| Author | Message | ||
     Rocketman |
Actually Blake it's easy to say There exists NO manufacturer that sells to the public, for street use, the same bike that they race in Superbike. Not one when there are obvious components necessary for road use that are not affixed to a racer to make a racer street legal. But that's not really what you mean is it. That aside today you can buy a road going Foggy Petronas - to quote this weeks fine motorcycling publication - MCN - "The 899cc three cylinder bike is about as close to a race bike on the road as it is possible to get" and the FP 1 is a Superbike too! Similarly Cagiva will build you to order an exact replica of their two stroke 500 GP racer from the early 90's but it would be up to the individual purchaser \ owner \ keeper \ lunatic \ dare devil to make it road legal I suppose. But you know what Blake you don't need to buy a road legal Superbike racer because the GSX R 1000, Ducati 999 etc etc etc are all very close to the real thing but let's not forget those homologation specials too like the RC45 Honda that wiped the floor of Superbike racing not so many years back. Incidentally KTM have a long standing reputation for producing motorcycles that are very close to their prototype forms as was the case with the LC4 and the 950 Adventure and many others. Rocket  | ||
| Anonymous |
I know first hand of one Southern California celebrity riding around on a rather formidable (if not tempremental) red XB12R with what is likely a 1350. I suppose one must simply know which strings to pull as I was left with the strong impression that the factory had something to do with this. | ||
| Bads1 |
Yeah that would be Jay Leno and his bike was at Hals HD during the 20th but it didn't look like it had any mods just yet. | ||
| Dynarider |
During the 20th the bike was still stock. Afterwards they built the motor to the 1350 deal & then had it shipped out to Glendale where Leno picked it up. | ||
| Rocketman |
Big deal Mr Leno! Even if it were true it's hardly a factory effort when Buell don't go racing. Rocket | ||
| Crusty |
So what? If I wanted a race bike I'd buy/build one. I ride a street bike. I ride to work. I ride to Wisconsin. I go up to Vermont and New Hampshire. I like comfort and reliability as well as a broad powerband and superb handling and brakes. Why would I want a bike that is painful to ride after 20 minutes, and has a life expectancy somewhat less than 1000 miles? | ||
| José_quiñones |
Because it helps you sell more streetbikes when kids see you on TV or at the track racing Ducati and everybody else on the same bike you can buy, maybe? On the Scale of "Race what you Sell" KTM and Buell sit at opposite ends of the scale, KTM being problably closer than anyone else and Buell farther than anyone else. You can always do it yourself, but instead of getting Tilley's to build you a Firebolt, you could get KWS build you for less money a Shawn Higbee replica GSXR1000 that is so fast that even Mat Mladin was complaining that it was faster than his FACTORY bike this year. Heck, an AMA 883 Sportster Dirt Track bike is closer to stock engine wise than a competitive Pro Thunder/Thunderbike Firebolt. You should see the expression on peoples faces after they ask me what displacement those really really loud fully faired firebolts displace in FUSA/AMA competition and I tell them 1350cc. | ||
| S320002 |
If you think you are referring to me, you might want to go back and re-read the pertinent discussion re. "Hanging Off the Wrong Side". I was a general statement not referring to anyone in particular. But, like one of your fellow Texans used to say to me, "Just 'cause yer paranoid don't mean they ain't out ta gitcha." | ||
| Turnagain |
speaking of the Foggy Petronas, for 45 grand, is it also gonna spit fire from it's tail too?  | ||
| Davegess |
<Because it helps you sell more streetbikes when kids see you on TV or at the track racing Ducati and everybody else on the same bike you can buy, maybe?> Rumour has it that Buell's method may be working better than José's. Buell may have the largest increase in sales of any MC company this year. Just a rumour mind you, I know that José will post the number as soon as he gets them so we can all judge for ourselves. And José just wait 3-4 years, I suspect that when Buell sales reach the 40 - 50000 unit level we will see from serious racing action out of East Troy. | ||
| Budo |
40~50000 units from Buell? How many bikes does Buell forcast they will build this year? 15000? That is a long way from 50000. | ||
| Dynarider |
And José just wait 3-4 years, I suspect that when Buell sales reach the 40 - 50000 unit level we will see from serious racing action out of East Troy. Nice little dream ya got going there. Not saying it wouldnt be cool to see. But its not going to happen. Especially in 3-4 years. | ||
| Mikej |
Is that total lifetime production or annual production? What is the total total up to now, from inception with the 2-strokeX4 up to current XB/Blast numbers to date. | ||
| Budo |
Hey Rocket. What is the status of your bike, or your lawsuit which is it? | ||
| Crusty |
You know, in 1983, Harley-Davidson sold 5,000 motorcycles.This past year, they sold close to a quarter million. Once the general motorcycling public realizes how good the new Buells are, and how much fun they are to ride, I think we'll see a lot more sales. Especially with sales people like Dave S. and Brian (Bubba) around. | ||
| Dynarider |
Production figures for HD for a few years. 1953..14,000 1981..41,586 1982..30,262 1983..29,620 1984..38,741 1988..47,325 2003..291,000 A bit higher than 5000 in 1983. Also dont forget that this was the whole buyout from AMF era, the emd of the shovel & beginning of the EVO & they almost went bankrupt again in 1985. Today capacity is up because they have plants in Milwaukee, York, Kansas City & Brazil. | ||
| Davegess |
I think, and could be way off as I have not been paying attention, that Buell could make 15000 bike this year. 10 years ago it was 100. That works out to 150 times more bikes in ten years. Do that over the next ten years and Buell will be at 225000. Of course it is a lot easier to go from 100 to 1000 to 10000 than from 15000 to 150000 to ... I don't think 30000 bikes in 2007 is too far fetched. | ||
| Court |
>>>I don't think 30000 bikes in 2007 is too far fetched. Entirely reasonable. Think outside the box.......aluminum BOX section frame, that is. Buell is poised for unprecedented growth. Court | ||
| Crusty |
O.K., using Dyna's numbers, Harley went from 30,000 bikes in '83 to almost 300,000 last year. The AMF buyout was in '81. The thing that saved Harley was improved Quality Control. The Evo helped, but the biggest thing was that the bikes were reliable. Now that Buell has made reliability a primary focus, the reputation will also improve. I still think that sales are about to take off. | ||
| José_quiñones |
They are using my method, they ARE racing, in FUSA at this year with it's limited exposure, but with the new AMA Formula Extreme Rules allowing air cooled twins unlimited restrictions next year, guess where Hal's, Kosco, Harding and all the other Factory Supported XB race teams will race? Yep, with the evil AMA, on SpeedVision. Rumour has it that Honda and Ducati will also have factory backed teams in this class, so we'll see how they do, I do wish them luck. edited by josé_quiñones on October 30, 2003 | ||
| Dynarider |
Harley went from 30,000 bikes in '83 to almost 300,000 last year. The AMF buyout was in '81. The thing that saved Harley was improved Quality Control. The Evo helped, but the biggest thing was that the bikes were reliable They also are damn good at marketing a lifestyle. harley has folks beating the doors down to buy the bikes, I dont see that at the local Buell dealers. We have a few guys who are selling..but dont forget that there are about 400+ Buell dealers in the USA & how many of those guys are on ther Buell fan websites pushing the products? 2 or 3 thats it. If the demand was there I have no doubt Harley would switch over production to one of their plants to meet capacity. I dont think Buell is ever going to be producing 30,000+ bikes a year. Right now they are building what 8,000 a year or so? And that includes the Blast. If they are to kick it up a few notches its going to have to be overseas where presently 65% of their sales are being made. | ||
| Rocketman |
I don't think 30000 bikes in 2007 is too far fetched. Maybe not but 30000 customers might be! Rocket | ||
| José_quiñones |
The 2003 Buell production target is 12500, they "sold" (shipped) 7,364 bikes for the three quarters of this year. | ||
| M2me |
The thing that saved Harley was improved Quality Control. The Evo helped, but the biggest thing was that the bikes were reliable. I really think that this is true, plus most dealers do provide decent service for Harley-Davidsons. People who are not mechanically inclined can own and enjoy a Harley-Davidson. If the bike needs service they can take it to the dealer and in most cases the dealer will take care of them. When the same can be said of Buells the sales will take off. Unfortunately, I still would advise anyone interested in buying a Buell that they'd better own some decent hand tools and know how to use them. I'm not a master mechanic, but I don't mind working on my bike. Not everybody is like that. I suppose the HD dealers figure that if you've spent $20,000 on a bike then you deserve some service.  | ||
| José_quiñones |
Improved Quality control, yes. Timely Tarriff protection, yes. The fact that they were an LAST AMERICAN motorcycle company at a time of "Buy American" sentiment resurgence with AMERICANS, HELL YES. Don't sell Nationalism short as part of HD's and Buell's success. | ||
| José_quiñones |
Polaris will be right up there with them:
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| Dynarider |
Buell may have the largest increase in sales of any MC company this year Compared to what? The previous year? remember the XB's were announced yet didnt hit the sales floor for something like 8-9 months. There were no bikes to sell aside from leftover tube frames. I think I read the numbers were a 23% increase over last year. Well DUH!!! No bikes means no sales, of course they will go up this year since the dealers actually have product. What kinda increase has KTM seen? They just finished producing 71,000 bikes & almost 23,000 of them were sold here in the states | ||
| Rocketman |
It's nice to see some of you don't swallow a lot of the BS pedaled here. Rocket | ||
| Chainsaw |
The fact that other bike manufacturers make cheaper, more popular, or more powerful motorcycles doesn't keep me tossing and turning at night. If you want to be in a never ending pissing contest, keep up on the moto-mag numbers and buy a new bike every six months. Great way to impress your neighbor kids and annonymous squids at gas stations. Honda sells more bikes than Buell. So what! Ford Focus outsells Lamborghini Diablos by a huge margin. Does that mean a Lamborghini is crap? How many of us on this board have bought a Monte Carlo after a NASCAR win? Over 250,000,000 cars in the states, right? How many are imports? Funny, NASCAR is only American manufacturers. What race has the Toyota Camry won to justify all of those car sales? Ride what you like. It's the only justification I have ever needed. | ||
| Turnagain |
Funny, NASCAR is only American manufacturers. What race has the Toyota Camry won to justify all of those car sales? guess they want more -- from nascar.com The Buzz: Toyota expected in 2007 |
