Erik Buell Racing is back once again, with production starting in their Wisconsin factory earlier this week. What’s even better is that EBR’s new owner Liquid Asset Partners, despite their ominous name, claim to have a multi-year plan and the money to pull it off. If only this was the first time we’d heard that.
I really wish this was the first time I’ve written those words. Erik Buell is a genius and has made some truly impressive motorcycles, and the idea of an “American sportbike” is incredibly appealing, but given the company’s history I feel like we’re going to need to see a lot more before we put much trust in their claims.
Liquid Asset Partners claims they have a five to 10-year vision, financial stability, and a plan for profitability. They also claim they’ll be releasing more news soon about pricing, warranty info, and racing—which will hopefully learn from their past mistakes.
Initially the East Troy, Wisconsin plant will start producing the EBR 1190RX and EBR 1190SX models, although they admit that they’re still working on finding dealerships to sell them through.
If you live near their plant, EBR is hosting a launch party on March 18th with food, tours of the plant, and a chance to meet and talk to the staff including Buell himself, who remains on the team as the Chief Technical Officer.
The 1190RX is a really easy bike to get excited about. From the fuel-in-frame design to that weird brake rotor to the 20-level traction control system, it’s both a lovely bike and something we can be proud of calling an American design. Just watch this 2014 episode of On Two Wheels to get an idea of how special and fun this bike could be.
The real question here is how EBR will be able to coax buyers into putting their faith back into the brand and their motorcycles, and that can’t even happen until they can convince dealers to put them on showroom floors. As you can see from the links embed throughout the article, news surrounding this company has been pretty shaky—although the optimist in me hopes it’s all positive from here out.
Contact the author at sean.macdonald@jalopnik.com. Follow Lanesplitter onFacebook and Twitter.