Ronin
RONIN
REMAKING THE BUELL 1125 AS A SAMURAI WITH NO MASTER. TRUE TO THE STORY, THERE WILL BE ONLY 47.
GARY INMAN
Ronin Motorworks' downtown Denver headquarters is mesmerizing. Three designers, including Marc Hanchak, the general manager, sit on a mezzanine overlooking a ground floor that has a leather couch, chairs, and flat-screen TV at one end. There are workbenches for bike assembly in the middle, a row of complete bikes down the side, and a tireless Haas three-axis CNC mill in the far corner. Modern art hangs from red brick walls. Off this main room are the stores and another assembly area. If it weren’t for all the bikes and the milling machine, it would look like the office of an upmarket advertising agency. That’s not the only unusual thing about the small company. Listen to this: They actually built a production run of 12 bikes before taking a single dollar in deposit. No one does that anymore.
The Ronin started life as a concept created by Magpul Industries—a
formerly Colorado-based manufacturer of accessories for firearms now headquartered in Texas—as a trade-show prop.
When Harley-Davidson closed Buell in 2009, one of Magpul’s owners, Mike Mayberry, bought 50 or so 1125R and CR bikes from dealers around the country. Even at bargain-basement prices, 50 brand-new American V-twin sportbikes cost around $300,000 (plus shipping!).
At this stage, Ronin Motorworks did not exist. The bikes sat in a warehouse while a plan was formulated.
Why Ronin? A “ronin” is a samurai without a master, a samurai being one of Japan’s upper-class warriors. The next no-brainer was to create a limited run of 47 bikes, a nod to the true tale of the 47 Ronin (a story of revenge served cold with recently disemboweled innards served warm).
Eventually, Mayberry decided to start a company independent of Magpul. He employed a small team of designers and engineers, led by 41-year-old former Detroit designer Hanchak.
WORLD'S COOLEST BIKES
The complete bikes that make up Release 1, numbered 47 to 36, are the $38,000 Silver and Black Classic, but there is nothing classic about them. This is the least expensive “release” and it’s hard to ignore many significant similarities between the Ronin and Buell’s 1125 launched in 2007.
While huge chunks of Buell are retained (wheels, brake discs, and calipers, plus modified versions of the frame, swingarm, and engine), the company goes to great lengths to create other parts rather than compromise. The turn signals are a small but good
example. The designers couldn’t find a bar-end mirror that would work with off-the-shelf bar-end turn signals and look as good as they needed to, so Ronin designed and made its own, including a “Lifesaver” circuit board and a clever attachment for the mirror.
The telescopic fork is replaced by a Ronin Motorworks-designed girder-style arrangement with a centrally mounted shock. As a fan of both Buell and Vincent motorcycles, Mayberry wanted to meld the two. The result is something closer to a Confederate than a Black Shadow.
The Ronin’s fork legs are some of the 11
sand-cast aluminum parts, all cast in the US, which Ronin has specially made for the bike. The legs have hollow backs. One leg hides the radiator overflow tank; the other houses the twin, stacked projector lights and horn.
A stock 1125R is not going to win any beauty contests. The Ronin isn’t trying to be pretty, but it is striking.
The dummy tank (the fuel is stored in the modified Buell frame) and seat are carbon fiber. The tailsection is tiny and home to a light that Ronin Motorworks tooled up to produce.
The one-piece handlebar is gorgeous.
AS A FAN OF BOTH BUELL AND VINCENT MOTORCYCLES, MAYBERRY WANTED TO MELD THE TWO. THE RESULT IS SOMETHING CLOSER TO A CONFEDERATE THAN A BLACK SHADOW.
Inspired by a 1950s Lambretta, the bar is cast aluminum with a MotoGadget analog and digital tach sunk into it. The levers and master cylinders are made by ISR in Sweden to Ronin’s design.
A front-mounted radiator is partially hidden by an injection-molded housing. The exhaust collector has a stainlesssteel body and cast-aluminum end caps. The footrests are part of a single casting that also forms the battery box. It’s a neat design, but it sure would be expensive to replace in the case of a crash that causes a broken footpeg.
The engine is the 1,125a:, 72-degree V-twin that Bombardier-Rotax made for Buell. Architecturally it is very similar to the engine EBR uses in its 1190RX and RS, but EBR’s is now different down to every component and not made by Rotax.
On my first ride, even at a mile above sea level, the Ronin feels hellishly powerful. Through the industrial outskirts of Denver I purposely point for potholes and rough sections of road to see how the quirky front suspension copes. It feels remarkably good. Penske shocks have a great reputation, and the damping is well set up in this application.
Following another Ronin, I head toward the Rocky Mountains. On the freeway, just a rumor of throttle has the clock reading 110 mph in a blink. This engine would pull to 160 plus.
For such a big, high-revving V-twin, it’s easy to ride. The fueling is spot on, as well as the gearing. Ronin claims it’s more powerful than the standard 1125R due to freer-flowing airbox and exhaust, meaning it’s close to 150 hp at sea level.
And it’s louder than a Panigale with Termignonis.
In the mountains, with speeds limited by the next hairpin, the Ronin is still potent. The looks are radical; the riding sensation is not. The rebounding front shock, visible from the saddle, doesn’t distract me and neither does it feel noticeably worse than regular telescopies.
Buell couldn’t, or wasn’t, allowed to succeed with styling, but dynamically
its bikes impressed. Ronin hasn’t spoiled that, at least at road speeds. On a mountain pass I’ve never seen before I pushed harder and harder, without ever reaching the bike’s potential.
Ronin expects many of the 47 to go to collectors, to sit with other trophies of a successful life. There are, I hope, some buyers who are actually going to scrub the tires in. This weapon deserves to be ridden, not just left to go blunt with age. This warrior needs a new master. LIU
WHY RONIN? A “RONIN” IS A SAMURAI WITHOUT A MASTER, A SAMURAI BEING ONE OF JAPAN’S UPPER-CLASS WARRIORS.
