Anything about the Buell blast?

Hey guys so i want to buy my first motorcycle and i really want a Honda cbr60rr but that is way out of my budget and my skill level. So i really want a sport bike and i was looking at 250's 250r's and 300's brand wasn't important to me. Then i came across the buell blast 500 its definitely an interesting bike and was wondering if any body had any experience with it and can enlighten me on a few things about it. And could maybe compare it to a sportbike.

The Blast is a basic bike. The engine is a single cylinder ( essentially it's the Harley Sportster engine with one cylinder removed ). It has decent power for a first time bike but not too much as to easily overwhelm a novice rider. It's also lightweight so it's easy to handle.

On the downside, it lacks a tachometer which could be very useful for a new rider. The transmission is also not the smoothest. It can be clunky to operate. Reliability can be an issue for some Blasts' as well. While it is easy to work on, it's no fun if you spend more time working on the bike compared to riding it.

The nice thing for a newbie rider is that the Blast depreciated in value quickly. This makes the Blast cheap to pick up on the used bike market. However, since Buell is no longer in business, getting parts for it may be more difficult in the future ( if it isn't already ).

It is quicker than the 250/300s, but slower -- quicker off the line, lower top speed. It is a Thumper, considerable vibration. It is a a beginner sporty bike. I read from a person who had both, and the Suzuki S40 / Savage was quicker, faster, smoother. And the Savage is one of the cheapest bikes to insure.

What questions do you have directly about the bike. HD used them in the rider edge program. It was easy to handle for beginner riders. Very reliable machine, transmission is almost bullet proof. Little to no electrical problems with the bike. Only thing people misdiagnosed on it was the choke on it. It's made of bees wax. You turn the key and the wax starts to retract from the 12vdc. So people that turned the key on and started BSing their bike wouldn't start cause the choke was pulled back. Turn key off and wait 20 mins choke pushes back. Good idea, but most people didn't get. The real down fall I didn't agree with was at 25k miles you where supposed to change the belt and drive pulleys. That's what factory recommend. Most people didn't own one long enough for that. I helped work on the magnum 44 project. What that was/is the only buell blast (P3) to set a land speed record. It's a private person bike now, been detuned and lives in aloha Oregon ( that's not far from Portland).

The very short production run of the Buell kinda says it all, had the Blast been a better bike they would have made them for more years! I would suggest you might consider a Suzuki SV650. It is a much more successful version of the same basic concept as the Buell Blast, having the basic look and handling of a Sport Bike but with a Tamer easier to cope with power band that is far better oriented for use by beginning riders.
However unlike the Buell the SV is not a slow bike it may have less power than a 600 Sport Bike but it's Wide, Smooth, High torque power band makes it easier for most riders to end up putting more power to the ground more of the time which ends up meaning that in real world riding and even on the track it is still quite competitive against a full on Sport bike even though it only produces 70 HP at 10,500 RPM compared to say a Yamaha R6 producing 127 HP at 16,500 RPM! I realize that statement sounds very odd but the truth is Horsepower does not win Races, Skill and Control do! So go buy the bike the Buell Blast was meant to be A Suzuki SV650!

PS the SV is also a far more comfortable bike to ride than a Sport 600
and they have been making them quite a while now so it should be easy to find a good deal on a nice used one!

You'll have a hard time learning to ride on a bike that won't run. The Buell is an orphan bike with no factory support and no spare parts available. If you break something, you'll have an extremely difficult time getting it fixed.

On the other hand, bikes like the Kawasaki Ninja 300 or Honda Rebel 250 are still in production and still have full factory support. Find a nice, clean used one, ride it for a year while you are learning and sell it again for nearly what you paid for it.

It is an interesting bike and was specifically designed as a starter bike. However, they haven't made them in a number of years and some parts are starting to become rather scarce. Dealership support is pretty much gone.

I wouldn't pay much for one and if you do find one in good running shape go for it if the price is right, just know that you may need to learn how to do a lot of the maintenance and minor repairs yourself and you may need to find a local independent mechanic if you need some expertise.