The bike has a street fighter style, with no fairing of any sort (don't let that piece above the projector beam headlights fool you), and high(ish), dirt bike-type handlebars that place the rider in an upright position and give the rider good leverage for steering input. The bike strikes a very aggressive stance, with the new frame and swingarm giving it a "just got out of the gym"  It's a stubby, compact motorcycle that, metaphorically at least, walks around with its chest puffed up out and arms out wide. Of particular note concerning the design and appearance of the bike is that the Chicago Museum of Architecture and Design bestowed upon the XB9S Lightning the 2002 Good Design Award. The award "acknowledges the best and finest design innovation for products and graphics."

The aluminum frame of the Buell is pretty much the center of attention for this bike. A huge, twin-spar design not only promises stiffness, but houses 3.7 gallons of fuel in the steering head and those frame spars, while 2.5 quarts of oil for the dry-sump v-twin engine reside in the swingarm.

Chassis specs reveal a 52 inch wheelbase, 21 degree steering head angle and 3.3 inches of trail. Compared to a typical Japanese middleweight sport bike chassis with numbers of 54.5 inches/24 degrees/3.8 inches, respectively.  The steering is laser accurate and cat quick, yet supremely stable. Hanging off the inside of the bike, road race-style, has the bike steering almost as much by the rider's weight shift as with handlebar inputs. Riding the bike with a motocross, or supermotard style, where the bike is forced below the rider in a turn, works as well, but particularly so at slower speeds. The bike is very stable, yet quick to react to rider inputs.

Suspension front and rear is by Japanese manufacturer Showa. The front fork is a 41mm upside-down unit, adjustable in all the usual sport bike ways. One end of the rear shock bolts directly to the swingarm and the other to the frame just behind the rear cylinder. Rising rate is achieved through shock mount position, rather than linkage geometry. Simple, light and effective. The suspension adjusters make a noticeable difference when they are tweaked, and it doesn't take a half turn of rebound or compression damping to make a difference. This allows the rider to tune in a ride to handle the twisty stuff on the weekend, or a softer ride to handle the rough surface streets and freeway expansion joints. On a motorcycle that has such a short wheelbase, it is important that the suspension work well, and it does.

Another feature of this bike that catches the eye is the front brake. It looks to be rim- mounted, but the engineers are quick to correct this. While the rotor resides at the outer reaches of the wheel, it is in fact fastened to mounting tabs that are located on the inner circumference of the wheel, rather than on the outer portion of the rim. At 375mm, the front rotor has no equal in size, and is grabbed by a six-piston Nissin caliper. Buell calls it zero torsional load (ZTL) braking. Braking forces are transferred to the outer rim, rather than into the hub and, subsequently, the spokes of the wheel in a conventional design. The resulting benefit is reduced unsprung weight. The other benefit is the stopping power. There is a great deal of fade-free power and feel at the lever. Stoppies are not a problem with this bike, but that can be attributed as much to the ultra-short wheelbase as to the brakes.