No more Buell...

[greenohawk69]

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.

Dissed the V-Rod?  Really?  All of the "Harley faithful" have not dissed the V-Rod.  I would agree more do not like it than like it, but I believe they are missing out on a nice bike.  It's liquid cooled, big deal.  Much better brakes, better power and I've found them to be comfortable to ride.  I love the V-Rod Muscle.

HD's problems are their finances, as someone else previously stated.  I shook my head even when I worked as a consultant at Harley and how they kept ramping up their production to meet demand.  That demand was created by relaxing your lending standards...to sometimes ridiculous levels. 

[junior varsity]

I'd ride the snot out of a v-rod, personally. it looks like fun, for what its made to do.

[NorDog]

I've always been attracted to Buell motorcycles.  I really like the two 1125 models and have been meaning for some time to buy a used Blast to strip down and build up as a cafe type ride.  But I thought there was something terribly wrong, almost sacraligious even, about the ad "campaign" with the Blast crunched up into a cube.  Something ver disloyal about it all.  It gave me a deep forboding that was not in keeping with my level of interest in that bike, which admittedly is not THAT great.

Sometimes my gut instinct is right on cue.

When I saw the live video of Ballon Boy flying over Colorado last week I could only think of the "news story" on the radio in the movie "Twelve Monkeys": Upon hearing on the radio that the boy was trapped in the well, Bruce Willis' character said, 'It's a hoax.  He's hiding in the barn.'  That thought came to mind immediately upon seeing the ballon on TV, but I dare not say it.

Same thing happened when I saw the Blast as Garbage Cube ad.  I thought, something bad is going to happen to Buell (the company, not the man), and so it did.

Ditching the Blast was likely the right thing to do, but they way they did it was wrong.

Now this.

I hope Erik Buell finds a way to bring unique, quality, high performance bikes to the market place someday.  That would be great, but it looks to be much more than an uphill battle for him at this time.

[Speedbag]

I'd ride the snot out of a v-rod, personally. it looks like fun, for what its made to do.

....and again I bring up my VRSCR. Special taller frame than the other 'Rods, more ground clearance, de-raked, upside-down forks, first model with Brembos (dual front), 5 more HP. Some German road race dude (whose name I can't recall at the moment) was responsible for the chassis.

They were made in '06 and '07 only, and sold poorly (in the US, that is - V-Rods are revered in Europe, so I'm told). So poorly that production on '07s was cut early and most of them were earmarked for Europe. Press on them was pretty decent, but they weren't marketed well and nobody "got it".

I bought mine in early '07 at a fire sale price and, one more time, love it. A Power Commander and very minor fiddling has it putting down just shy of 121HP at the wheel. My only gripe is its weight (40 pounds can be lost with a pipe alone), but it's a great machine overall.

[junior varsity]

i'd bite, but the cost is so damn high.

[DW]

OK, I am tempted to take one off their hands now.  I just stopped by the same dealer that wanted more than MSRP on a year old model this spring.  Now they are clearing out their 1125R's and one CR for $6,100!

That is a good enough deal you could buy it and chop it up enough to make it look good.  Something for the radiators and headlight and a CR could look pretty good.

[superjohn]

OK, I am tempted to take one off their hands now.  I just stopped by the same dealer that wanted more than MSRP on a year old model this spring.  Now they are clearing out their 1125R's and one CR for $6,100!

That is a good enough deal you could buy it and chop it up enough to make it look good.  Something for the radiators and headlight and a CR could look pretty good.

Damn. Track bike? Ride against all the other 600's.

[DW]

I can't blame them.  They've still got five 2008 1125R's on the floor and in crates.

[Duki09]

if that was true, Ducati would have been long gone in the 1960s...[/qoute]
While Ducati doesn't have the volume of sales as many other brands, they sell enough and had the proper management to keep themseleves in business.

[qoute]Harley didn't make Buell, Buell made Buell.  They were wholly owned and backed by HD, but Buell had a separate factory and a separate balance sheet.

Key phrase here is "owned and backed by HD" which gives HD the right to decide if Buell was worth keeping or not. So in a sense, HD was in full control of Buell even if HD did not technically make the Buell bikes. Which is a reason not to compare Buell with Ducati. Ducati is an indepedent business who is has been apparently more successful than Buell.

If Buell was "all that" then they wouldn't of needed to be owned and backed by HD.  Buell would of not been involved with HD at all if they were truly an independent and successful company.

[Duki09]

I am also surprise by people who probably never even considered owning a Buell now want one just because they are going out of business and they may get one for a lower price. People now have so much feelings about Buell just because they're going on the business.  A feeling of guilt? Feeling of patriotic feelings for an American company or just taking advantage of low prices as a company goes down the drain?

If you really liked Buell, you all would of bought one when they actually needed you as a customer.

[DrDesmo]

I am also surprise by people who probably never even considered owning a Buell now want one just because they are going out of business and they may get one for a lower price. People now have so much feelings about Buell just because they're going on the business.  A feeling of guilt? Feeling of patriotic feelings for an American company or just taking advantage of low prices as a company goes down the drain?

If you really liked Buell, you all would of bought one when they actually needed you as a customer.

Maybe they should have made a bike that was competitive and one that people wanted to buy.

Just saying...

Adam

[DrDesmo]

Damn. Track bike? Ride against all the other 600's.

Ouch, that stings ... 

Adam

[kopfjäger]

Damn. Track bike? Ride against all the other 600's.

In AMA GT2 the Ducati PS1000 runs against Suzuki SV650 bikes.  

In GT1 Ducati runs the 848 against the 600's.

[ducatiz]

Key phrase here is "owned and backed by HD" which gives HD the right to decide if Buell was worth keeping or not. So in a sense, HD was in full control of Buell even if HD did not technically make the Buell bikes. Which is a reason not to compare Buell with Ducati. Ducati is an indepedent business who is has been apparently more successful than Buell.

you left out the operative part of my quote.. i wasn't comparing ducati to buell, i was comparing ducati to harley davidson.

It would be like Ducati owning another brand, i.e. Guzzi and the Guzzi brand only being cruisers..

If Buell was "all that" then they wouldn't of needed to be owned and backed by HD.  Buell would of not been involved with HD at all if they were truly an independent and successful company.

that's an interesting comment, i wonder if you know the history of Buell.  Erik Buell was building bikes in his garage and started a company using XR1000 harley engines fixed into race bikes.  he got a little bit of success, but as a small company, needed a distribution network -- harley approached him and bought 51% of his company.

it is entirely possible they could have stuck it out and built it up that way.  Buell took the easier (and probably at the time more sensible route) and took the cash. 

[junior varsity]

If you really liked Buell, you all would of bought one when they actually needed you as a customer.

Wrong. There was not significant forewarning that Buell was in trouble. They released a new bike platform, it was getting great reviews in the magazines (Look at the newsstand for THIS month's issues - not a word about Buell getting dropped), and they had an entire racing organization throw out the rulebook so they could compete. None of these things show a company that's about to get the boot.