Not sure how many follow the saga that is Eric Buell but it is an interesting story. Guy builds sport bikes with harley motors. does OK with it. Harley take notice and buys into the program and the bike jump forward. Harley looses interest and drop him like a rock leaving him with nothing. Out of the ashes Eric rebuilds his dream yet again and makes buells with rotax motors. that goes south and then end of Buell bike. Then EBR (Eric Buell Racing) pops up and does surprisingly well. Now they are back to taking the race knowledge and selling street bikes again. Its a cool story of perseverance and hard work. Amazing guy / company / effort. 419 pounds 185hp. FUN. Superbike racing in 2014
the one I rode was EZ to wheelie with all that torque and short wheel base. Fun. Was not wild over the viby motor though and would have liked more top end power. Would love to try a Rotax powered one.
My Ulysees left a similar impression...was the most comfortable bike Ive ever ridden, but I really couldnt get happy with the powerband, and the thrummm was mildly annoying. The K1200RS remains my favorite big bike motor, perfect balance of grunt and revs and I love the sound....
EBR will be rolling out a new Buell/Rotax powered street fighter model soon. Their newly announced production sport bike is rated at 185 hp!
My 04 Aprilia RSV 1000 Factory had the Rotax v-twin engine and it put down 136 rwhp and was sweet! I hope he does well too and you are right he's no quitter.
You know this guy is gonna keep building something cool ... I hope to never own a crotchrocket again, but if I did, I'd like to have one of his bikes ... That rear shock looks like it is riding very high .... Guess you could say, that SA is new looking also ... Front brake looks pretty wild also ...
Was a Harley Tech for a little while. Used to rip around on the demo XB9s and 12s and rode some older Buells-Thunderbolt, Cyclone, etc. those XB9s were a riot, especially on the track. But the thing that crippled them was the farm impliment of an engine, the Sportster engine. Then they throw a Rotax into the mix, which is a proven powerplant but NOT A HD ENGINE! I owned an Aprilia and loved the engine! Rode an 1125R and was completely disgusted by that bike. What a huge noisy clumsy beast. Then you throw in the Blast which was a wheezing two wheeled lawn mower. What an insult to all those chuckle head Blast owners when Buell started selling off unsold Blasts squashed into a little cube. Its like " Here, we know you bought into this piece of crap, but heres a laugh at all of you with this conversation piece"
I like his 40k bike more . I can't believe what they've been doing in racing. Must be some investors that don't mind losing money lol. Really cool to see what he's done with free reign
Funny how buell went to the "low weight mass centrilization" or whatever it was called. Pipes were down low an then all of a sudden there are low mount pipes on CBRs, GSXRs, etc Buell couldve picked something other than an old school bus muffler to stuff in there tho! It was hideous!
EBR has a partnership with Hero Motorcycles from India. Hero has the $$ and EBR has the design and engineering expertise. I wonder how many parts in the new RX are sourced from India.
The sound of a Buell.... Years back, at a tiny monster truck show on a horse race track(yup, it sucked), they had a burnout competition, and the last guy pulled up on a Buell. Layed down one hella of a burnout, and through all the smoke, you could faintly see his headers glowing. That was the greatest burnout I had ever seen and still remember it like it was yesterday. Man the sound of that Buell.
I love my S2T for what it was designed for...Sporty touring...I need to put it back together one of these days. I'd love to have a City-X.
There was an article in one of the bike magazines a few years back (Cycle World I think) in which an insider detailed the end of Harley and Buell - it was a memorable article and after reading it I swore I would never, ever own a Harley. I'd love to own an old Buell - but it's part Harley and I just can't do it. I hold a grudge against KTM due to my treatment trying to join their precious web site - I hold a bigger grudge against Harley due to their treatment of Buell.
I noticed this info about Eric Buell posted today on the Georgiaoffroad.com site. Erik Buell Racing will begin distributing Hero brand motorcycles and scooters in North America beginning in 2014, the company announced. India's Hero MotoCorp is the world's largest manufacturer of two-wheeled vehicles. Hero MotoCorp produces more than 6 million two-wheelers in India annually. The company also owns a 49.2 ownership stake in Erik Buell Racing. Specific models to be offered in North America, along with any pricing details, were not disclosed. “The actual EBR collaboration with Hero MotoCorp began in late 2011, when we were contracted to deliver a concept hybrid scooter for Hero in record time for the January 2012 Delhi show,” said EBR founder Erik Buell. “In early 2012, EBR next entered a long term strategic partnership to provide technical expertise and engineering services for Hero, the world’s largest producer of two-wheeled vehicles. Hero, a longtime supporter of sports in India, also became a sponsor of our race team in the AMA Pro Road Racing Championship. Since then, the alliance has grown stronger, culminating in Hero MotoCorp purchasing a minority share in EBR this past summer.” Hero MotoCorp Managing Director and CEO Pawan Munjal: “Both EBR and Hero believe that the combination of the world’s leading manufacturer of two wheelers and one of the world’s leading innovators is a very powerful team and we are excited about the possibilities.”
Hopefully the Hero bikes that EBR will be distributing will be new models that EBR designed. The existing Hero product line looks pretty weak, with names like Karizma, Xcite, Splendor and Maestro.
