| Author | Message | ||
     Jeepinbueller |
The Mills is only 15 mins from me down Rt 140 ... not exactly a nice area, but not entirely horrible either. It was within easy reach of the riots in Bmore via light rail, but nothing came of it. As someone who only has the company's flagship predecessor, I can't wait to see what happens from the sidelines. We're lucky only having to worry about warranties, parts, and whatnot——hard to imagine being EB in the flesh, and not as some pedalstooled icon. My mind would be deep fried right now worrying about personal finances, jobs for former employees, all while speculation and news articles mount. Best of luck to another human being in furthering a lifelong passion. (Message edited by jeepinbueller on April 30, 2015) | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
What EB needs is a deep pocket investor who isn't interested in running a business or making immediate profit. Someone who wants to see America build the best MC on the planet, whatever it takes.  | ||
| Ffbuell1 |
I think Harley Davidson buying E.B.R. is a pipe dream at best, They HD have for many years tried hard (and succeeded in distancing them selves from anything having to do with any other style of bikes other than what they have been making. You look at the Cycle World magazine article The death of Buell ,I think it was late 2009 or early 2010 and it talk's of how Erik wanted to do so many things and had many proof of concept machines up and running that I am sure would have been a success in the market place only to have the higher ups say NO .they figured that owners would buy a Buell and would then graduate to a Harley ,Wandell said he did not like sport bikes and wondered aloud why any one would want to ride one. and he called racing Erik's little hobby. And if you go farther back in H.D. history the bikes they made with any sporting pretences example XR 1000 XLCR and XR 1200X were decent bikes but they were not for the typical Harley rider and were not marketed correctly or good enough to attract the non Harley crowd .and getting a Harley dealer on board might be a tough sell . | ||
| Thumper1203 |
"Time and tide".. thank you Court. Lets steer this ship true north.. "Phoenix" hmmm.. kinda' has a nice ring for a new American motorcycle model | ||
| Hughlysses |
I don't live in MD anymore or i'd go look in Owings Mills for their "office". Probably a P.O. box. I looked it up on google maps; it's a McMansion on a cul-de-sac. | ||
| Greg_e |
It was nice to get a few more facts, been waiting to read something concrete. Looking forward to a full explanation of what happened. And I'll add, that under the right circumstances, I would welcome Harley buying Buell again and bringing it back to life. A lot of that is up to the leader, so maybe we can be lucky. Also wishing I was wealthy enough to have bought a new EBR, but they were bout of my price range by a lot. | ||
| Ljm |
I hope the company/Erik or his future investors retain the IP, whatever of the manufacturing is key, i.e. engine machine shop, some key staff, and rights to the next few models as I gather that some are quite close to completion. That being said, with the exception of the expenses outstanding, a modest startup of the 1190 line given that there are a number of models out there seems doable. Time will tell. Seems like a competent forensic accountant could build a reasonable case for devaluation of Hero's stock, payable in small installments so that an investor could actually acquire the company for a modest sum. Creative accounting, but charging off expenses that are a direct result of directed decisions is not an uncommon accounting practice. Given what seems to be coming out, Hero's stock in EBR seems like it is worth, maybe 37 cents. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Wild-ass thought of the day: Somebody on Facebook tossed out the idea of crowdfunding (Gofundme) to support EBR. I'm guessing that would be a hopeless cause giving the amount of funds needed to help. OTOH- the WSBK race team got the ax yesterday. I believe Larry posted that they had plenty of bikes and parts to get through the season; I'm guessing they just need money for tires and crew salaries. I wonder if enough money could be raised to support them running at least one bike at the upcoming race at Imola? That's Nic's home track, he expected to do well there, and he's got a LOT of fans at home. I realize WSBK is a whole 'nother order of magnitude compared to funding Geoff May to compete at Daytona. OTOH, we're talking about support from a LOT more people. If Nic could compete in that race after all that's gone down in the last 2 weeks, can you imagine the message that would send out? | ||
| Reepicheep |
Crowdfunding would likely be out of reach. However a publicly traded corporation would not be impossible. It would take some creative and clever accountant to "bootstrap it". Basically, somebody would need to by it out of receivership, put up the IPO, and use that to get their money back. I wonder if the receiver could do that... Declare a valuation, create an IPO with a sell price and a number of shares, sell the stock, escrow the money, and make a commitment to buy any sold shares back at 90% if enough shares don't sell in 90 days. I'd buy some shares from my retirement plan (knowing it is a high risk investment). (I just made all that up, I don't know if it is legal, possible, or already a "thing" that people know how to do). | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
If crowdfunding, who would be the owner, EB? Im not opposed to donating if I felt it'd get EB back in the game, but I imagine it'll take a LOT of money to buy this company. And if the articles are correct, and Hero set all of this up, then you'd have to compete with them, and they sure do have a lot of coin. Court - if you see this... I am sure you cant/wont, but what sort of thing did you do in Europe that the guy (Matt?) liked? | ||
| Hughlysses |
If crowdfunding, who would be the owner, EB? Just to clarify, I wasn't seriously suggesting crowdfunding EBR; I don't think we'd come close to raising enough money. What I was seriously proposing was crowdfunding Larry Pegram's WSBK team for one race (like a lot of us did for Geoff May) to generate publicity for EBR. | ||
| S21125r |
"Since EBR’s troubles went public, Hero representatives have been in contact with engineers who worked for EBR." I would never criticize a person for putting food on their table but... 1) I assume the more valuable "elves" have a high degree of loyalty to Erik and the EBR brand. 2) I doubt those same elves hired on with EBR because of outrageous compensation packages but probably more along the lines of being part of something special with intangible rewards. 3) Those elves are some of the sharpest in the industry and I doubt HERO would be the only ones courting them. In short, I would be surprised HERO had any success in cherry picking anyone considering the circumstances that have recently come out. | ||
| Hootowl |
Fatty, The unicorn is apropos. But if I had the money, there'd be a big 'ol horn in the middle of my forehead. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
Hugh - any idea of the cost? | ||
| Macbuell |
Erik needs to work the back Channels and talk to private equity groups, anyone who will listen really, with the intention of them stepping in and buying the assets in receivership out from under Hero. And he really needs a shark of a Bankruptcy lawyer to show how Hero torpedoed EBR and didn't live up to the contract they signed and therefore should be denied access to be a part of the receivership proceedings. | ||
| Classax |
HD--- I simply don't see it. Livewire is about the only thing moving in the right direction over there it would be nice because they still own the rights to the name BMC. Polaris- they MIGHT have the dough"Slingshots" aren't exactly making a big splash. But who knows. The Big4 or Ducati could buy it and bury it! S He could unite with Confederate, Zero or Mission and go electric.. Dark Horse form another sector steps in... also not likely. Hero's evil plan succeeds and we all wind up in court for years... Didn't we read he personally would be doing work with Bombardier somewhere? BRP has the dough as well. | ||
| 1313 |
H-D? Get real. Google 'project Overlord Harley Davidson' and get back to me... 1313 | ||
| Hughlysses |
Hugh - any idea of the cost? Not really. Geoff May wanted $10k to fund his bike for Daytona; I think he raised $8k or so, but he also had several sponsors who helped out. On the plus side, the WSBK team's bikes are already built, and they apparently have all the extra parts they might need on hand. For a WSBK weekend they run 4 practice sessions, plus Superpole, plus 2 races, so that's a lot of mileage. I'd guess you need money for fuel, plus a butt-load of tires, plus crew salaries, plus short-range travel, since the team is based in Italy. I don't know, SWAG of $20-25k per bike? (Some of the racers here may have a MUCH better idea.) Nic seems to have a LOT of fans in his home country; I'll bet a lot of them would kick in. Oh yea, I guess we'd have to assume Nic and/or Larry would contribute their time for free, unless they've already been paid. | ||
| Pjd2ss |
Company-wise, I thought about the IPO thing as well. I'd be willing to risk a couple of thousand. But to make up the lost funding, they'd need about 10,000 investors at that level. Not sure you could find that. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Hoot, Folks who made their own money ALWAYS invest with an expectation of profit. The only people who don't are those who probably didn't earn it or don't expect to have it very long. NO ONE believes in Buell motorcycles that much. Not even Mr. Buell himself. | ||
| Hootowl |
^ I don't believe that. He has, from what Court says, invested everything into the company, even writing pay checks from his own account. And as far as this "Folks who made their own money ALWAYS invest with an expectation of profit." goes, I did say that I would use my lottery winnings... | ||
| Hootowl |
...and you DO know what apropos means, yes? I wasn't disagreeing with you. I know it's a pipe dream. | ||
| Henshao |
I imagine Erik might be able to go back to what he was doing before the deal with the Anti-Hero. A sort of engineering tank that also hand-builds the 1190RS. | ||
| Henshao |
Or is Villain Motocorp more catchy? | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
Just curious, what would people think if Erik was hired to design, work at or some other position at one of the big non American companies? Of course we all want a kick as American sport bike, but if say he built a Honda would you be interested? Just curious | ||
| Henshao |
Nope. | ||
| Hughlysses |
^ Yea, I would, but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. | ||
| Hughlysses |
1st of 2-part interview with the new CEO at Harley in Cycle World: http://www.cycleworld.com/2015/04/30/cycle-world-i nterview-matt-levatich-harley-davidson-president-a nd-ceo/?src=SOC&dom=fb It'd be interesting if they asked him about EBR, but I'll bet the interview was conducted before any of this happened. | ||
| Steveford |
Immediately after the Honda break-up it certainly looks like Hero went on a campaign of stealing other people's work and then putting them under (that German bicycle firm and now EBR). Imagine how they'll treat their dealers and their customers. Where are they going to market their junk, Wal Mart? They could do it next to the golf clubs they're probably having someone else develop (for free, they just don't know it yet). That would explain the weird Tiger Woods deal. | ||
| Fast1075 |
I wonder if the message I posted on Hero's Facebook site is still there? All it would take to get me to buy is a cold day in Hell. |
