| Author |
Message |
    
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 04:20 pm: | 
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So what would turbo have added to the retail XB9? $1000? So a $9500, state of the art handling, 150 RWHP twin with a shorter wheelbase then my dirt bike.
Pardon me while I weep.  |
Davegess
| | Posted on Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 04:34 pm: |
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A friend of mine calls the Buell story "Success Averted" just because of tales like this. |
Liquorwhere
| | Posted on Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 04:53 pm: |
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And perhaps, as our Buell virgins found, there's the rub. All three of the bikes impress - but they also disappoint too much as well and in a ultra competitive market at a time of recession, sadly, that simply isn't good enough. Bye bye Buell, we'll miss you - but not as much as we might have done. "
It may be slanted in a way that was not weeping at the loss, but I think from the point of view of this reader, and avid MCN fan, that the loss of a brand on the rise is TRULY a loss. The what could've beens that have plagued this brand is a travesty, I don't think I have ever ridden a bike that fit me better than the Buells. I loved my XB, and I truly love my 1125R, the passing of the company sucks...I think some don't realize what they have got until it is gone. I would've really loved a turbo XB, OMG, loved it!! My lawyer would've loved it, and I am sure every county I rode in Florida would've loved it as spent my last pennies every month to keep my license. So there ya go. |
Hr_puffinstuff
| | Posted on Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 05:37 pm: |
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A friend of mine calls the Buell story "Success Averted" just because of tales like this.
IMO....that'd be "Success Diverted"
maybe i'm nuts, but i'm still hoping to (someday) see him take another shot at a street bike. |
Cataract2
| | Posted on Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 05:46 pm: |
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I think with EBR we still have a chance of seeing things come to life. WITHOUT HD ****ING THEM UP THIS TIME! |
Rex
| | Posted on Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 07:57 pm: |
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"Success Averted" or remind to tell you the story sometime will be Court and Dave's new book title. rEX |
Rex
| | Posted on Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 07:58 pm: |
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We need Jay Leno to invite Erik on his show. REX |
Unique_id
| | Posted on Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 10:08 pm: |
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I didn't realize at first they have a short video as well; for your convenience:
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults /videos/2010/january/jan0610-video-buell-goodbye-o r-good-riddance/
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STOddBajJ8k |
Rubberdown
| | Posted on Friday, January 08, 2010 - 08:17 am: |
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Last night I had a recurring dream about a factory turbo XB. I'm tired and frustrated today. |
Blake
| | Posted on Friday, January 08, 2010 - 11:49 am: |
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quote:The turbo-XB was scheduled for 2006, codename Diablo. Prototypes passed 99 percent of accelerated durability testing with an aftermarket turbo, and then Harley decided they would design their own. It wasn't reliable enough to endurance test. The production intent engine made 150hp, 120 foot-pounds at peak boost, which wasn't allowed indefinitely to keep the engine from overheating. The hole in the left frame rail of early XBs was for the intake air from the turbo. The packaging was so slick you would have had to look twice to tell the bike was turbocharged. Quite a number of people have ridden the Diablo mules, and every one of them gets big eyes when they recall what it ran like.
Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. What IDIOT manager at Harley-Davidson decided that they should get into the turbocharging business? That was not a management decision on behalf of Buell. That was a management decision to help kill Buell. Sabotaged from the inside by idiots. Unbelievable.
It reminds me of a manager who wanted the earth station antenna manufacturer to get into the trailer and shelter building business. |
Blake
| | Posted on Friday, January 08, 2010 - 11:49 am: |
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He figured you just could weld up some aluminum and be good to go. |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Friday, January 08, 2010 - 05:43 pm: |
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Saab, Porsche, Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and Volkswagen all decided to use off the shelf turbo chargers, surely Harley Davidson can do better then they can, right?
Sounds like a decision made by somebody wanting to make sure the project failed... |
Ferris_von_bueller
| | Posted on Friday, January 08, 2010 - 06:01 pm: |
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Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. What IDIOT manager at Harley-Davidson decided that they should get into the turbocharging business?
The same idiot that cut Buell loose. |
Rex
| | Posted on Friday, January 08, 2010 - 06:21 pm: |
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what a shame. why reinvent the turbo, especially if they already had it where you could barely tell it was there. I have a vw beetle with a turbo and love it...feels like a six vrs. a four...REX |
Rex
| | Posted on Friday, January 08, 2010 - 06:23 pm: |
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Here they will work on a turbo, but not a motor? Buell, go source your own? rex |
Strato9r
| | Posted on Saturday, January 09, 2010 - 01:49 pm: |
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I was up at the big Motorcycle show in Calgary yesterday, and at nearly every manufacturer or dealer exhibit I visited, a rep would spot my Buell cap and ask me if I had any idea what the hell was going on at Harley Davidson, regarding the Buell shutdown. There was obviously a LOT of respect for Buell by other manufacturers, and one of the guys at the BMW exhibit,(who happened to know an amazing amount about the 1125), was outright blunt about his opinion of H-D, pointing over to the lame assed display that one of the H-D dealers had up, with a handful of mud covered Buell leftovers sitting there. I wont bother to quote him, as there would be more asterisks than letters. Same deal at the Ducati and Triumph displays, and it is a little strange to not be the guy asking questions at these kind of events. One old timer I talked to had a good way of looking at it though; He likened it to a farmer who grew mostly potatoes, but had a few rows of peppers and other produce as well. Seeing that the customers who bought the potatoes never bought the fresh greenery anyway, he just plowed it under and planted three more rows of potatoes.... |
Larryjohn
| | Posted on Saturday, January 09, 2010 - 01:58 pm: |
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OR would that be: plowed under the fresh greenery to grow dirt. |
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