| Author | Message | ||
     Ft_bstrd |
Given the apparent disdain for Buell and sport bikes in general by Wandell, I wonder if the venom poured out by Buell fans upon every outlet of HD didn't exacerbate the situation and doom any potential deal HD might have made with Rotax to buy the B2 tooling. Were we our own worst enemies? Was Buell's last hope killed out of spite? | ||
| Ulyranger |
Good read. Thanks for posting the link Asr. After reading that, it's amazing what Buell was able to accomplish. Although late to the party......I guess I can consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to purchase my wonderful Uly. | ||
| Joshinga |
Ft bstrd..... I believe your right and wrong. Your right with "Was Buell's last hope killed out of spite?" comment I believe it was. But I don't think it was our fault. The writing was on the wall as soon as he moved in.That showed with the racing comment about "Erik's little racing hobby" and the factory speech in witch he asked "Why we even owned Buell" so you see I just believe he is one of those guys that just don't like sport bikes and would like nothing more to return the motorcycle world to the era that HD's were state of the art. As for the deal with BRP I feel that the he and the board were scared that in the right hands Buell would excel and prove them wrong and god forbid the mother-ship look bad. (Message edited by joshinga on March 23, 2010) (Message edited by joshinga on March 23, 2010) | ||
| Bikertrash05 |
Wow, HD killed variations of the Blast, the first-to-be liquid cooled Buell, the short stroke 1300-1350 XB, the turbo XB, and was the reason for the pods instead of a fairing on the 1125R. FUHD. Ft_ I don't think so. IMO, the venom made them think about a deal with Rotax, but Wandell's infinite wisdom killed it. | ||
| Ulyranger |
Ft_ if MOFOCO corporate is that shallow that a the musings from a bunch of passionate bikers gets their collective panties in a bunch......F- 'em. They don't deserve success, that's school yard, petty B.S. I personally concur with an above post, that they were embarrassed by the coverage of the demise and scared of losing face if what they shat on all these years actually took off under the correct atmosphere. If the BRP deal went through, it WOULD have succeeded. That Company gets it from my experience with them. | ||
| Bjbauer |
Wow. Thanks for posting that. What a shame. I can hardly wait for Eriks non compete to be complete. I just have this feeling it could be really interesting. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
If the aim was to trade the remainder of the 8 digit engine contract in return for Buell and the B2 tooling, could Rotax have ended up with the better end of the deal? HD had to buy out the rest of the contract, so Rotax got their money. Erik is free after the non-compete is complete. It wouldn't be nearly as expensive for BRP to hire Erik and develop another purpose built engine for him. As an inside development project, there is no intrinsic profit in the engine development, but there would be in the motorcycle (think home builder building his own house at cost vs. building one for a customer). I don't see how as a "non-rider" Wandell would have ANY feelings toward sportbikes. They guy is a golfing stuff shirt MBA type. He makes Oral Surgeon and CPA Harley Riders look like 1%ers. | ||
| Micheal |
Great post guy's I love it!  | ||
| Hughlysses |
Wow- planned 3-cylinder engines? "Sugar" middleweight? There is obviously a lot more to be told over the coming years. | ||
| Crusty |
Thank you ASR and Froggy for putting that up. I have lots of things running through my mind, but I can't quite get them sorted out enough to articulate them. I'm looking at Harley-Davidson the same way I'd look at the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
Haven't read the articles yet, ill be searching for a cycle world after work this morning. Sounds like "30 years of Buell" will be a must-read  | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I went to CVS, Kroger, Miejer, Circle K.... not a one had it on the shelf.... | ||
| Crackhead |
I wounder if CW has a life time subscription option. | ||
| Froggy |
I haven't gotten my mailed copy yet, so I doubt its on the shelfs yet. | ||
| Tpoppa |
Whatever venom HD received over the Buell closure, they deserved twice as much. I sincerely hope that Erik decides to build streetbikes again. His vision is good for the entire M/C industry. It would be justice if 'down the road' he decided to build a bagger to pull some sales from FUHD. I have a feeling that he could easily design a bagger that would be a hell of a lot more fun than an Electra-Couch. I am just one consumer, but I spend a good amount of $$ on motorcycles & accessories. I have owned 20+ bikes etc, etc. Unfortunately, I just can't support a company that makes these type of shortsighted decisions to save face at the expense of share holders, consumers, & American jobs. Other than parts for my 1125 that I can ONLY get from FUHD, they will never see another one of my dollars, (Message edited by tpoppa on March 24, 2010) | ||
| Joebuell |
"short stroke 1350 xb"... now l'm pissed all over again. Heck, FUHD shoulda had Erik hot rodding the sportsters and they could have avoided the XR flop. regardless, i'm glad this abusive relationship is over and am very excited for the future. (still pissed though) | ||
| Chadhargis |
I'm still waiting for the truth to emerge as to why Buell was shut down. Nothing makes sense. Every time I ride my 1125 I am stunned at how good it is. | ||
| Doerman |
Just a shout out to Cycle World: - An excellent 3-part interview with Erik Buell by John Burns. - Now these two articles on what led up to the closing and the report on the Barracuda by Steve Anderson I believe that Cycle World has put serious FU HD advertising $ at risk for publishing this information. I tip my hat (and my wallet) to their moral clarity. | ||
| Spank |
As do I! I am glad I decided to re-up with them!! | ||
| Fdl3 |
Anybody else notice the pic of the B2 from the rider's perspective is flipped? As pictured, the kill switch is on the left and the tach needle is zeroed on the right. Weird. Awesomely styled motorcycle, though. Definitely would have turned heads. | ||
| A_s_r |
I agree wholeheartedly. Although I rounded up those articles in PDF format, I will most certainly be purchasing (at least) that issue of Cycle World, and I urge all others to do the same. | ||
| Rohorn |
Maybe they know something about H-D's advertising budget, especially when it come to those magazines which write about those icky sportbikes and tawdry racing hobbies. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
I believe that Cycle World has put serious FU HD advertising $ at risk for publishing this information. I tip my hat (and my wallet) to their moral clarity I will show my respect for that and get a subscription | ||
| Superdavetfft |
dito | ||
| Bikertrash05 |
I have a subscription, but thanks for posting/hosting the pdf so I can read it early! I'll definitely renew! | ||
| Midknyte |
Man, Erik should'a taken up the fiddle instead of the guitar, cuz he sure made a deal with the devil (HD). F*cking Mother F*ckers... | ||
| Spank |
All I thought when I first got the notification on fb was awesome! THEN, kept thinking of everything that happened last year in the world of Buell from the highs to the lows...All I wanted to to at that point is find out who was responsible for this not happening and choke them!! I understand that this situation might be the greatest thing to happen to Buell, but I can't get over the feelings I had back in October... | ||
| Greg_e |
Please go buy the magazine! We need to support our supporters! I don't get out much so someone let us know when it hits the news stands so I can go out and grab the issue. Life is still too unstable to pick up a subscription right now, but I can go out and grab the magazines. | ||
| Swordsman |
Oh Diablo!  Man, imagine 'Busa-like acceleration from an XB! That "exclusive" test ride was more of a "this is what it looks like, and oh yeah, we rode it". Were there ANY actual riding impressions in that article? Man, I tell ya, it's a thousand wonders Erik has any hair at all after dealing with that bunch. And that non-compete is already dwindling fast... just a year? Be here before you know it. THEN the fun begins! I don't think I buy the decision to close Buell was based strictly on numbers. I simply can't accept that cruiser sales are that much stronger than sportbike sales (universally), if they were looking to see where the most growth could be made. ~SM | ||
| Pwnzor |
I simply can't accept that cruiser sales are that much stronger than sportbike sales I'm going to hazard a guess here... It's not just the bike sales they were looking at... it's all the useless chrome tidbits and other merchandise sold at their coveted stealerships. The extras that people cash up for. Sort of the same concept as a casino... people dump big money at roulette or craps occasionally... but the house takes in their bread and butter at the slot machines - quarters, nickles and dimes... All they care about is the dollars rolling in, not the people rolling out on their bikes. |
