Buell to be Discontinued

wezul said:

Based on the economy and the demographics of HD's customer base, this news does not surprise me.
The numbers in their financial statement indicate that this is a necessary move.
Although I have never been an HD fan it would be sad to see this iconic American motorcycle company disappear. I personally shall follow this with interest.

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I still regularly visit some of the HD dealers when I'm running around town keeping my Softail battery charged. The showrooms are quiet these days. Back in 2006, when I bought my Softail, my dealer employed a half-dozen salesmen, several ladies working the clothing lines, and at least two or three parts/accessories guys. Yesterday, I stopped by to find out the story on the Road Glide -- another HD "touring" bike that has been "customized & lowered" for 2010 -- and found only a few people working. The line of bikes waiting for service is much shorter these days. The number of new and used bikes sitting on the floor is growing. Some of their used bikes are now "marked down" -- something you wouldn't have seen a few years ago.

During the last 10 - 15 years, Houston's Harley dealerships expanded from 2 original dealers to 7 -- each had to build a huge fancy building to house an enormous inventory of goods in addition to the bikes.

Sad to say, but the business plan HD developed over the last dozen years was built for the good "high growth" economic times -- the dealers that bought in during the high times are going to be stuck with some expensive real estate and high overhead. I don't think they're all going to make it -- like so many other industries -- we're going to have to adapt to the "new normal" which is much like the "old normal."

I hate to see people lose their jobs, and I don't like to see a contraction in the motorcycle industry, but if it had to start somewhere, I'm glad that it started with Buell.

deilenberger said:

BMW bought Husky because Husky has a following that actually buys bikes, and Husky has a dealer network that may be very useful to push the X bikes out through. And Husky was AFAIK - making money. MV has none of these.

YMMV - rumor central reporting in..

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FWIW,
Husky has a dealer network like I have hair on my head - thin at best. The Husky guys were quite exited to hear that they might get an actual dealer network through BMW - though they were and are a bit scared of what BMW corporate might do to their beloved bikes.

Buell made compelling bikes. They took a different approach than most anyone else and though there were some issues with some of the machines, their kind of innovation should be applauded. They will be missed if they aren't reborn in some new guise in the coming years.

The motorcycling world is diminished by the demise of Buell.

More than BMW, more than the Italians, and with few exceptions, more than any custom builder, Buell produced innovative bikes and pushed the conceptual envelope.

We may be witnessing the birth of a new cult bike.
This really makes me want one!!! I'm probably not alone.


Afterthought: give HD about 5 years and we may well see the Buell marque resurrected - powered by its water cooled Porsche designed engine, which is what it deserved all along.

Really?

Brettendress said:

That is great news Buell was junk anyway

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You Sir are a Dork. Buell did things their own way, and they took on the world doing it. Say what you want about the Daytona Superbike and Buell's displacement advantage (but do mention the weight penatly), but their tiny little effort beat the big guys, and they did it with innovation, not by copying anything. Really, Beating Ducati with a twin at their own game? Have you ever ridden one?

I test rode an XB12 Lightning and absolutely loved it, Sportster engine and all. The bike is nearly 200 lbs less than my K, and handles like my mountain bike. My first spirited run through the gears produced and accidental but completely enjoyable and easily controled wheelie while shifting into second. The sound was louder than I liked, but I can see where it would be addicting. And those brakes! Why aren't any other manufactures using that design? Any high school physics teacher would see the advantages! The only reason I didn't buy it, and the only reason I'm not buying a 1125r is because they are tiny! I'm 6'4" and look like the bear on the bike at the circus. The ultra short wheelbase, steep fork angle, and bakes that would stop the Space Shuttle would have me on my nose the first time granny made a left in front of me.

Junk? Why, because they don't have the reliability of a BMW? Says who? They are pretty easy to work on, and use Harley parts for the most part. Sure, you have to rotate the engine to get at the rear spark plug, but that's pretty easy after you've done it once from what I've heard. It's about a thousand time easier than doing a spline lube, and I'd bet it would be on par with removing the fairing on a K1200RS for service.

What could be the great news here? World beating American inovation crumbling? 200 American jobs lost? More strain on American dealers? Happy Buell riders scrounging for parts in the next few years? Yes...sounds like great news if you are a dork, Dork!

OK, Rant off.

Why anybody would be happy to see the demise of an American marque is beyond me. It's not like anybody was forcing you to buy one. All it amounts to is a few less choices for the motorcyclist, less competition for the motorcyclist's dollar, and the loss of a few more American industrial jobs, probably to overseas production.

What's the upside? A chance to Harley bash? Great.

Buell is No More.

Shame really...

108 jobs... >poof<

More here...

I'm going to merge this with the other 2 threads on the same subject.

Manfred said:

Wasn't Hugh the Borg with an individual personality?

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Why yes he was. That crazy Borg.

Buell bikes the dust

Down for the count:

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

Yeah man, two threads on this already.

It's sad to see the company go but as for Eric Buell I find it hard to feel much sympathy. After all he got to realize his dream to a degree that most of us will not even come close to and I would be willing to bet he isn't walking away empty handed.

Bye Bye Buell

H-D must have to take all those huge profits made over the past few years and invest it in developing new bits of chrome or coffee mugs, or in their marketing department to convince people the "lifestyle" is cool. You know, if they have to explain it..... I rode a friend's Ulysses and was quite impressed. Just one more reason to despise H-D.

Very Sad, having owned a Buell Blast for a short period this year before i got the G650GS, i learned to identify with Erik and his vision and great motorcycles. I could be harley decided it would be better to sell and develop pet products and Buell motorcycles

On a recent trip to San Francisco, i got Bob the cat the Harley Low Rider cat toy



That may be the future of HD

Good luck to you Erik in your future endeavors.

Harley-Davidson Discontinues Buell

http://www.ama-cycle.org/news/story.asp?id=1445

The Buell was for a different rider than the typical HD rider. HD's main customer base is the Boomers that finally acquired enough money or rating to buy the bike of their dreams. Their market is dropping because the Boomers that wanted a HD have gotten one or they have health/age issues that eliminates them from being customers.

HD will lose the Buell customers to other marques and the drop in sales of the traditional HD will continue to fall.

Sorry toi see it go ...

I've been rooting for Buell's since I owned a '93 Sportster and saw some of Erik Buell's earlier efforts. The initial release of the XB9R has me salivating. However, I must say I was underwhelmed riding the XB9R and XB12R and comparing them to air cooled Ducati's, the SV650 and more modern Ducati's and sport bikes. My old DUC 900SS felt better.

I like the uniqueness and overall design though to be honest, if you read ride reviews the bikes never quite lived up to expectations (despite centralised mass, lightweight, unique brakes, etc.). The aging Sportster plant was one achilles heal along w/ notorious unreliability. With the Rotax engines on the 1125's, things were certainly improving though the looks of that model didn't appeal as much to me.

Perhaps Polaris could take a look at MV to broaden their line. Tough undertaking in these troubling times but if the price is right ...

Hopefully Mike Czysz is looking at the remnants (Buell & MV) which would provide instrant entree into the market and facilitate launching is his futuristic ideas ... http://www.motoczysz.com/main.php?area=home

osbornk said:

The Buell was for a different rider than the typical HD rider. HD's main customer base is the Boomers that finally acquired enough money or rating to buy the bike of their dreams. Their market is dropping because the Boomers that wanted a HD have gotten one or they have health/age issues that eliminates them from being customers.

HD will lose the Buell customers to other marques and the drop in sales of the traditional HD will continue to fall.

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In general it is easy to agree with your assessment until your last paragraph.

On a simplistic level HD will loose Buell customers to other marques. The real concern the motorcycle industry and motorcycling in general is there are not new customers to replace the boomers. This is not just an American phenomenon. Study after study by the various industry councils and independent studies showing a rapidly aging customer base that is not attracting new young riders in numbers that will sustain the industry.

Mika said:

In general it is easy to agree with your assessment until your last paragraph.

On a simplistic level HD will loose Buell customers to other marques. The real concern the motorcycle industry and motorcycling in general is there are not new customers to replace the boomers. This is not just an American phenomenon. Study after study by the various industry councils and independent studies showing a rapidly aging customer base that is not attracting new young riders in numbers that will sustain the industry.

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I continue to be mystified by the younger generations not being interested in motorcycles. When I was in my 20's all I could think about was girls, motorcycles and cars, pretty much in that order. Are they all sitting home playing video games and looking at porno?