Need Opinions on Buell Blast

[TeacherJoe]

My wife has been bikeless for a while. She may want an interim bike for local rides until we are empty nesters and hit the road big time. Any comments on this Buell Blast?

Joe

 

[reiobard]

the blast is a cool little bike, 500cc single cylinder has plenty of torque to be fun and the belt drive makes the delivery of the power smooth. it lacks considerably on highways, but who buys a bike to ride it on the highway?

if she is a shorter woman, the bike is nice as well as it is a very low seat and small frame, so it is nimble and feels very light.

 

[reiobard]

Also, for $1400, you can't really go wrong

 

[macem29]

great deal...if it were near me I'd buy it in heartbeat

 

[viviifz6]

This was my fist bike, owned it for nearly 2 year and loved it. One of the main reasons I upgraded was because of the 1.5 hour trip on the highway from school back home for me, and I use mine to commute on weekends sometimes(probably more often now). But I loved it around the city and the power distibution is awesome. I strongly reccomend it if your not looking to do over 80

 

[Hellgate]

Run!!!!!!!!!

The spares supply chain is pretty much gone and lead times are months. That and it is a very crude bike. Ninja 250 is a much better bike, or Rebel 250, etc.

 

[mrphotoman]

I bought a 2008 back in july 2010 for my gf, it had a little over 600 miles on it, now it has a little over 3000 miles on it. it is fun to ride, i rode it over 4 hours back from PA when we bought it and it did not struggle at all going 80-100mph on the interstate.

the only issue we have had is the stock crap exhaust broke on it. i bought a new vance and hines for it and it was only $205 shipped. I may put it on this weekend.

we paid $2000 cash for it.

 

[macem29]

Hellgate has a good point about Buell closing doors and parts
becoming difficult to get...but at $1400 I'd put this bike in
the same category as those Chinese POS things, no parts
or service available for them either, but it is a much better bike

 

[mrphotoman]

from what i can tell, harley still supplies parts, many used parts are on ebay and there are several vendors on the net selling parts.

i bet though for around $1500 to $1800 you could find one a lot newer with lower miles.

 

[Pauly_V]

I wouldn't buy a Blast, but that's just me. Here's a few more bikes to look at...

Suzuki Gs 500

02' Kawasaki Ninja 250

05 kawasaki ninja 250

 

[VEGASRIDER]

we paid $2000 cash for it.

I thought it was $10,000?

This is probably the most detailed thread about the Blast on this Forum, originally posted up my Mrphotoman.

http://www.600riders.com/forum/non-fz6-motorcycle-section/33603-bought-buell-friday.html

 

[mrphotoman]

lol the extra $8000 was a tip


seriously though, at the time we bought the blast for my gf to learn on. she is very short (4'10") and the blast with the low seat 25.5" seat height was good for her to learn on without having to spend money and time to lower another bike. this summer i would like to move her up to a 650r or something in that range that is not quite as primitive. the blast is fine to learn on, we had trouble with the stock exhaust cracking at the weld (a common problem) and eventually the pipe broke completely (after we had it rewelded). the bike reminds me of something that was built in the 1970's or 1980's. expect harley davidson quality if you buy one. it is fine to learn on and has plenty of power, it handles great and is very fun to ride but i would not take it on a big trip just due to the fact it is a harley (most people i know spend more time working on their harley that riding them) but some are reliable, some are not. my experience is that it is a great, light bike to learn on but not without its issues. if you can get one cheap then get it and have fun with it.

 

[Hellgate]

from what i can tell, harley still supplies parts, many used parts are on ebay and there are several vendors on the net selling parts.

i bet though for around $1500 to $1800 you could find one a lot newer with lower miles.

You're correct HD is required to provide parts for 7 years, 6 now, but at what service level? For my 1125R is was routinely 6 to 8 weeks to get parts. I finally gave up and bought my FZ1.

 

[Ransom]

the blast is a cool little bike, 500cc single cylinder has plenty of torque to be fun and the belt drive makes the delivery of the power smooth. it lacks considerably on highways, but who buys a bike to ride it on the highway?

if she is a shorter woman, the bike is nice as well as it is a very low seat and small frame, so it is nimble and feels very light.

My thoughts exactly.

I had that as my first bike and I enjoyed it most Sundays. The only thing I will at is that you might want to check out some GS500's as they are a little cheaper than the Buell and a little more power so that if you guys do have to go on the Hi-way she can get out of the way of trouble faster.

There were times on the Hi-way that I needed to accelerate to get out of the way of someone and it was a slow process. Just my 2 cents:thumbup:

 

[Def]

I would also suggest considering the Ninja 500r. Much like the gs500 with a little more hp and water-cooled too. Pretty good on moderately longer road trips. My daughter had one and loved it.(& she had no problem keeping up with the rest of the pack). bullet proof motor and cheap to maintain makes for a really good package.fwiw

 

[TeacherJoe]

Thanks for the help, everyone. The good news is that we are going to get something. Holly has not yet fallen for the sporty look. She thinks my FZ6 is ugly. Her dream ride right now is a new Bonnie. That's coming later. I'm gonna try to get her to throw a leg over a Ninja 500 and see how that feels . . .

Joe

 

[Pauly_V]

Thanks for the help, everyone. The good news is that we are going to get something. Holly has not yet fallen for the sporty look. She thinks my FZ6 is ugly. Her dream ride right now is a new Bonnie. That's coming later. I'm gonna try to get her to throw a leg over a Ninja 500 and see how that feels . . .

Joe

That's because the FZ is ugly. (what? it is.)

You should be able to grab a Nighthawk 750 on the cheap. That may be more on the lines of her aesthetic requirements. Those are great little bikes with a comfy riding position and enough engine to handle any road trip.

 

[TeacherJoe]

OK, I'm gonna look at this GS500e this weekend. My problem is that I can't get a KBB or NADA value because that model was not sold in the US after 2002. I don't know where the bike is from, or how to set its value. I figure the naked would should be cheaper than the fully faired version Ideas? I was thinking $2000 and maybe go up a couple of hundred.

Joe

 

[krid80]

I learned on a Buell Blast but found that it was quickly too small and slow for me. I got to the point where I was riding it so hard, that I was breaking things just riding it. Ended up breaking the motor mount bolts on the front three times. That sucks to replace. I ended up selling it at around 10,000 miles after modding the crap out of it. It would be good for people not wanting to ride too fast.....

 

[wrlomas]

Serious vibration problems and hard to start but nearly free.