Buell XB-9S X LIGHTNING City Cross 2008 — Specifications

Erik Buell always loved doing things backwards. The front brake housed beneath the hub, fuel stored in the aluminum perimeter frame, oil in the swingarm: every detail of the XB-9SX screams originality where its contemporaries settle for copy-pasting Japanese recipes. And for 2008, the American manufacturer pushes the concept even further by dressing its XB-9S in a pseudo-adventure kit that earns it the nickname City Cross. A motocross handlebar, hand guards, a headlight protection grille, a few translucent blue plastics inspired by the early-2000s computer aesthetic: the beast changes costume without touching the mechanics.

The 45-degree V-twin of 984 cc develops 92 horsepower at 7,200 rpm and 85.3 Nm of torque at 5,600 rpm. On paper, that's solid. In the urban reality the City Cross name promises, it's another story. The engine, of Harley-Davidson origin, dislikes low revs. It grumbles, it stutters, it lacks flexibility in traffic. The five-speed belt drive gearbox — borrowed from the XB-12S — transmits power cleanly on open roads, but in the city it proves imprecise and unintuitive, as if it never really wanted to be there. Add a turning radius that forces you to find a parking lot to make a U-turn, a seat at 850 mm that naturally selects its rider, and the cityzen rider myth unravels fairly quickly.

But take it out of town and everything changes. The 175 kg dry become an absolute asset the moment the road starts to twist. The chassis responds with surgical precision, the frame-as-fuel-tank delivers a torsional rigidity that European rivals — KTM Duke and Aprilia Shiver chief among them — struggle to match in terms of feel. Between 4,000 and 6,000 rpm, the twin truly expresses itself: it pushes hard, sings with conviction, and the upside-down fork with its 120 mm of travel handles imperfections without complaint. The claimed top speed of 210 km/h is beside the point; what matters is the pace this small American imposes on back roads.

The 2008 price of €9,750 puts it in direct competition with a Ducati Monster 696 or a Triumph Street Triple. Both offer greater versatility, wider distribution, and better-proven reliability. The Buell sells something else: a strong identity, iconoclastic technical solutions, and the certainty of riding a machine you won't encounter on every street corner. The City Cross drives the point home with its offbeat look, its unapologetic techno blue, its air of urban adventurer that has never truly crossed a dirt track. Slightly dishonest in the name, honest in the proposition.

This is not the ideal mount for the daily commuter. It is a character motorcycle, designed for the rider who prefers sharp sensations over comfortable neutrality, who accepts compromises in exchange for a personality without equal. If you are looking for a rational tool, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a machine that tells you something on every ride, the XB-9SX probably has something to say to you.