| Author |
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D_adams
| | Posted on Saturday, December 25, 2010 - 07:56 pm: | 
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Ok, I can't pass up this opportunity.
quote:what American legends are made of.
It was just too funny to me that I got this today. Yeah, so it's out of context, but it was still kinda humorous to me.
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Chameleon
| | Posted on Sunday, December 26, 2010 - 02:54 am: |
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I don't care if Erik's next brand of bikes is the "Unicorn" brand. I would still desire one of my own.
Looking forward to the events which are certain to unfold in 2011 Q1. |
Court
| | Posted on Sunday, December 26, 2010 - 10:42 am: |
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>>>>The Erik Unplugged era will be different but no less of an adventure.
That's for gosh darn tootin' accurate.
Erik, and The Elves, are working harder now than they ever have in years.
It's a really tough go but exciting things are happening.
Imagine . . if you want to get a sense of it . . trying to line up vendors. Try seeing how much of your time it takes to call roughly 1,000 vendors and convince them to play at commercial quality in initially small quantity levels of production. Erik and Elves are faced with undertaking about 12 hours a day of tasks that are nearly impossible.
Be mindful that while putting together the vendors and parts . .you also need to be designing a motorcycle ( a street bike is MUCH more complex than a race bike ) and dealing with 9 federal agencies and building the homologation matrix . . testing and oh yes. . . the business framework of the company . . . and oh, by the way . . in "race terms" Daytona is only weeks away.
Perhaps the most difficult and exciting times in the history of Buell.
It's also the healthiest, physically, emotionally and spiritually, I've seen Erik in 10 years . . . the guy is driven. . . he's an intellectual freight train of creativity on a full speed mission.
Court
(Message edited by court on December 26, 2010) |
Nattyx1
| | Posted on Sunday, December 26, 2010 - 02:17 pm: |
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Court:
Thanks for taking the time to lay it all out like this.
And I thoroughly agree about Erik. He's an energized dynamo. |
Ridenusa4l
| | Posted on Sunday, December 26, 2010 - 04:37 pm: |
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+infinity ken!!!
one day there will be a book that court, dave, ERIK(!?) and anyone else that has played a part in BUELL and has stories and insight to EVERYTHING!!! i (and everyone else) wants to know it all! lol....one day...hopefully soon!!!
I CANT WAIT TO SEE HOW EVERYTHING UNFOLDS IN THE COMING YEARS!!! ITS GONNA BE AWESOME!!!
Jake |
2008xb12scg
| | Posted on Sunday, December 26, 2010 - 10:26 pm: |
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I think it's a good time to be a Buell guy! Better will be when we get to say, actually I've been a buell guy before everybody fell on the band wagon. |
Court
| | Posted on Sunday, December 26, 2010 - 11:19 pm: |
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>>>>I've been a buell guy before everybody fell on the band wagon.
Cool |
Nattyx1
| | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 03:16 am: |
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I was a "Buell guy" before I owned a Buell... Before I spent a few weeks with an early s1 as a press/test bike. It started when I first learned about Erik and what he was doing, way back when he was putting out like a bike a week out of a shack somewhere in the woods near his house. I didn't know him then, nor he me, but that didn't stop me from thinking, "that's cool..."
As to the HD/Bombardier/Rotax issue. I think of it this way. The HD board was probably thinking it'd have been a PR nightmare if they handed over the Buell keys (a company they said was unprofitable, unworkable and ultimately more trouble than it was worth) to someone else to Bombardier and then Buell bikes started selling really well.
Sure, H-D SAID it was about the idea that Buell/Sportbikes didn't fit with the H-D brand message etc., but really?
They like money. They couldn't figure out how to get their dealers to market/sell Buells properly. They couldn't figure out a lot of things about this (our) community. So they cut and they ran and in classic "scorched earth" fashion, they wanted to make damned sure nobody else was gonna pick the fruit off this tree.
As my wife told me after I got ratfucked by an evil producer on a deal a few years back, "Success is the best revenge."
Flash forward 5 years... what if Erik Buell Racing/canAm/whatever bikes had PRECISELY the same market penetration and worldwide "coolness" panache as Ducati does now. Imagine that...
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Court
| | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 07:25 am: |
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quote:I think of it this way. The HD board was probably thinking it'd have been a PR nightmare if they handed over the Buell keys (a company they said was unprofitable, unworkable and ultimately more trouble than it was worth) to someone else to Bombardier and then Buell bikes started selling really well.
It wasn't the board . . it was a couple of HD execs. There were lots of HD costs being "buried" at Buell and they were scared to death of Buell, teamed up with a successful marketing team, selling 25,000 units in 2011.
Some of the folks at HD have "left to pursue other interests" and some have simply thrown their hands up and walked. |
Rogue_biker
| | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 11:48 am: |
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H-D is scared that they may not survive the next century because their customer base is dying of old age. H-D also chooses to shut their eyes and ears from the reality that their bikes have no performance and they gave up the performance benchmark back in the mid-1970's to the Japanese. Today, H-D fears the Japanese more than ever because the Japanese march on and sell bikes based on substance and not name brand. They are scared to compete head to head with the Japanese because they know they can't compete with them. If they wanted to, the Japs can build a cruiser that handles like a sportbike and is as fast as a sportbike for less $$. Meanwhile, H-D struggles to keep their XR1200's weight reasonable and can't even make it to 100 rwhp!
Erik was not scared of the Japanese. Instead, he wanted to take them on toe to toe and win. H-D could not stomach that! |
Jdugger
| | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 01:12 pm: |
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The Japanese make fine motorcycles, period.
I don't prefer an in-line 4, but there's no denying the competence of Japanese engineering, and the quality of their manufacturing.
They sell a competitive product for a good price.
What Erik does, given the circumstances, is nothing short of incredible. |
Hughlysses
| | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 02:32 pm: |
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So back to the original subject, the Sports Rider article. Erik is quoted as saying:
quote:One thing that I did get from them, which I think was a great move, was the ability to license and use the Buell name and sell derivative race bikes as Buells until December 21, 2010.
It's now December 27. Did anything change at Erik Buell Racing? They still have the 1125R, 1125RR, and 1190RR listed for sale on the website. Maybe the key words in the statement above are "as Buells" and Erik Buell Racing just dropped the "Buell" name when referring to these bikes?
(Message edited by Hughlysses on December 27, 2010) |
Finedaddy1
| | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 06:34 pm: |
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Nattyx1,
Thought I was the only one with these images in my head.
The Erik Buell Racing & BRP logos seem to go quite well together, I love it! |
Court
| | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 07:36 pm: |
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>>>>The Erik Buell Racing & BRP logos seem to go quite well together
And I'd not be the least bit surprised to see good things come from the relationship between the two. There exists a strong synergy between the companies and their philosophies.
One must dig a bit to understand BRP. Neat family, neat company |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 07:49 pm: |
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Hmmm... E B R. BRP. E.B.R.P.? |
Dannybuell
| | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010 - 09:27 pm: |
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Buell
United with
Rotax
Performance
(BURP)
Fast
American
Racing
Technology
(FART)
Special
High
-----I better stop now. :-) |
Nattyx1
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 29, 2010 - 05:04 am: |
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Nobody liked the idea of Lorenzo in a Camaro after he gets off his Erik Buell Racing racebike?
I like the idea of American brands reclaiming the forefront internationally. It's more of a dream than an idea though... |
Finedaddy1
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 29, 2010 - 06:45 am: |
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It all starts with a dream. |
Ridenusa4l
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 29, 2010 - 01:26 pm: |
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Natty- i think it would look better in a mustang 
Jake |
Nattyx1
| | Posted on Thursday, December 30, 2010 - 11:13 am: |
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Ridenusa41:
Ok, but then Lorenzo's leathers would have two different horses on 'em,... maybe that'd be a bit weird?
Just sayin. |
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