We have accumulated multiwavelength lightcurves for eight black hole X-ray
binaries which have been observed to enter a supposed ``soft X-ray transient''
outburst, but which in fact remained in the low/hard state throughout the
outburst. Comparison of the lightcurve morphologies, spectral behaviour,
properties of the QPOs and the radio jet provides the first study of such
objects as a subclass of X-ray transients (XRTs). However, rather than assuming
that these hard state XRTs are different from ``canonical'' soft XRTs, we
prefer to consider the possibility that a new analysis of both soft and hard
state XRTs in a spectral context will provide a model capable of explaining the
outburst mechanisms for the majority of black hole X-ray binaries.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures; to appear in the Proceedings of the 4th
Microquasar Workshop, 2002, eds. Durouchoux, Fuchs & Rodriguez, published by
the Center for Space Physics: Kolkat