"THE Lightning CityX is our urban streetfighter, a bike that's especially suited for aggressive city riding," said Erik Buell, chairman and chief technical officer at Buell Motorcycle Company. "This is a bike for the rider who loves to dodge traffic, power away from lights and utilize the incredible agility of a sport motorcycle to charge through the asphalt jungle."

The exclusive black-and-blue styling of the Lightning CityX establishes an attitude for the motorcycle and its rider: rugged, no-nonsense, ready for streetfighting. The Hero Blue airbox cover and flyscreen are made of a new Translucent plastic that gives the bike colour but also allows some mechanical elements to be visible through the material.

This first use of a "see-through" styling element on a Buell motorcycle makes the Lightning CityX the ultimate naked bike. The gauge faces and perforated tail insert are also blue, and at night the instruments have a subtle blue glow. To better camouflage urban grime, the Lightning CityX features Villain Black cast aluminium wheels and a Midnight Black chin fairing and front fender. Pirelli Scorpion Sync tyres feature an aggressive tread pattern for outstanding grip over the everchanging urban street-scape.

To handle the urban elements, the Lightning CityX is equipped with handlebar deflectors and a headlight grille. A new Skyline seat and a wide Villain Black handlebar with a Supermotard-style crossbar, promote a comfortable, upright riding style perfect for viewing the traffic ahead. The soft-rubber Buell X Guard protects the airbox cover when the rider's tank bag is mounted on the motorcycle.

The heart of the Lightning CityX is its Buell Thunderstorm 984 engine, an air/oil/fancooled, 984cc 45-degree fuel-injected V-Twin that's lightweight, narrow in profile and tuned to deliver the kind of mid-range power an urban rider can use to dart through traffic, merge with authority and out-muscle the masses from stoplight to stoplight. Peak output is 83 hp (62kW)* and a thumping 64 ft. lbs (85.6Nm)* of torque, delivered through a smooth, durable drivebelt.

The engine is mounted in a Buell Lightning chassis that's especially well-suited to the cut-and-thrust action of urban riding. An ultra-short 52-inch (1320mm) wheelbase, 21- degree fork angle and 85mm of trail gives the Lightning CityX razor-sharp reflexes. 14 litre (3.7-gallon) fuel reservoir is located in the massive aluminium frame, and themuffler is located below the engine - design elements that significantly lower the center of gravity and reduce the moment of inertia, which helps enhance the motorcycle's response to rider input. The swingarm doubles as the engine oil reservoir and is supported by an adjustable Showa shock absorber.

The front wheel features the powerful Buell Zero Torsional Load brake system, with a 375mm insideout rotor and a six-piston caliper, suspended by a fully adjustable 43mm Showa inverted fork. The Lightning CityX is ready to take the hole-shot at every green light, dart around potholes, split lanes of strangled traffic and drift through the tightest lines the urban jungle has to offer.

The Buell belt drive features an additional idler pulley that ensures a constant path length of the belt. All the well-known advantages of a belt drive, such as smoothness, durability and maintenance ease, are enhanced with this new configuration. However, the most significant advantage of this new technology is the total absence of any lash in the transmission thus optimising power control. Furthermore, the constant belt geometry limits the influence of the secondary transmission to the rear suspension.

No adjustment is required, which simplifies maintenance and reduces the number of parts and the weight of the rear axle assembly. As also fitted to the 1203cc XB12S and XB12R, the CityX uses the 14mm pitch aramid reinforced Hibrex belt with Flexten Plus technology (Hibrex and Flexten are registered trademarks of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company)

The Buell chassis includes a multifunctional aluminium frame. This masterpiece blends the functions of a traditional frame with a fuel tank. Its massive construction delivers an exceptional level of rigidity. The fuel is located in the bottom-end of the frame and therefore located much lower and more centred than on a traditionally configured bike. This lowers the centre of gravity and reduces the moment of inertia in pitch and roll. The overall weight of the frame is significantly lower than the weight of the traditional components that it replaces.

The Lightning CityX also features the Buell patented Uniplanar system which allows the engine to participate in the frame rigidity AND filters most of the engine vibrations. As per the frame, the swingarm is made of aluminium. A massive piece further enhancing the rigidity of the chassis. It forms, with the frame, this one line shape. When looked at from the left-hand side of the bike, it constitutes a line from the steering head to the rear wheel axle.

And again, form meets functionality as the swingarm holds the oil reservoir around the arm pivot. This not only reduces the number of parts and the weight of the motorcycle, it also helps reduce the overall size of the bike by allowing for an easier packaging of elements such as the battery or the DDFI II electronic module. This perpetuates Buell's strength in delivering bikes with mass centralisation and a low centre of gravity.00000