Buell All Done

[ff36buell]

I know that alot of the people here view Buell as the joke of the sport-bike world. I myself jumped in with both feet, I have a thing for small companies taking on the big guns. On www.buell.com E. Buell himself has a video on the homepage announcing the discontinuation of the Buell Motorcycle brand.

Nick

[Jim]

i view you as a joke, as well as buell

[TTD]

Holy Crap!!!

They just launched a big ad campaign!?!?!

[xbootlickx]

im fkn speechless

[whynot]

... and shedding MV, too --

"As approved yesterday by Harley-Davidson's Board of Directors, the Company will discontinue its Buell product line and divest its MV Agusta unit as part of this strategy."

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/pro...15&id=10494879

[Pittenger5]

WOW. I was never a huge fan of the bikes, but man, that guy was pretty awesome. Trying all sorts of weird shit I could never understand. But damn, one less innovator in the marketplace. Hopefully he finds another investor to get things back up and running

[obsolete]

I don't like it but I think his business model put him on this path.

[union]

Well that was unexpected. Youd think after winning a championship they would stick around at least for another year. Having less motorcycles to choose from is not a good thing.

[ssg]

No RIP Buell thread?

[typeone]

wow, i'm heart broken. i'm a huge fan of EB and his vision. sad day.. .

(now i really need to buy back my XB and keep it as a collector piece)

[OreoGaborio]

Wirelessly posted (Samsung Lube.... Er, Glyde: Mozilla/5.0 440x240 Samsung SCH-U940 NetFront/3.4)

Daaaaamn! That sucks.

[TTD]

I liked the "adventure" Buell a lot.
http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes/adv...XT/gallery.asp

And seeing the racer Buell kick some ass in AMA this year really had me convinced they had turned the corner and were going to make some great new bikes.

This is really sad...

I'll be shocked if someone else doesn't step in... unless Harley won't allow it? You would think Harley would rather sell the company than just shut it down?

[KawiSmurf]

im fkn speechless

What the hell, man. Sad story for what started out as a racer's dream, and became the first major American sportbike company. Too bad. Maybe now's the time to pick up that CR I've been wanting...

Not too take this too far off track, but I guess all that DMG/AMA nonsense won't matter anymore.

[Mondo]

wow can't believe they're shutting down

[ff36buell]

Heres my final thoughts, I'm obviously keeping mine. Love how that bike handles, and the fact that everyone else hates it. Working on getting some racing parts for it like the Chain conversion just to take a broken belt out of the equation. The lucky thing for us is that the motor/transmission is built by rotax for 1125 owners. The XB's have a widely used Harley motor. Parts wont be impossible to get. The belt is my biggest worry right now.

[MotoFreak]

wow, i'm heart broken. i'm a huge fan of EB and his vision. sad day.. .

I agree. Fantastic innovator, along with being an icon for the sport and small industry. I'm very suprised with this, considering the amount of publicity Buell has gotten the last few years on the track, from moto-journalism , and from their new stuff.
It would be nice to see someone swoop in (like it was said, if HD allows it) and support the brand.

[scubasteveRR]

freaking Harley, I feel bad for E. Buell. I can't believe they won the AMA championship and then Harley decides to close up shop!

I personally like the Buell's.

[Sheppo]

I've always been intrigued and still want one. I am shocked and disappointed.

[Pittenger5]

Didnt HD just buy MV like 3 months ago to or some shit?

[whynot]

Business model: Live by Harley, Die by Harley.

[obsolete]

Niche companies bought by large companies die in bad economic times. Given the choice you think Harely would make a better bike or drop Buell. We now have the answer.

[DucDave]

sorta sad...but...

....will divest of its MV Agusta unit as part of this strategy

if MV can find another sugar daddy this is probably good news for them....

[2v2Ducati]

well thats explain it. I was up at Harley Manch the other day with my father and they had 1125r's for 8700 new and some other ridiculous prices on buells. As much as I joked about buells it is kinda sad.

[DesmoTull]

Sucks. Those bikes were finally starting to get better after they ditched the Milwaukee vibrator for the Rotax.

[spydah]

Buell and MV should just start their own thing after waiting a season out. Bikes just wont move right now, but when they do Buell has the championship under their belt.