57 and the changes the Sporty went through for the first ~20 years and if it had continued down that path, and followed trends, it would have become what the Buell is. But, and I'm glad for it, HD is big on tradition and also wanted to keep their "intro-cruiser" so the Sporty has only mildly evolved on it's same basic platform.

Thanks, GOTWA. I can see what your talking about! Makes sense.
Interesting, I bought my Sporty mostly because of the "tradition" it imbodies - Kinda an old F**t I guess! Prior to buying the Sporty, my last bike (30 years ago) was a Rickman with a 500 Triumph motor in it, and before that, I raced Maicos in the desert. I still remember when the XR750 ruled the dirt tracks in this country. Ain't got the reflexes anymore for that kind of stuff, but still love the "tradition." I guess that's why I am interested in the connection between the Buell and the Sporty. Hey, a younger fella could have some real fun with this stuff!:gun

I see so many possibilities that HD should make better use of.:)

Grizz check out what my buddy did, buy mixing it up...heads, cam, pistons, and so on and Fuel Injected.

http://www.xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/showthread.php?t=20858

just an example...

My next addition to the stable will be an XB12X