Harley pulls the plug on Buell.

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Mon 2 Nov 2009 14:50
Harley pulls the plug on Buell. - DP
This was news to me. Very emotional and personal statement from Erik Buell on the company website:

www.buell.com/en_uk/company/

FWIW, I always loved these bikes. Genuine, alternative thinking, and supposedly some of the best handling machines anywhere. They also looked fantastic, IMHO.

RIP.

Cheers
DP
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Mon 2 Nov 2009 18:12
Harley pulls the plug on Buell. - Pugugly
I eyed one of these up at a HD dealer I was loitering at in last month, they had a charm and honesty about them that HD never had (for me !) - shame.

Edited by Pugugly on 02/11/2009 at 22:50

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Mon 2 Nov 2009 19:23
Harley pulls the plug on Buell. - DP
they had a charm and honesty about them


They always reminded me of the kind of company you'd find here in Britain. Esoteric, ingenious and with genuinely unique design and engineering delivering an end product that was quirky but brilliant. They had that underdog character that typifies low volume vehicle manufacture here and elsewhere.

The bikes certainly aren't as as clockwork reliable or impeccably finished as the big boys, but they really are just unique and unmistakable. When you choose a Honda, Kawasaki or Suzuki take on a given bike type you get much the same (excellent) basic bike with subtle differences. A Buell is something completely different, and they were always capable of putting in circuit lap times within a whisker of far more powerful machines.

A work colleague has an XB12 Lightning and is really is a fantastic thing to just look at. The detailing is astonishing. The big single rim mounted brake disc, fuel in the frame, oil in the swingarm, belt drive, the lightness, and that tweaked Harley twin bulging out of the frame. The packaging is something else.

Is there any room left in the world for "difference", or are we all destined to ride/drive clones for the rest of our lives?

Edited by DP on 02/11/2009 at 19:25

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Mon 2 Nov 2009 21:43
Harley pulls the plug on Buell. - martint123
Plus they get rid of MV Augusta
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Mon 2 Nov 2009 23:59
Harley pulls the plug on Buell. - madux
I am sure I read recently that Buell had launched a bike with a Japanese - forget which - GSXR? engine. Could this have made HD react?
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Thu 5 Nov 2009 20:12
Harley pulls the plug on Buell. - DP
Not sure madux, haven't seen that one. I know Erik Buell is a V twin nut, but whether they were looking outside the box I don't know.

I do know they abandoned Harley engines for their new sportsbike, and worked with Rotax to develop their new 1125cc liquid cooled twin. 146 bhp worth as well, which must be pretty jaw dropping in a 170kg bike.

At £8.5k, hardly overpriced either, especially compared to say a Ducati.
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Sat 7 Nov 2009 20:32
Harley pulls the plug on Buell. - Mr.Tee43
£8.5k ?

I was offered an 1125CR complete with the Buell handlebar kit, brand new on the road, with 2 years warranty for£4800 from a Buell dealer.

You could have bought a brand new XB12SS for £4995 on the road. I was so tempted, I rang up to buy one but they were all snapped up.

The 1125 I think maybe still available but those "Elephant Ears" stuck on the front are just so ugly, I could never buy one.

Going back to the XB12, a riding friend of mine has one and although not fast in a straight line, trying to keep up with it on twisty roads is not easy. The handling is brilliant and a quite a few "sportsbike" owners have been embarrassed by my mate on his "tractor"
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Fri 3 Jun 2011 14:42
Harley pulls the plug on Buell. - kevg

Any chance someone could pull the plug on Harley ?? Horrible fat poseurs bikes !!

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Wed 22 Jun 2011 21:56
Harley pulls the plug on Buell. - tdc

Most of you will have caught the clip below in this weeks bike press(only 3 months behind!):- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAdOAnVznh4

What a lovely crisp free-revving motor!

Can they hack the IOM TT?The rear suspension is getting a workout on the dyno.

On Vees....shame we lost genius John Britten,what would he be creating today?

Give me a Vee any day...with the exception of a few Japanese models best forgotten.

Edited by tdc on 22/06/2011 at 22:01

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