No more Buell...

[ungeheuer]

Pity. I always kinda liked the quirkiness of Buell's offerings and admired the daring to be different.  Although never to the point of actually wanting to hand over money for one.......

[RetroSBK]

I for one, totaly got what Buell was trying to do... Look at his early work, before he became a corporste pawn, and you get the idea that he wanted to show something. That got CRUSHED when HD took over and the Board starts making the rules. Remember, you are talking about a group of people that will not change their marketing strategy in a dying market, so they are doomed from the start.

I think a better alternative would have been to close HARLEY, and invest the capital into Buell. The existing market segment for HD is old and getting older, and they have failed at attracting new, youthful buyers because of the dated technology and design of the bikes.

Ive riden a bunch of buells, raced against them, had them break under me, and blow up in front of me, but I always wished that they could build somethign that worked.

In the old days, we would almost have to appologize for having a Duc, like in 94 when we all waited for 6 plus months for regulator/rectifiers that were on back order, or when the cylinder studs were snapping, or when frames were cracking, or or or... But you never had to REALLY make an excuse to ride a Duc.

I have YET to meet a Buell rider that didnt open with an excuse... "Yeah... Its not as good as a honda, but i wanted to ride 'merican" You get the idea, and I know you have heard it too. Its a friggin shame.

As long as we live, we will never see an American sport bike (or motorcycle in general) worth a crap.

I have ridden, and will ride a Victory, but its not a real bike, its a cruiser.

[EvilSteve]

http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2009/10/whats-going-to-happen-to-erik.html#more

The last comment could be construed to suggest Buell motorcycles will be renamed has Harley Davidson... interesting thought but I'm not going to hold my breath.

[ducatiz]

Now Ducati with VW.. hmmm Wonder if they will build the bikes in Tiawan like BMW?

Don't forget VW owns Bugatti.

Seems they haven't cheapened the brand at all.

Might even upscale the Ducati name.

[derby]

http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2009/10/whats-going-to-happen-to-erik.html#more

The last comment could be construed to suggest Buell motorcycles will be renamed has Harley Davidson... interesting thought but I'm not going to hold my breath.

The decision was made to shutter rather than sell Buell because it's product range and distribution network are so heavily dependent on its parent company, that there's relatively little value in the company that could be transferred to a new owner.

wow... talk about the parent company not "getting it..."

if it's so little value, let erik buy his name, his company, and his patents back for $1.

[bluemoco]

The decision was made to shutter rather than sell Buell because it's product range and distribution network are so heavily dependent on its parent company, that there's relatively little value in the company that could be transferred to a new owner.

wow... talk about the parent company not "getting it..."

if it's so little value, let erik buy his name, his company, and his patents back for $1.

Frankly, I doubt that H-D is overly concerned with Erik's fate.  I think they're just trying to stop the ($$) bleeding by amputating the least-valued appendages. 

From the same Hell for Leather article:

"It's not actually sales that are Harley's biggest problem -- although they can't help -- it's the troubled finance wing. Harley's practice of giving sub-prime motorcycle loans to unsuitable candidates has bit the company in its proverbial ass, forcing Harley to borrow $1 billion in operating capitol at 15%. That's only enough money to see it through to the end of the year. So far this year, revenue at Harley is only down 17 percent, yet net income has fallen 71.4 percent."

[EvilSteve]

It does leave the door open for Buell once they get their finances sorted out but yes, I'm a bit shocked that HD think they appeal to a younger audience. The core value of Harley is the brand name & logo. At least that doesn't require any R&D. The only time they've produced something different (V-Rod) all the "HD Faithful" dissed it because it wasn't a real Harley.

[mitt]

Interesting that the article mentions how leveraged H-D is, having to borrow A LOT from the sales side of the business to keep the finance division afloat, and it mentioned the money would be burned through in less than 1 year.

mitt

[superjohn]

How does one expand their market by shrinking their product offerings? I can see tooling back production. I can see reducing inventory. But, correct me if I'm wrong, the chopper/cruiser market is just about saturated. If Harley is in trouble because their finance arm extended loans to those who shouldn't have had them, then that should be further evidence of a market with less room for expansion.

Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if they took the money they were spending on Buell domestically and launched further sales and manufacturing in China and India.

[dropstharockalot]

.......

Not my style, but I've met a few Victory owners and they rave about their machines.

+1.  A riding buddy of mine has nothing but positive things to say about his Jackpot.  He's so enthusiastic about his bike, service, dealer, etc... that he's got me considering the new Cross Country for long-haul highway action.

They've done a lot to broaden their line-up, too... it will be interesting to see if they develop a decent "short" platform (a la Sportster) and a decent entry-level ride.



Too bad about Buell.  I liked the styling and innovation, and seriously considered one before landing my Monster... but I just didn't want anything to do with that engine.

[wantingaduc]

Inside the factory, I was surprised to see that all Ducati are still hand built; there were no robots in sight. Frames came from a supplier up the road, as did engine castings, but all assembly was hands-on.

In a time when the urge to be productive and profitable outweighs the importance of maintaining jobs seeing such basic principals being applied in a modern assembly plant gave me a better appreciation for Italian bikes, and their occasional idiosyncrasies.

As I read this yesterday a buddy sent me the news about Harley closing Buell. After 20+ years of passionate work in an endeavor he started in his home garage, watching Erik Buell get choked up as he read the corporate BS statement he was probably handed, really brought the statement above into a clearer light.

While I don’t own a Buell I had the pleasure of meeting Erik at NJMSP over the Labor Day weekend. That weekend his bike and the Rossmeyer team won an AMA championship. He was friendly and beaming like a kid as he watched a life long dream finally become a reality.

He is one of the good guys in the motorcycle business. We need men like him to remind us of the passion that motorcycles inspire in all of us who ride. I can only hope the black leather boot of the motor company doesn’t crush his spirit to continue. I hope that he, his company and the workers there can emerge from this and continue to make motorcycles.

[mitt]

He is one of the good guys in the motorcycle business. We need men like him to remind us of the passion that motorcycles inspire in all of us who ride. I can only hope the black leather boot of the motor company doesn’t crush his spirit to continue. I hope that he, his company and the workers there can emerge from this and continue to make motorcycles.

+1 - well said.

It is easy to knock their bikes, and being different for the sake of being different, but if 99% of us were put in his shoes to design a competitive motorcycle, the outcome would be lucky to keep up with a vespa.

mitt

[Speedbag]

+1 - well said.

It is easy to knock their bikes, and being different for the sake of being different, but if 99% of us were put in his shoes to design a competitive motorcycle, the outcome would be lucky to keep up with a vespa.

mitt

Ditto.

Frankly, I doubt that H-D is overly concerned with Erik's fate.  I think they're just trying to stop the ($$) bleeding by amputating the least-valued appendages. 

From the same Hell for Leather article:

"It's not actually sales that are Harley's biggest problem -- although they can't help -- it's the troubled finance wing. Harley's practice of giving sub-prime motorcycle loans to unsuitable candidates has bit the company in its proverbial ass, forcing Harley to borrow $1 billion in operating capitol at 15%. That's only enough money to see it through to the end of the year. So far this year, revenue at Harley is only down 17 percent, yet net income has fallen 71.4 percent."

This is also key. For a time, H-D was allowing virtually anyone to finance a bike and allow them to finance as many accessories and gear as they wanted along with it. Gee, think anything can go wrong there? 

It does leave the door open for Buell once they get their finances sorted out but yes, I'm a bit shocked that HD think they appeal to a younger audience. The core value of Harley is the brand name & logo. At least that doesn't require any R&D. The only time they've produced something different (V-Rod) all the "HD Faithful" dissed it because it wasn't a real Harley.

My VRSCR is the best overall bike I have owned to date. Light years ahead of any other H-D I have ever parked my butt on in every way.

[BPT]

Victory has been relatively successful for an American manufacturer, if you go for that style of bike- the V-Twin cruiser with some interesting engineering (compared to the Milwaukee guys), a good parent (Polaris) behind them, and what seems like a realistic estimate of what their market share would be.

Not my style, but I've met a few Victory owners and they rave about their machines.

The latest sales number may say different. 
http://www.motorcycle.com/news/victory-sales-down-over-50-88830.html

Also, they are just as expensive as a Harley with even worse depreciation.
http://www.polarisindustries.com/en-us/Victory-Motorcycles/Pages/Home.aspx

[LA]

I heard he's staying on at Harley.  The MotorCo. should give Erik the XR1200 to fix it and make it weigh at least 100 lbs. less.

And that Buell/Rotax engine?  Beats anything Harley will ever have.

LA