NO MORE PODS>>>>>>>

[tankhead]

http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/4062/547997.html?1269022696

[falconati]

[Squidbuzz]

I like the look.

[Schneegz]

Full pics from Motoblog.it:











I asked earlier if separating from Harley would ruin or unshackle Buell.  I'm starting to lean toward the latter.

[falconati]

Looks really, really good.  That said, based on the ergos, I'd never (ever) own one

[Brad1445]

Looks really, really good.  That said, based on the ergos, I'd never (ever) own one

He was not tucked in, thats Erik asleep at the wheel.

[falconati]

Did your Buells have steering wheels?  Maybe that's why they didn't sell...

[Mastros2]

Nice responses from Court Canfield.  I'm excited!  

[Tpoppa]

Posted by 'Anonymous' on Badweb regarding the 1190.  For those of you who do not read Badweb, many feel that 'Anonymous' is Erik.  This may or may not be true, but it's fair to say that it's a Buell insider with access to high level inside information.

"It does have split radiators for weight distribution and better cooling flow. It's just the perpendicular to airflow type off the 1125RR, but in different bodywork. The cooler on the bottom is the oil cooler.

And when you aren't allowed to have a fairing,and are told the radiators have to be hidden, making it all work is one hell of a task. This is what the first 1125 would have looked like if it weren't for corporate directives and design by committee.

Not that the 1125R wasn't cool, but it would have been way more accepted as a sport/sport-touring version built after the superbike racer and superbike street bike if "leadership" hadn't demanded that we not build any "Jap-looking hyperbikes". Of course that means anything that has a fairing. Y'know, "all those Ducatis Hondas and Suzukis look the same, unlike the clear product differentiation between all the H-D models". Gag."


This confirms what most suspected, HD tied Erik's hands & STILL completely lacks any understanding or knowledge about sportbikes.

Brad, how does this affect your Pod Doctrine?  Let me guess, you STILL think that poor HD was let down by Erik's design  

[Schneegz]

This confirms what most suspected, HD tied Erik's hands & STILL completely lacks any understanding or knowledge about sportbikes.

That was blatantly obvious.  If Harley understood anything about sportbikes they wouldn't have forced Buell to use Sportster engines, or required them to be sold in Harley dealerships whose antipathy toward sportbike owners is well documented.  

 

[veefer800canuck]

Erik said time after time after time after time the 2008 1125 was the bike he wanted for 20 years his dream come true, he meant to do it.

Maybe he's not lying now. Maybe he was just saying what his "masters" wanted him to say back then?

Perhaps Erik said (way back then) that "the 2008 1125R was the bike he always wanted to build" because he was under the thumb of THE MAN and didn't want to rock the boat.

Maybe he pushed and pushed behind the scenes for a fully faired bike and got shot down hard by the Harley Brass, so he was saying positive things about the bike that was ultimately released because as head guru, it was expected of him to help sell the bikes?

I like the 1190 much better than the 1125 for sure. And I can understand how Erik might have felt burdened to tow the corporate line in order to ensure his personal and also his company's futures. Not that it didn't go down the shitter anyhow, but that wasn't 2008 either, and he probably had no idea back in '08 that HD would drop the bomb on Buell.


I can't really blame him, I mean, what was he supposed to say in public? "I really wanted to build the bike my way, but those assholes in the Ivory Tower with the Bar and Shield logo on the side totally hosed me, they ripped me a new asshole and threatened to take away all my funding unless I built a bike with no fairing that didn't look so Japanese or European, so I had to bend over and take it in the rear in order to be able to build anything at all rather than have no product to offer Buell enthusiasts at all. I'm sorry, but it's all the fault of the HD board of directors, they have their heads so far up their assholes they can almost see daylight, and I have been whoring myself out to the Milwaukee Vibrator makers to ensure that the Buell dream stays alive. The 1125R is a POS and I wouldn't buy one in a million years, so you shouldn't either. Now please excuse my while I go clean out my locker. "

I mean, if someone is basically holding you hostage with a gun to your head, you'll say just about anything, won't you?

Now that Buell the MC company has been essentially wiped from the face of the earth, maybe Erik's got nothing to lose and is finally saying what he really felt all along?

[Brad1445]

.......

Brad, how does this affect your Pod Doctrine?  Let me guess, you STILL think that poor HD was let down by Erik's design  

Erik said time after time after time after time the 2008 1125 was the bike he wanted for 20 years his dream come true, he meant to do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJXU7EVXs2A

You can not say my bad three years later after your dream becomes a nightmare.

I know Court lies through his teeth. People always catch him in lies and then get chased off the board.  If you read bad web on a regular basses he has had to go back and delete entire threads to protect his contradictions,  Its ridicules to buy the Harley wanted an ugly bike scenario, they just would have pulled the plug earlier.

If Buell had self respect or standards he would have walked away before allowing his name on a  fugged up bike.

He ERIK is in control of his own actions, protect your own name, stand for quality and walk away if you have any integrity.  He said time after time after time this was the bike he wanted for 20 years.  Only when they piled up as scrap metal in dealers basements is he looking for distance. I'll believe Harley long before Buell.

Court has a Bromance with Erik and constantly changes his stories to stay in the lime light and head firmly up Eriks butt. A true friend would have told the emperor he had no clothes.

Dont drink and try to make bikes. Pods don't kill people, but apparently now they admit they kill motorcycle companies, and its nobody's fault at Buell including the guy with his name one the bike?

ftttttttttttttt

Badweb and Court is the equivalent to saying Glen Beck or Rush Limbaugh are news programs.

[Schneegz]

Erik said time after time after time after time the 2008 1125 was the bike he wanted for 20 years his dream come true, he meant to do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJXU7EVXs2A

He said time after time after time this was the bike he wanted for 20 years.  

Remember when Erik Buell said that the Thunderstorm engine was the perfect sportbike engine and he felt no need to build a bike with a water cooled engine?  Then it turned out he had a prototype bike with a 72^o water cooled V2, fuel in the frame and side-mounted radiators way back in '92.  

The same applies here.  As long as Harley held the purse strings, they got final say on what got built and how.  Would you fund a design you own without first approving it?

As long as Harley signed the pay checks, Erik Buell talked the party line, just like he did about the Thunderstorm engine.  

When something changes, the logical thing to do is to look for the variable that changed.  Identifying that variable tells you what caused the change.  The variable that changed between the 1125R (which you claim is crap) and the 1190RR is Harley.  The common denominator is Erik Buell.  In other words:


Erik Buell + Harley =


Erik Buell =


You can't claim that that Harley wasn't the problem when taking Harley out of the equation results in a superior product.

[wbrisett]

As long as Harley signed the pay checks, Erik Buell talked the party line, just like he did about the Thunderstorm engine.  

This is business 101, you don't talk bad about any products you have. You also improve your products over the years. Let's argue for the moment that the 1125 is the exact bike he wanted to build. Just because now he has a different design doesn't mean that he didn't mean it when he claimed the 1125 was the bike he always wanted to build. That was three years ago, we're not still designing the same product we did three years ago. Yet, it was the product we wanted three years ago and our customers thought so too. Now, we have different ideas. It's all part of business. I'm not sure why people seem to think this is always black and white.

Wayne

[Schneegz]

Let's argue for the moment that the 1125 is the exact bike he wanted to build. Just because now he has a different design doesn't mean that he didn't mean it when he claimed the 1125 was the bike he always wanted to build. That was three years ago, we're not still designing the same product we did three years ago. Yet, it was the product we wanted three years ago and our customers thought so too. Now, we have different ideas. It's all part of business. I'm not sure why people seem to think this is always black and white.

Wayne

You're ignoring the fact that EB stated long before Harley shut Buell down that he wanted to build the 1125R with a full fairing, but Harley management insisted that the engine had to be visible.

[Tpoppa]

Posted by Court on Badweb.....

>>>but the decision to kill Buell had little to do with sales.

It had absolutely NOTHING to do with sales.

It was ENTIRELY attributable to two people. One of whom has left to "pursue other interests" and another who will.

Expect to hear more.

Buell, Erik and the company, came out the greatest benefactor having been freed of the chains of Harley-Davidson.

That's not to minimize the things that HD has done over the years to get Buell to where they are today. Credit where credit is due.

However . . don't for one minute . . . get drawn into the silly "if it had not been for Harley-Davidson" dialogue.

Harley-Davidson did the deal in February 1993 but there was another major company in line wanting to team up with Erik.

I suspect that Erik Buell and Buell Motorcycles will fare quite well.

Most of the silliness you read on the internet about "deals", "who owns what" and so forth are great internet discussion topics but are sorely lacking in facts.

I suspect you may (or minds may have changed) and you may not . . . hear much more about this in some upcoming publications. By the way. Erik Buell has nothing to do with anything that may be published and I suspect some of the mags may retreat rather than stir up a major advertiser by airing some gory details.

What's done is done and there's no better strategy than to look ahead.

>>>Didn't Buell sales go up the past few years while the other moto cos sales went down across the board?

Buell sales increased 55% over the past 5 years.

Harley-Davidson sales increased 9% in the past 5 years.

Buell was the only American motorcycle company (there are 3 . . . Buell, Harley-Davidson and Victory . . . that did NOT experience any decline in sales.

CAVEAT: I'll be the first to admit that comparing nominal numbers between HD and Buell is little more than entertainment. Buell and Victory however is an excellent comparison. In addition, it deflates any argument for dispatching Buell based on sales, revenues and so forth.

Be mindful that the same folks, save two, who dispatched Buell had . . . in the prior accounting period . . just announced the construction of a new Buell World Headquarters.

Any argument based on dollars gets darned tough to draw towards the centerline of the logic highway.

Buells TOTAL ASSETS were $3.19M based on the 3Q 10-K.

The majority of "Buell" expenses were HD employees, folks like Paul James ( and this is no reflection on Paul) and the closing of Buell had no effect on them. I am aware of nobody at Buell Distribution Corporation who lost their job as a result of Buell being closed.

All the silly internet chatter about trademarks, who owns what and non-compete agreements . .. are not totally without merit . . but are generally little more than a distraction in a conversation.

By the way . . . . one nice thing about being ERIK BUELL is that you own the name ERIK BUELL and no one can take that away. Worst case scenario we'd be stuck riding ERIK BUELL MOTORCYCLES.

Erik is free of the mental gum that was on his shoe.

[Tpoppa]

You can't claim that that Harley wasn't the problem when taking Harley out of the equation results in a superior product.

Not only is your logic accurate, but the observation is EXACTLY CORRECT.

[Schneegz]

From The Knesslider:

The Demise of the Buell Motorcycle Company

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 3/23/2010

The May 2010 issue of Cycle World magazine has a story of the Demise of the Buell Motorcycle Company written by Steve Anderson. Many have speculated about the role Harley Davidson played in the difficulties encountered by Buell over the years and this article seems to underscore many of those suspicions with details on the sequence of events, written by someone who knew Erik Buell very well from the 1980s and as an employee of Buell for the last 5 years.

The fact that Buell did as well as they did over the years is amazing given the motivations and decisions inside the Motor Company, as detailed in this article. It does not portray Harley Davidson in a positive light. Anderson makes clear, many of the questions of why Buell did many of the things they did can be answered with one word, Harley.

There is also a short test ride by Don Canet of the prototype Barracuda 2, the bike that would have become the next Buell.

Read the rest at the link.  

Like I said; he who holds the purse strings gets the final say.  I look forward to reading the article.

[veefer800canuck]

Sad, Sad, Sad. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.  

That Barracuda looks like a real contender. I would have LOVED to see it in AMA and WSB.  

I'm all about diversity on the grid and always root for the underdog, the dark horse, the wildcard. Love to see the guy who (unfortunately) qualified poorly scythe through the grid from last place and finish 3rd (or better).

Love to see the little guy upset the big factories. You don't know how hard I was rooting for Frankie Chili riding his 998-1/2 against the Ducati Corse 999's. I wanted him to win so bad I could taste it. And Eric Bostrom on the aging Kawi 750 (bored out to an 800), on the edge of my seat, practically willing him past the 1000cc Suzuki's.

Olivier Jacques in the rain in China, etc, etc, etc. That's the racing I like to see, not Mladin punishing the field by finishing 20 seconds ahead of everyone else.  (yawn)

I hope Erik Buell will land on his feet and find a way to bring his ideas to market  free from the restraints of some stuffy board of directors who want to shackle his products because they don't fit their "mold".  

[Brad1445]

I still don't see why Harley keeps getting bashed when they spent the years losing money to build the brand.

Harley Dealers have bathrooms cleaner than most restaurants. Adults selling and servicing them. They know how to sell bikes and a lifestyle that has landed them the largest market share in that arena.

Harley's only mistake is taking their eyes off the division after he successful XB bikes assuming how can you screw up merging that with a engine from the worlds best manufacture.

Harley did their job.  So lets say ok 1st year blunders. but no, Buell rolled out the same bike for an additional 3 years still with electrical gremlins and clutch leaks.  The name Buell is a joke on the street.  Harley protected the Harley level of quality by making the tough but pragmatic decision.  DOA, too late to revive.

Erik, id soooooooooo ofended or pressured should have left.  He got exactly what he wanted.  Its just unfortunate it was conceived under the influence of illegal drugs when eagan was president.

I hope Harley recoups their losses by introducing its own line of bikes tested before release and backed by trained personnel.  Don;t blame the dealers for being less than enthusiastic.  They are the ones on teh front line, they want a bike that could sell too.

I heard from two different dealers when they returned from the dealer meeting introducing the 1125 , shaking their heads saying, , well, IT HAS A HUGE HUGE HUGE FAIRING, that was their fear, not the pods. But they were left with an unsure feeling of who the market was? Firebolt Tail, Touring top fairing, middle of the road power on a great handling bike.

Is Erik Buell lying now or then, he has to be one of them  I say he is lying now for self defense as he hangs his head in shame. It does not cost more to design a good looking bike, just more time and thought.  # years after intro and nada.