2003 Buell Firebolt Has the Heart of a Harley

By Cameron Vanderhorst - August 12, 2019

Wild and unique, Buell sport bikes had an American heart and the spirit of a rugged individualist.

If you’re a fan of Harley-Davidson, then there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of Buell. Started by former Harley-Davidson engineer Erik Buell in 1983, Buell was eventually purchased by Harley-Davidson. Up until late 2009, Buell was building some of the wildest, most technologically impressive sport bikes ever seen – and they were usually powered by Harley-Davidson engines.

This 2003 Buell Firebolt XB9R that we found for sale on CycleTrader has a familiar-looking powerplant partially hidden under plastic fairings. It’s based on the evergreen Sportster V-twin, sharing most of its parts with the popular small cruiser. In fact, the Buell XB9R even retains the Sportster’s belt drive, an unusual choice for a sportbike.

That’s not all that’s unusual about the Firebolt. In fact, the similarities with Harley-Davidson’s Sportster pretty much end there. Erik Buell was and is a brilliant engineer, and the bikes that bear his name are packed to the brim with wildly unconventional technology.

For superior balance, a lower center of gravity, and improved weight distribution, the motorcycle’s frame is the fuel tank. Instead of a more conventional dual front disc brake, Buell designed their ZTL “Zero Torsional Load” system. This utilized a single, large-diameter front disc to accomplish the same performance, with reduced weight.

Erik Buell’s attitude of doing things his own way and subverting the status quo is a great example of the American outlaw spirit. Besides the Sportster engine that found its home in his motorcycles, it’s clear that a similar stubborn, individualist attitude made Buells a perfect complement to Harley-Davidson.

These days, Erik Buell is at the helm of another motorcycle company, Erik Buell Racing, or EBR. Meanwhile, Harley-Davidson is hard at work bucking trends – and people’s preconceived notions of what a Harley-Davidson is – with bikes like the Livewire and the upcoming Pan America.

If you want a sportier Sportster, you can buy the excellent Roadster. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, though, if you wanted an American V-twin that could attack corners with the best of them, you got yourself a Buell.

Photos: CycleTrader/Mutual Enterprises, Inc.