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Buell Shutting Down Again

Man you guys are stone cold. I'm over here cheering for the little guy who is making the only American sport bikes around, and you all are acting like prissy business majors.

I wish Erik made something I could more easily afford, and supposedly that was coming down the pipe. Go watch the new documentary "The Ragged Edge" on Vimeo as it talks all about EBR and what he stood for.
 
STANTONBARBAS said:
Man you guys are stone cold. I'm over here cheering for the little guy who is making the only American sport bikes around, and you all are acting like prissy business majors.

I wish Erik made something I could more easily afford, and supposedly that was coming down the pipe. Go watch the new documentary "The Ragged Edge" on Vimeo as it talks all about EBR and what he stood for.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the average age of most of us here have been there,done that on a lot of news thru the years. Cold...maybe not...lack of compassion..maybe. :dunno
As mom always said...be careful who you sleep with...works in busness as well.

we almost bought a couple of Buells during the first sale off when his first foray died...later decided it was a good skip of a good fire sale.
 
STANTONBARBAS said:
Man you guys are stone cold. I'm over here cheering for the little guy....
Click to expand...

Apparently we aren't the only ones who are "stone cold".

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2015/May/150508dirtylaun.htm

You can cheer all you want for the little guy. You might want to think about all those people (well, there weren't that many) who bought Buells and are now up the river sans paddle. As far as acting like "prissy little business majors", I'll plead guilty. My running a multi-million dollar business has nothing to do with my opinions whatsoever. The guy had a dream, I get that, it just wasn't/isn't shared by the buying public.
 
PGlaves said:
So my quqestion for everybody is, what have you done for the betterment of humanity lately?
Click to expand...

I wear a full-face helmet.

I'm aware of my potential costs to society and I'm improving the aesthetics of my local environment.


I also put the seat down when I finish in the toilet.
 
Last edited:
I wear a full face helmet, too. With a dark visor. No point in scaring little kids, is there?

Now, I think we've got this thread completely off the rails.

But Paul has asked a very good question. I'm not going to go into detail, but I make that effort on a daily basis.
 
PGlaves said:
So my quqestion for everybody is, what have you done for the betterment of humanity lately?
Click to expand...
As it applies to this thread-
I applaud the efforts, dreams and attempts....help where I can....for those willing to take the leap into an entrepreneurial enterprise.
I avoid wallowing in others misfortune.
OM
 
PGlaves said:
So my quqestion for everybody is, what have you done for the betterment of humanity lately?
Click to expand...

My wife constantly reminds me to "Be kinder than you need to be."

Most of the time, I fall far short.:banghead

But the other day she commented on a situation where she wondered why I did what I did and then said that perhaps it was due to her advice.

Not necessarily for humanity, but at least for one other person.
 
This:
http://canadamotoguide.com/2015/05/06/we-dont-need-another-hero/

is the best insight I've read so far on the matter. H-D condemned Buell MC to failure by insisting the Buell use H-D's Sportster engine, an agricultural lump if ever there was one, and requiring marketing through H-D dealers who had no clue what to do with the product nor it's purchasers. But EBR was truly Erik Buell's baby and failed to thrive due to missallocation of interest and resources.

So the next big Q in the quest for the American Sportbike is Motus. In a marketplace of sub-16k models like the S1000RR, is there really a demand for an expensive Sportbike built around one half of a pushrod V-8 engine?

Best,
DG
 
GTRider said:
This:
http://canadamotoguide.com/2015/05/06/we-dont-need-another-hero/

H-D condemned Buell MC to failure by insisting the Buell use H-D's Sportster engine, an agricultural lump if ever there was one
Click to expand...

I slightly agree, but the only thing HD in the Buell motor is the outer housing of the engine. Absolutely every piece inside was designed by Erik for performance. My XB12R will out accelerate a comparable 600cc inline 4 in a quarter mile. Try that with any standard HD, or performance enhanced HD for that matter. My bike just doesn't have any top end, the most I've gotten is 135 mph at 7k RPM in top gear.

The 1125 was the first real attempt to make a Buell without HD based power plant. And that was a great V-twin engine in its own right.
 
Ask any really successful entrepreneur and you most likely will discover that they will talk about their failures as much as their successes. Honda even provides a You-Tube video on the topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJAq6drKKzE I liked to use this video in my Operations & Supply Chain Management classes to encourage risk taking with a positive outlook on each endeavor. In fact, I kept the video bookmarked as a pick-me-up for whenever I really bomb a class, to use the bad experience as a learning experience to improve my quality of instruction.....
Now retired, I view it after I've really bombed out on an off road ride, so I don't get too discouraged that I'll never learn how to ride the GS style this late in live....:)
 
BC1100S said:
Apparently we aren't the only ones who are "stone cold".

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2015/May/150508dirtylaun.htm

You can cheer all you want for the little guy. You might want to think about all those people (well, there weren't that many) who bought Buells and are now up the river sans paddle. As far as acting like "prissy little business majors", I'll plead guilty. My running a multi-million dollar business has nothing to do with my opinions whatsoever. The guy had a dream, I get that, it just wasn't/isn't shared by the buying public.
Click to expand...

The article referenced, dealt with the treatment of the Italian company, QB Racing, that provided race team management, logistics, and marketing, by the Larry Pegram's race team "Annelida Racing", not EBR, the manufacturer. The race team was sponsored by EBR and Hero. Hero didn't come through with their sponsorship $, and of course EBR couldn't. Pegram and Annelida Racing left them and a talented young rider hanging out to dry. More casualties of this mess.
 
It is obviously quite difficult to start-up a new mot6orcycle brand in the US. Seriously deep pockets at needed to even have a chance at success. Refer to the long list of failures including several Indian-branded attempts. The current Indian has succeeded because of the money poured into its R&D and very talented group of stylists. Will Motus succeed? Maybe, but frankly I don't see a need for what amounts to another semi-retro (pushrods, seriously?) at a ridiculous price, and a sport-tourer at that.

Buell is obviously a creative and talented engineer. Certainly the major manufacturers have scrutinized his products but have not adopted any of his more "out-there" designs (rim-mounted front brake disk, fuel in frame, oil in swingarm, etc) What Buell needs, in my opinion, is an equally talented business manager. To me, it seems any investment money is going to be very hard to come by given the track record of failures and a reputation for poor build quality.

I wish Mr. Buell well and hope he can find personal and professional satisfaction in the motorcycle industry. Maybe that will require employment in a large firm. It would be a shame to lose his vision and creativity.
 
I think everyone can agree that Erik Buell is a better engineer than businessman. He needs to focus on building amazing motorcycles, not worry about running a company. If only HD gave him the creative freedom he deserved.
 
Buell XT vs BMW 1150 GSA

I just replaced my '08 Buell Ulysses XT with a '02 1150 GS Adventure. Tying to compare the two of them is impossible. The Buells engine was much tighter wound than the BMW, and when you got on the throttle, it showed. BUT, the BMW engine is significantly more tractable which meant I do not have to shift the GS as much as the XT. On the GS last weekend, on one of he fire roads, I was in third gear the entire length of the road. 40 kilometers per hour at 2,000 rpm, and 80 kph at 4,000 rpm. It was like driving an automatic. With the XT, I would have been constantly shifting, to keep it around 3,000 rpm, which is what it needed to run. Below that, it was a dog.

As far as handling, rider comfort and suspension, the XT doesn't even belong on the same planet. I took both on Fire Roads, and the XT was not even in the game compared to the GS. Not even close.

But that is not the only reason why I got rid of it. I got rid of it because it is an Orphan, twice removed. Parts are getting much more difficult to get, and take weeks to get them when they are available, and no one wants to work on them. Even the HD shops turn around hide when you ask them.

I parked the Buell and rode my GS as soon as I got it. I got back on the Buell to ride it for about 10 minutes two weeks later to deliver it to the new owner. It was like getting on a lawn tractor, a high horsepower Lawn tractor for sure, but still, a lawn tractor.

In comparison to the GS, the XT was a piece of crap. Sure, different bikes, I get it, and its not nice to compare apples (really good ones) and......potatoes (raw ones).

The only thing I can say nice about the Buell, is that it got me hooked on ADV riding.
 
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