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Buell to Close

Hellgate said:
After 26 year Buell is closing.

http://www.buell.com/en_us/
Click to expand...

HD's third-quarter profit slid 84 percent on fewer motorcycle shipments. The Buell brand was never very popular. I think they are going to focus on the MV Augusta line they acquired last year.

I have no proof, but I think you are seeing a defection among a part of the HD base in favor of cheaper alternatives...like Japanese bikes....or HD profit margin will shrink because they won't be able to justify the high-costs for their bikes.

Are you planning on trading in your bike? I assume the warranty will continue under the HD banner.

Fred
 
I've seen some Buell bikes from riding with Buell riders. They seem like really nice bikes. They have some very innovative ideas like keeping fuel in the frame for "mass centralization." After hearing about the FZ6 being discontinued, my heart goes out to the Buell owners.

As far as HD, my guess is people are finding it hard to justify their cost given the deals they find on craigslist and ebay.
 
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I am very surprised, but 84% drop in sales calls for drastic measures I guess. The MV Agusta sale is perplexing, as I thought HD would start pushing the sport bike segemnt more.

The downside is there are now more people laid off in WI. This really hurts in a state with over 10% unemployment. It seems no industry is exempt from this recession...
 
i'm kinda shocked by the whole deal. because of a few of you buell owners on here i have actually taken a look at them and wondered if one could be my next bike. guess that answers the question for me.

i know it's all about profit. that's how you run a business. but i always thought they should have put their bikes in other dealerships. someone going to look for a sport bike generally doesn't go to a harley dealership to do that. i've even wondered if i went in to shop for one am i going to have to deal with guys asking me why i don't want a "real" bike when i'm looking at the buell's. it is a shame though. it'd be nice if someone is able to resurrect the line (even under a different name) once the economy swings around.
 
Re: Wow...Harley dropping Buell shocker!

I hope Eric Buell can somehow resurrect the brand now that he won't be restricted by the Harley built twins. The 1125R was a move in the right direction as far as providing the line with an engine that can keep pace with superbikes from the Big Three.

With the exception of that crap engine, there was a ton of innovation with those bikes.
 
All I can say is this evokes a lot of emotions. There's the surface corporate BS. and then there are the faithful......I want to rant on this but let's let it all play out on it's own. If there was such a thing as forward evolution for man it would have been that HD shut down and put it's efforts toward Erik Buell's technology with a small division leftover for HD support. I have loved every Buell I've ever seen and admired how it's technology has grown through the years.
I have to stop thinking about this....Creeps!
My brother was going to buy a Harley but he won't now!
 
A sad day in motorcycle history, for sure. I really liked the new styles they have been creating in the last few years.

I'm going to venture a guess that perhaps some other company might pick them up and revive Buell sooner or later.

No more FZ6, no more Buell... what is next?
 
I hope Eric Buell can somehow resurrect the brand now that he won't be restricted by the Harley built twins. The 1125R was a move in the right direction as far as providing the line with an engine that can keep pace with superbikes from the Big Three.

With the exception of that crap engine, there was a ton of innovation with those bikes.

I think the biggest problem with Buell not becoming a better established more profitable brand was that it was too closely tied to the Harley name. Someone looking for sport bike is not going to wander into a Harley dealer to look at one. Heck, the few HD dealers that I have been in that had Buells always had them in the back or upstairs.
 
I'm not surprised at all. Wavex and I were chatting about this but Buell has made a number of misstepps over the past few years; the look of the new bikes, quality issues, warranty issues, dealer support (both sales and service), etc.

Oddly my mechanic mentioned a week ago he would be surprised is Buell lasted another year. The reason being the margin. For the level of technology the 1125Rs are cheap. For $12,000 you get a lot of bang for the buck. But the margin is slim. Where as the HDs have no technology to speak of and they are very expensive with a nice fat margin.

So when you factor in warranty costs Buell doesn't make a dime and costs HD a fair amount of money.
 
that truly is sad news...I agree with some of the previous comments,
the connection with HD may have been a bad marriage, always treated
as the ugly sister, unsuitable distribution network and forced to use less
than modern technology, It would be great to see an American sport
oriented brand like that continue, but these are very tough times for that
to happen, sloooowwww sales and venture capital almost non-existent
 
Wow this really sucks. I had planned on trading the fz6 in after next season for the 1125cr but now I don't think that will happen. I really liked the look of there bike but yeah I never really saw that many on the road in this area.
 
jeff in ohio said:
HD is selling MV Augusta off also according to press releases....no more sportsbikes for Harley
Click to expand...

I stand corrected, HD is selling the Buell and Augusta divisions. I was always perplexed why they acquired those two companies in the first place since it is so much outside their core compentency and the HD lifestyle brand which is very strong by itself.

I think it is a wise decision by Harley. BTW, HD generates massive revenue from private label sales besides bikes and Buell/Augusta was just diluting their brand recognition.

Japanese sport bikes rule.

party0011.gif


Fred
 
Well thats not big suprize at all , it's a competitive world out there and $ is being spent with a bit more caution . The random selection of bikes availible has outgrown the consumeing market...It's just like a migrating herd of cariboo , the weak ones die off and the strong survive .This has been happening since the 60's... in the 70's british scoots took a beating , 4 major brands dropped out , only to have 2 return triumph and norton. This cycle of evolution will continue forever...here today <<<--->>> gone tomorrow.....! We as FZ6 owners can thank our booties that this scooter had a long life and the parts shelves will stay stocked for many years to come.....Daryl
 
Daryldaddy said:
Well thats not big suprize at all , it's a competitive world out there and $ is being spent with a bit more caution . The random selection of bikes availible has outgrown the consumeing market...It's just like a migrating herd of cariboo , the weak ones die off and the strong survive .This has been happening since the 60's... in the 70's british scoots took a beating , 4 major brands dropped out , only to have 2 return triumph and norton. This cycle of evolution will continue forever...here today <<<--->>> gone tomorrow.....! We as FZ6 owners can thank our booties that this scooter had a long life and the parts shelves will stay stocked for many years to come.....Daryl
Click to expand...

If there's a cash rich Chinese corpration willing to buy the Hummer lineup from GM.... seems there should be a market for Buell in that country's masive funding as well. They've already taken cast off Japqnese designs and built cheap derivitives.... shouldn't be much of a stretch to suck up a small US corporation and mine it for intellectual property.

Eric's put his heart and soul into motorcycles.... but the hand writing was on the wall when he sold the second half to HD....
 
Hell yeah, I have one of the last Lightnings made... that'll be a collector item in a few years :D

More seriously, I am a bit disappointed but oh well... I just need to stock up on parts before they're gone!

Pete, americansportbikes.com should have a major sale coming :)
 
Wavex said:
Hell yeah, I have one of the last Lightnings made... that'll be a collector item in a few years :D

More seriously, I am a bit disappointed but oh well... I just need to stock up on parts before they're gone!

Pete, americansportbikes.com should have a major sale coming :)
Click to expand...
Hang on to that Beezer....the rare ones thou are pre unit construction, pre 1965 , (seperate transmission ) lightning and spitfire were the best... if you need parts I have some new and used...will trade 4 beer ! ( Nickleson bros. in Calgary / Canada have many new parts in stock for british bikes.. and prices are good...Daryl
 
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