Comments on: A&R Rubbies: Least Reliable Motorcycles of 2009

By: jake318

jake318 — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:19:58 +0000

America is the land of legalities . the CYA mentality causes anything and everything to be recalled. I had a recall on the front brake line on my Buell xb12R . THEY MOVED THE LINE HOLDER CLIP OVER ! INCH because some kid had an accident and said the line wasnt long enough and restrickted his movement …. Bull

By: rex

rex — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:33:08 +0000

A little misleading I would think.

You are hinting that the Buells are poor quality based on recalls?
I have a 97 Buell M2, that has almost 45,000 miles on it. A few recalls for the bike, when new, but nothing major. Totally reliable, and is fantastic to ride. I also have a Buell S2 with 20,000 miles on it. Again, nothing but replacing oil, batteries, and tires.
I also just bought a new Buell CR. Nothing but fantastic.
It appears that people are not familiar with Buells. There is the air cooled motor, which does not rev as high as the water cooled motor. It is not just the Sportster based motor anymore, in the Buells. There is the new Rotax motor that is fantastic!
I have had over 45 motorcycles, including Yamahas, Hondas, Suzukis, Kawasakis, Triumphs, and Buells. I prefer my Buells over any of them. So smooth, So much torque, and the handle fantastic. My point of view.

By: moosestang

moosestang — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:19:51 +0000

Ken, map updates are not recalls, at least not for buell.

Stupid article. Run the buell against any jap bike until one motor dies. Anything that spins 15k revolutions per minute isn’t going to last that long. Redline on the buell is what? 7k? I bet that motor lasts twice as many miles.

By: John A.

John A. — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:00:36 +0000

Recalls do reflect reliability as well as quality. One of my motorcycles was recalled for a wire harness issue. However, owners of this bike were already having problems related to the recall…..some even found themselves stranded when the bike would not start.

Some recalls occur after the problem has already developed on owners bikes.

By: Morpheous

Morpheous — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:49:17 +0000

Unfortunate that you run a Pic of a KTM Duke crashing to open the article, kind of leads the mind to inflect that they were the worst perpetrator. This site (A&R) needs to be more careful so as not to make misleading mistakes like that. I have 14,000 trouble free miles on my 2008 Duke 690. Every bit as reliable as my SV650 was. I think there is a test rider recall going on in that pic, the bike works just fine..

By: Dyna Owner

Dyna Owner — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:42:21 +0000

The real measure of manufactures quality is warranty work. JD Powers measure automotive initial quality in the number of warranty claims that are filed for each model over a specific timer period. for example the number of warranty claims submitted to Ford on its 2009 Focus models in the first 12 months of ownership.

Recalls happen all the time over the life of a product, I have just received a recall notice on my 2001 Explorer but it has never broken down so it would have good quality as compared to other SUVs of the same model year.

I don’t know if the information is available to the public, but I would like to see the number of warranty claims made to each manufacture then assess their quality based on that data.

Randall Bearden, Quality Engineer

By: 4Cammer

4Cammer — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:52:08 +0000

Brad, we all know that G-d rides a Buell. Boring bikes are not his thing…. :)

By: FT BSTRD

FT BSTRD — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:51:51 +0000

Not all recalls are equal. re-routing a brake line isn’t on par with say the recall of tires on Ford Explorers or exploding gas tanks in Pintos.

One thing Buell owners know is that for the most part Buell works to quickly address and correct minor issues through the recall system. The last major recall Buell had was with the tuber line.

The opposite can be said of the Big Four Japanese companies who deny any problems and refuse to correct issues. Anyone had a “doohickey” kill their KLR?

It isn’t like Buell had to recall bikes for bad frame welds.

If you’ve got a bias against Buell, you should have posted this article before HD stabbed Buell in the back.

Now, it’s just piling onto a corpse.

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:57:00 +0000

I agree , although my opinion is biased , being an owner of a Buell 1125R , that I love , my recalls have been mapping updates , re-routing a brake line , and a vent hose .

I have just shy of 20K miles , with no major problems . I have nothing but goo things to say , and only a Big $hit Eating Grin I cant seem to get rid of after I ride .

I must admit , a major reason I purchased a Buell 1125R was due to the BP Rotax motor …

By: Dave Tweed

Dave Tweed — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:35:27 +0000

1.) I agree with the majority here recalls do not equate to liability. My bike is recalled for a fuel map change doesn’t effect the reliability of the machine.
2.) Recalls to units sold in the ? Do they count units not sold as well as sold bikes , what I mean is kawasaki had say 200 recalls because they sold 200 bikes and Buell had 3400 cause they sold 4000 I am not sure how that works.
3.) Harley is junk anyway.