Post Sale Update: After 36 bids on eBay, this Battletwin sold for $19,601.50.
Buell’s first streetbike was the RR 1000 Battletwin, an evolution of the Road Warrior RW750 race bike that was abruptly killed off when AMA racing ended the Formula One class. 50 RR 1000’s thanks to Buell’s relationship with Harley-Davidson – he snagged 50 XR1000 motors and threw them in his newly-developed trellis frame. The production number of 50 was for homolgation purposes, but when Harley developed the new 1,203cc Evo motor, Buell decided that was going to be the powerplant for his best-of-America streetbike. The RR 1200 Battletwin was born, and a tuned version would soon earn a class land speed record at Bonneville of 190.796 thanks to the aerodynamics.
Because it was based on the XR1200, power wasn’t overwhelming. The quoted number was 68 horsepower, but it helped that the RR was about 70 pounds lighter than the stock Sportster. Amusing anecdote: half of the 374 pound weight of the bike was basically just the engine. Said engine was rubber mounted and paired with Buell-designed four piston brakes up front and a Works monoshock in the back (it was actually mounted under the engine). It was visually imposing, and not many were sold, but it was the start to Buell’s troubled history of street bikes.
As the seller notes in the listing, this bike was sold new in London but came back to the US in a Bonhams auction at the Quail in 2010. I found the auction result here – it sold for $13,800 including buyer’s fees. In the Bonhams listing, it says that this is a 1988, not a 1989 model. The bike then went to Australia for a while and it has since come back (and was “fully recommissioned” 12 months ago). Everything is said to work, and there’s some minor cosmetic issues like scratches and touch-ups. Now it just needs a new owner who will presumably keep it in a collection so that the odometer reading of 567 stays as low as possible.
Find this Buell RR 1200 Battletwin for sale in Grants Pass, Oregon with bidding up to $7,100
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