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Buell RR 1200

Barn Built Buell

Brought here in 1990, this 1989 Buell RR 1200 Battletwin is an ultra-rare find in Australia

(June 2024, Guy 'Guido' Allen)

See the ride video for this bike on YouTube

Brought here in 1990, this 1989 Buell RRT 1200
Battletwin is an ultra-rare find in Australia

For owner Alec Simpson, taking on the Buell RR 1200 Battletwin scratched some kind of itch. “I’ve always had a soft spot for a couple of bikes in the universe: Bimota DB1 and I quite like the look of the Ducati Paso 750. The K1 BMW was an interesting thing as well. I thought the Buell when it came out was really interesting-looking.

“In the mid-to-late 1980s, that all-enclosing bodywork was a theme. With the Buell, you never saw them and I’d never ridden one.”

The RR had been in long-term ownership with Damien K, who suggested he swap Alec for a Ducati TT2 replica sitting in the latter’s shed. The deal was done and the fun began.

Over the years, the RR had undergone some transformation, including as a café racer -style bike with minimalist bodywork.

buell rr 1200

Alec decided he wanted to bring it back to original shape, as a rebuild rather than a full restoration. That meant much of the bodywork was cleaned up rather than repainted, leaving the odd paint chip in place. The nose cone is the one exception, which had to be repaired and repainted, while a new windshield was made by Screens for Bikes in Coburg.

buell rr 1200

Overall, the job turned out to be bigger than Alec anticipated thanks to two factors: the rarity and hand-built nature of the bike, plus the often unusual architecture. Alec provides a a startling example, which is the main lower fairing, that opens as a clamshell. Then there is the fuel tank which he points out “is not attached the frame at any point. It’s attached to the sidepanels, which are attached to the nose cone and seat, which in turn are attached to the frame.”

In addition, age and wear had of course got to much of the componentry which meant they were up for major work.

Spares are an issue – there are none. You can get some of the Harley engine parts, but even that is difficult as the drivetrain is obsolete. “I tried to get an ignition control unit for it, and couldn’t,” explains Alec. “The later model units required a harness adapter that wasn’t available either.”

buell rr 1200

The wheels are Performance Machine, as are the four-spot front brakes, but again they’re obsolete stock though Brembo pads are said to fit. The rear brake is meant to be a Gambler which got lost somewhere along the way and is no longer available. It now runs a Suzuki RF900 part.

“A young guy in Traralgon, called Ryan Phelps aka The Desmo Doctor, did most of the work,” says Alec. His father was Ken Phelps, who was well-known in Vincent circles.

buell rr 1200

“Ryan is a great mechanic, he not only knows how to fix things, he can make them. For example he machined up the front disc buttons for the carriers. Without him, that bike would still be a project. He rebuilt the engine, suspension and everything else.” Meanwhile Nigel King at Fusion Worx in Kensington fixed the existing fairing brackets and made up the missing ones.

buell rr 1200

The motor is a first-generation Evolution 1200, with four-speed transmission. Harley also provided the switchgear, instruments and handgrips. Just as an aside, the headlight is from an FZ750 Yamaha, the tail-lamp is Moto Guzzi SPIII and the indicators are FJ1100.

Just 59 of this model were made – some sources say 65. Several were raced and their fate is largely unknown. Exactly how many survivors are out there is a mystery, but it seems most of them are literally museum pieces that no longer get to see the road. Alec’s bike is likely to be the only example remaining in Australia. There was a second private import, but he believes that’s been exported again.

He sees the funny side of its often unusual structure. “The way they put them together, I think they were on LSD,” he jokes, “The frame is a chrome-moly structure similar to a Ducati. However one of the tubes runs across the clutch cover. If you want to remove the cover to change the cable, you have to drop the motor!”

buell rr 1200

What’s it like to ride? Different, very different! Weirdly, I got to ride the bike when it was new and now the freshly-rebuilt version 34 years down the track. It's aged better than me...

The early Evo motor shakes rattles and rolls and leaves you in no doubt it’s alive. Meanwhile the ride position combines high footpegs (there’s no way you’ll touch them down, unless you’ve fallen off) with a very long reach to the handlebars. And it has a severely limited steering lock – something likely to catch out the unwary.

Nevertheless the bike steers really nicely once it’s rolling, even if the suspension is on the stiff side for the road.

The nature of the engine is such that there’s no point in revving it past 5000 (redline is 6000). Instead you get it into that fat midrange and just shift it up a gear when you want to go faster. Alec estimates the top speed at 200km/h.

There’s no question it takes a while to get your head around how it works – it highlights how much motorcycles have changed over the past few decades. However once you get into the groove it’s a whole lot of fun. Really, if you don’t get off with an ear-to-ear grin, you’ve done something wrong.

alec
buell

Getting the Buell up and running was a long and involved process that had more than its fair share of frustrations over a couple of years. “There were times when I doubted my own sanity,” Alec admits, “But I’m happy and pleased that I’ve done it.” Amen to that…

***

The Early Version

Buell’s predecessor to the 1200 was the RR 1000 (above), of which 50 were made. They were powered by left-over XR-1000 engines which Erik Buell managed to wrangle away from the Motor Company.

Early bikes such as the RR 1000 and RR 1200 are colloquially known as Barn Built Buells, after the relatively basic conditions in which they were built.

***

SPECS

Buell RR 1200 Battletwin 1989

ENGINE:

TYPE: air-cooled, pushrod two valves per cylinder, 45-degree V-twin (H-D 1200 gen 1 Evolution Sportster)

CAPACITY: 1198cc

BORE & STROKE: 88.9 x 98.8mm

COMPRESSION RATIO: 9.0:1

FUEL SYSTEM: 40mm Keihin carburetor

TRANSMISSION:

TYPE: four-speed, constant-mesh,

FINAL DRIVE: chain

CHASSIS & RUNNING GEAR:

FRAME TYPE: Steel trellis

FRONT SUSPENSION: telescopic fork with anti-dive

REAR SUSPENSION: Single shock

FRONT BRAKE: Performance Machine 4-spot discs

REAR BRAKE: Single disc (originally Gambler)

DIMENSIONS & CAPACITIES:

WET WEIGHT: 200kg

SEAT HEIGHT: NA

WHEELBASE: 1300mm

FUEL CAPACITY: 21lt

PERFORMANCE:
POWER: 60hp (45kW) @ 5000rpm
TORQUE: NA

PRICE WHEN NEW (1989):
Au$27,995 (US$18,000, GB£15,000)

See the ride video for this bike on YouTube

See our extended 'Erik Uncut' Buell interview series on YouTube

buell rr 1200

The RR 1200 and the RS 1200 stablemate appeared in Streetbike magazine circa 1990. They were brought in by then-importer Mike Sinclair. (Photography by Loose Bruce)