I worked on a Buell Thunderbolt S2 years ago for a friend, it had an off-road ecu and was positively a blast (no pun intended) to ride. Mountains of torque and very confidence inspiring handling. It wouldn’t start back up if you had parked it about 20 minutes or so. Tracked it down to a temp sensor on the back head… Read more
Erik first has to decide if he wants to build great bikes, or a lot of bikes. This B.S. of turning half your company over to someone else for a boatload of money is always going to end badly; when push comes to shove, the money always has the upper hand and the better lawyer. I love Buell's bikes but I hope if he… Read more
You forgot one thing Erik Buell is also a rockstar
Loved my XB9R! It was basically stock and still so unique. Probably the reason it was stolen. Read more
About ‘96-’97 I went to Willow Springs to see a race (forget what it was but my hometown hero, Jake Zemke was there.) I noticed a Buell transporter in the paddock so I went over to check ‘em out. Found out they were giving free demo rides. Just sign the waiver and away you went on a 5 mile jaunt. At the time, I was… Read more
As an evil corporate fuck, he also saw that $20,000 cruisers had almost zero development cost, giving them incredibly high margins while $10,000 sport bikes had high development costs, giving them low margins. So, without analyzing the end cost of doing so and without attempting to sell it, Wandell simply killed Buell… Read more
Harley fucked up! Plain and simple. They could of made a dope ass cafe racer straight from the Mo.Co. instead they are trying the new 500cc and 750cc sad ass versions of a “beginner bike” trying to grab the small jap market share. They had it with Buell. Willie G just thinks he knows what HD customers want. Hey… Read more
I was raised in East Troy from about 1 year old when my parents moved from Milwaukee. You can pretty much see one end of town while standing at the other, and even growing up around motorcycles & family dirt bike trips, I really had no idea Buell/EBR existed so close by until shortly before the Harley killing. Read more
Wes thanks for the awesome story. Buells are the only bikes I’ve ever owned and for the exact reasons you stated. They aren’t the fastest, they aren’t the prettiest or perfect, but they are just plain cool. Read more
Amen. There are some great comments here about Buell. I’d buy another of whatever he makes. Going to ride my XB9 right now to savor its greatness. Read more
That middle ground you addressed is, to me, more of an issue than the article makes it. While I have to admire his forward thinking and tenacity, I think the lofty goals he aspires to cannot be reached without addressing the mainstream. The only reason someone like Ducati can build the Superlegerra (sorry if I spelled… Read more
I was rooting for EBR, I wanted a true American superbike that can compete with the Japanese 4. And maybe it came close to performance, but come one on the looks department. I think if this was a pretier bike they might have sold better. Or ugly in a BMW S1000R way. But it had neither. Just look at the EBR 1190RX, so… Read more
Keep doing what you do Erik. I’ haven’t got money to have bought one of your bikes yet, but I swear I will as soon as I do, which will be soon. Read more
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...i guess.
I’ve always had a thing for the Uly.
What a unique machine.
I miss my Buells. XB12X and XB9SX. Not the most trouble-free bikes in the world, and HD’s tech support was damn near non-existent. Luckily, this fostered a HUGE community of Buell fanatics and the best support came from the internet or the guys you rode with last weekend. Erik is an engineer and a racer, and I always… Read more
I was so happy when he “left” Harley to build on his own - finally make the engine he wanted without being forced to use some cruiser-based 1200cc design. I rode with Buell Racing’s Cory West who was on the 1190RS for a trackday and was AMAZED at how incredible of a bike it was. No Ducati, ZX-10R, or a Superbike built… Read more