Buell teases wild Super Cruiser cafe racer with 173bhp V-twin

Buell has unveiled a striking cafe racer version of its Super Cruiser, although fans hoping to park one in their garage may be left disappointed.

The one-off machine was displayed at a Daytona motorcycle dealership and reimagines the firm's 173bhp Super Cruiser as a carbon-clad cafe racer complete with low-slung clubman bars and a more aggressive riding position.

Built around the same frame, swingarm and V-twin engine as the standard bike, the concept swaps the Super Cruiser's ape-hanger handlebars for a set of clip-on-style clubman bars, shifting the rider forwards and putting more weight over the front wheel.

The bike also retains one of Buell's trademark pieces of engineering: its perimeter-mounted front brake disc. Rather than mounting the brake rotor at the hub, the oversized disc sits at the wheel's outer edge, a design Buell claims reduces unsprung mass while improving rigidity under braking.

Further changes include Ohlins race-spec suspension with reduced travel and extensive use of carbon fibre bodywork. The radiator arrangement has also been reworked, borrowing the side-mounted setup from the Hammerhead 1190 due to space constraints around the cafe racer front end.

If the finished bike looks production-ready, that's because it largely is. Unfortunately, Buell has no plans to put it into series production.

Speaking about the machine, a Buell spokesperson said: "These are our customs that we are making for the factory," before confirming: "We aren't going to be building these as production models."

That's a shame, because a lightweight cafe racer packing nearly 180bhp sounds like exactly the sort of thing that would put a smile on your face and a dent in your licence.

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