Buell XB-12 STT Lightning Super TT 2008 — Specifications

When a brand decides to decline a model until the exhaustion of the alphabet, one can smile. Buell did so without complex with its XB-12, declined in R, S, Scg, SS, then in Ulysses grand touring bike, and now in STT, or Super TT. The recipe for this latest variation is a genetic cross: one takes the long-travel suspension of the Ulysses, 143 mm at each end thanks to the Showa inverted forks of 43 mm, grafts all of that onto the nervous system of the SS, and obtains a machine that plays the supermotard card under the airs of a street-fighter.

The engine, no one presents it anymore. This 45-degree V-twin of 1203 cm³ delivers 94 horsepower at 7000 rpm and above all a torque of 102 Nm available at 5500 rpm. It is this sharp torque, typical of the American V-twin revised by Erik Buell, that gives character to the machine. The perimeter aluminum frame serves as a fuel tank, 16.7 liters housed in the structure itself, which lowers the center of gravity and visually lightens the silhouette. 179 kg dry weight, 209 kg fully fueled, the STT remains within reasonable proportions for a motorcycle of this size.

Faced with a Ducati Hypermotard 1100 or a KTM 990 SMT which were then establishing themselves as references in the genre, the Buell plays a different score. Less radical in the angles, less sophisticated electronically, it bets on a raw character and an assumed versatility. The Pirelli Scorpion mixed-terrain tires summarize the ambition well: neither track, nor frank off-road, but the maximum of varied bitumen terrains, from winding national roads to half-paved forest paths. The belt transmission, low maintenance, suits this daily use.

The only point that catches is the visual presentation. For a machine sold as a road rally beast, the standard finish singularly lacks temperament. Buell seems to have bet on personalization as a commercial argument, leaving the side plates and fork headstock with an obvious vocation for racing numbers. It’s a little short as an argument at 11,295 euros, especially when European competitors take greater care of their standard finishes.

The STT is aimed at a rider who wants to get off the beaten track without switching to pure trail, someone who appreciates the American character of the underlying Harley-Davidson V-twin, but who demands agility that the original Milwaukee flat-track cannot offer. It is a coherent proposition, sincere in its limits, which ultimately convinces more by its sensations than by its technical catalog.