Ducati Monster Forum

sad news for Buell-ista's

http://www.buell.com/en_us/ (http://www.buell.com/en_us/)

http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/10/15/buell-motorcycles-to-be-discontinued-and-mv-agusta-sold-off-as-harley-davidson-income-falls/ (http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/10/15/buell-motorcycles-to-be-discontinued-and-mv-agusta-sold-off-as-harley-davidson-income-falls/)

perhaps the better news out of all this is that MV won't be Harley-ized afterall

This isn't a good thing.

 DMG today.

(http://rob.nu/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/FacePalm.jpg)

Wow...that 1125RR project must have bankrupted them ;D

But seriously...you'd think Harley could find a buyer for Buell, especially if they can find one for MV. Is there some other factor at work there?

Sort of makes this prophetic:
(http://artbikerworld.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/2010-buell-blast-crushed.jpg)

DMG exec's today:

Board:  What do we do now?  Buell was the only mfg left!

Prez: Well, we always have plan B.

Board:  What is plan B?

Prez: 
             (http://thekneeslider.com/images/hdvr1000.jpg)

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAA

funny how you can't stay in business when you build garbage.

[laugh]

I don't recall one review of a recent Buell which characterized a Buell as "garbage".

I don't also remember any figures showing how Buell was doing as compared to HD as a whole. I wonder if they were above or below.

i've literally never known a buell that didn't break down or blow up.  in my experience, garbage.


...do you see any on the road?

I say they had it coming.

I can't argue with your experience. The reliability of Buell has, by various accounts, improved over the last few years. My biggest issue with Buell (however superficial it is) was that a lot of them were ugly & even beyond looks, just didn't fit what I wanted to be riding. The ZTL brakes have always got a bad wrap & the HD motored bikes mean I'm making excuses for half a tractor. The chassis design always seemed to be making up for the archaic motor until the 1125 but they were so ugly I wouldn't bother (again, maybe I'm superficial). I don't really care how amazing a bike is (well, within reason), if it looks like a turd for "rider comfort" I'm not going to buy it. I imagine other people feel this way too. In this way I think the 1125 was a wasted opportunity for Buell.

Yes, I also had one at my track day this past Monday. Even so, there could be more Buells on the road than any other brand, doesn't mean they're making money, that's what I was curious about.

All the time out here. We may be the exception though...we see Ducatis all the time too ;D

i'm Out Here too.  in comparison to just about everything else, including ducatis, seeing a buell is a rarity

Maybe you're blocking them out? ;)

[laugh]  yeah, maybe

a few years ago after the buell forumla xtreme daytona 200 abortion, i was at a two day track event at LVMS.  some guy proudly shows up with one of those bikes; i remark to someone that i bet he'll be pushing that thing before the weekend was up.  ...guess what?  ;)

I think the same thing...staying attached and in deep with the Harley motor and technology for as long as they did was to their detriment. I think if they had switched to the Rotax set-up when they introduced the XB9R, they'de be a wholly different and probably independantly operated company now.

You're in LA right? I see them a lot in the Bay Area.

I know there is a lag between when an article is written and when it runs but RRW just did a big spread on the Buell factory and the history of Buell. No hint of an issue in that article.

I just got the new issue and there was a blurb about the factory shutting down for Nov-Dec to cut costs.  Looks like that has been extended.

I'd guess from how emotional Buell is in the video that this is a bit of a suprise to him as well.

Say what you will about the Buell, I've always thought it was pretty cool that there was an "American" sportbike and that Eric Buell had seen this thing through from his garage to today. Could it have been a better bike? No doubt.

Sad to see it go.

They're not common in or within 50 miles of the Philadelphia area.

My only issue real with HD bikes is they retail for 4X to 5X what they're really 'worth'.

Wonder how it'll affect the aftermarket suppliers, like Corbin and Kuriyakin?

((Does this mean Michelle Smith's on the unemployment line?  Where?  :-*))

Piece of junk or not, this is very sad. I hate seeing people's dreams go up in smoke and from all accounts, Erik Buell is one of the nicest guys in the business.

Fwiw, I've owned a couple of Buells and never had any major problems unlike a couple of Ducatis I could mention.

Jes' sayin'.

I see a few around NC, but not nearly as many as I should with 2 decent sized Harley dealers supposedly selling them.

I think DMG will let people run them as "Harley-Davidsons" next year.

i've only seen a handful in philly, the shop i worked for was right up the street from a dealer and we rarely saw any there either.

Corbin is for sale right now.

http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/02/17/corbin-pacific-motorcycle-seat-maker-up-for-sale/ (http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/02/17/corbin-pacific-motorcycle-seat-maker-up-for-sale/)

http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/Oct/091016expldeleted.htm (http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/Oct/091016expldeleted.htm)

Just because he's gutted, it didn't stop Buell from spinning his company's saddest accomplishment. In the video, Buell says that, in 2009 "... in competition at the highest level, the Rossmeyer Geico team took the AMA Pro SportBike championship, competing against the much larger, factory-backed teams from Japan and Europe, proving to all that (Buell) innovation and technology is world class."

There was, of course, no mention of the fact that the Buell is 1200cc while the Japanese brands entered anemic 600s, bikes so slow that one factory rider termed his 600 not just the slowest 600 he'd ever ridden, or the slowest race bike he'd ever ridden, but, in fact, the slowest motorcycle he'd ever ridden. Let's be real, the bias in the DMG Daytona Sport Bike rules destroyed any chance Buell had at racing credibility in 2009.

Daytona Sport Bike champion and Buell hero Danny Eslick told Cycle News that he expects to go racing in 2010, to defend his title, on a Buell. Would anything more profoundly demonstrate DMG's efforts at running a series into the ground than to have the number one plate in the "Daytona" class be on a motorcycle made by a defunct manufacturer?

Will Buell's demise be the shockwave that forces DMG to mediate a peace with Honda and the rest? Please. With the press conference at Laguna Seca fresh in my mind, I feel that this is not how DMG operates; there is no admission of mistakes made and a plea for forgiveness. There are more companies to use as a pivot against the Japanese--Aprilia, BMW, etc.--and more double-the-displacement-against-glorified-vacuum-cleaner rules and enemies lists to compile.

The slowest motorcycle he'd ever ridden. Seriously? I kind of doubt that. Still the AMA debacle gives rise to a bit of telling hyperbole.

In hindsight, gotta wonder how heavily HD was leaning on DMG to get Buells on TV....or, for that matter, what was "in it" for the principals at DMG?

Could it be "FatBobs" for everyone  ;)

Then DMG could homologate that for use in, say, pitbike racing :)

I was in my local BMW/Harley/Buell/Ducati/Bimota/Yamaha dealer yesterday and they had 1125R and 1125CR's marked on the floor for under $7K out the door brand spankin new and all Buell's (except the 2 Blasts they had) with a "take $5K off the price now" blow out signs on em. 

<tinfoil hat>

DMG will make the rules so favorable to Buells that it'll be folly to run anything else.

The ready supply of cheap Buells is flooding the market now.

</tinfoil hat>

Either that or they'll go find a new pet manufacturer...like Confederate (http://www.confederate.com/)  ;D.

So we have Formula Buell...............

or Formula Hellcat (Wraith's are just toooo expensive) ;)

Yeah, but it'd be soooooo fun to watch 'em crash into each other when they realize, too late, that they don't have the turning radius to get through the Corkscrew at Laguna ;D

That would be kind of cool - but then each year, the grid would get smaller and smaller due to no replacement parts and below average reliability  ;D


mitt

hd promises parts for seven more years.

Which should keep about 700 people employed for 8 more years ;D

Laughing out freaking loud.