Terrible news !!!!!

[yamaha_george]

http://www.buell.com/en_us/

EriK was a good friend and to see this happen again because of H-D dumbness well.................................


more lousey news :-
http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2009/ ... ell-m.html

[zero9243]

such a depressing video.

[fzrbrandon]

Wow! That really sucks. I've never been a big fan of Buell bikes but I can definitely appreciate and respect what Erik has done.

[_Will_]

such a depressing video.

thought the same thing, he obviously was very attatched to his brand. Was always interested in the bikes, never ridden one though. Sad to see a good brand go down.

[ofloinn3]

That sucks for sure. I've always thought there bikes were pretty cool. Just didn't like the short wheel base. I always felt to big on them at 220lbs. Time to buy one and hide it in storage for the next 20 years. A solid retirement plan.

[reelrazor]

That's too bad. I think it was just a matter of time though.

Once the euro engine went into them, most of the H-D/Buell dealers dropped the Buell franchise. The local dealer here had Buells "fall over" on the lot-and the bikes were kinda crowded into the far end corner of the showroom as it was.

He should have never thrown in with Milwaukee...."..dedicated mass centralization.." ..that's what you gotta do when you have a 70lb flywheel/crankshaft down there at the front end of a two foot long engine/trans package with four cams, pushrods and five cam drive gears hanging off one side of the engine....

I could almost have seen it if H-D had been able to supply him XR engines......

[yamaha_george]

That's too bad. I think it was just a matter of time though.

Once the euro engine went into them, most of the H-D/Buell dealers dropped the Buell franchise. The local dealer here had Buells "fall over" on the lot-and the bikes were kinda crowded into the far end corner of the showroom as it was.

He should have never thrown in with Milwaukee...."..dedicated mass centralization.." ..that's what you gotta do when you have a 70lb flywheel/crankshaft down there at the front end of a two foot long engine/trans package with four cams, pushrods and five cam drive gears hanging off one side of the engine....

I could almost have seen it if H-D had been able to supply him XR engines......

as a matter of history ths is the second time H-D screwed him over by short sightedness.
He brought them a square 4 engine developed originally by Brit company Barton ( bike in silver dream racer) that Erik bought out and straightened out (the metalurgy of the Barton was screwed)
He took it to H-D who were his original employers and because 1 of his samples broke they kicked him out. I know he lost his home went thro hell before I caught up with him again and what the heck its with H-D then his own company , bought out by H-D and whammo they screw up again.

Erik is a nice guy and believes in "American made" yet the only US bike company have dropped the ball again.

[reelrazor]

Erik is a nice guy and believes in "American made" yet the only US bike company have dropped the ball again.

Yeah, well, as long as he doesn't throw in with Orange County Choppers.......

H-D reneged on the US govt's bailout of HD back in the 80's (plus the big tariff on over 700cc imports which killed the 750 market for good) why wouldn't he think they'd happily screw him?

He and a few of the other good american motorcycle engineers (Parker, and Cyzyz) need to get a patron and build a great american motorcycle....hell, maybe Polaris will back him!

[zero9243]

I personally think that he probably could have taken way more creative liberties if he had not been restricted in some way by harley-davidson. On the other hand he signed up with them for a reason, probably financial. I think there's no doubt he'll continue doing motorcycle work, but all of the patents on his bikes are owned by Harley-Davidson i'm sure. But that's ok, the braking system that he had was bunk anyway and he needs to sit back and rethink some stuff. He hasn't really created any industry shattering designs recently, now is the time to go back to the drawing board and get some new patents!

[shredex]

finally!

[chefen2006]

Oh this sucks. I liked the Buells,they where different from your "normal" sport bike. And this happens shortly after they intrudused the new model, finaly with a propper motor.
I gues this is a new reason to dislike the Fu**ing Hardly Ableson brand.
I hope that Erik will continue to work and develop new and exsiting bikes...with no dodgy Harleys in sight.

[yamaha_george]

I personally think that he probably could have taken way more creative liberties if he had not been restricted in some way by harley-davidson. On the other hand he signed up with them for a reason, probably financial. I think there's no doubt he'll continue doing motorcycle work, but all of the patents on his bikes are owned by Harley-Davidson i'm sure. But that's ok, the braking system that he had was bunk anyway and he needs to sit back and rethink some stuff. He hasn't really created any industry shattering designs recently, now is the time to go back to the drawing board and get some new patents!

Hi,
Erik's skill was not just patented stuff, it was the attention to detail in specifying the actual metal that parts were made from. The Barton's he bought out illustrate that designing an engine is not just getting it to fire & go fast but actually stay together as intended. He cured the Barton faults but lost the whole thing when H_D refused to buy the project despite the fact they had egged him on and were losing the race end of the business.
The second ax was the fact the Barton was 2 stroke & the tree huggers got their way.

I agree that Erik & Michael Cyzyz, Parker & the Polaris guy are all good guys but work together hmmm unless there was BIG money to tie them together it would be a clash of wills for sure.

They all have a dream but is America the right place for it, me if I was in Erik's shoes I would be with China -Racer in china an talking to their fledgling motorcycle industry.

[chefen2006]

China has one of the strongest economy in the world at the moment. It would'ent be a bad place to set up a buisness.

[haunter]

its sad

but you cant totally blame HD

buells offered not alot of performance in a performance based market

and with HD they probably woulda shut down years ago

I still love how the XB9/12's look

[reelrazor]

The HD loyalists grudgingly tolerated the Buells as long as they had the 50 year old sportster based engine...once the euro powerplant came around.....not so much.

I would love to ride an XB with a Zipper's 100 c.i. frontrunner:

http://www.zippersperformance.com/catal ... &prod=2063


That's 175 hp.