Harley Davidson winds up Buell!

[dangerous]

V twins forever... even if the only V2 bikes on the market in 10 years will be HD's and Ducatis......hope not

four cylinders belong in cars my man

[Max Headroom]

http://www.buell.com/en_us/company/n...p?news_id=1497

[Big Dave]

Wow - you're kidding.

Edit: Doh - not nearly as funny now.

[Elysium]

Well those fracking Harely's at the game sure didn't help those useless Turbos win tonight.

[Headbanger]

no cornering ability = same issue American cars have when facing any kind of real competition

I'll help you with this one, You seem to be struggling with the concept, They are road bikes, Not race bikes. There is no "real competition" on the corners.

[HenryDorsetCase]

I wanted a buell Lightning but couldnt get the cash together at the time.

The ones I rode were fantastic street bikes in tha 40 -140 kph area we all live in most of the time. I'd totally still have one but I would buy the Sportster engined one: you'll pretty much always be able to get motor bits at least.

I feel really sad for Erik Buell: you can see in his eyes on the video the effect it has when someones dream dies. He is not a happy camper, and I wish him well in the future.

HD never seemed like a great fit for a free thinker though (in spite of the rhetoric about "freedom" and "individualism" that seems to come with the territory) but I was flicking thru the latest KR and was looking at the test of and the ad for the Can Am Spyder.

Crikey, I thought: theres a large-ish industrial concern, with a well established base of products that ensure cashflow and continued viability, made in the USA (or North America anyway, I think they might be from Canadia?). They have a tradition of thinking outside the box ("lets build a three wheeled bike thing and sell it" "fuck yeah, that'd be awesome") and they have a dealer network, and the backup (engineering, logistics, supply lines and parts warehousing etc etc) that would make it a pretty easy thing for them to just pick up Erik and the team, (its only like 80 people in total if I read the website correctly) maybe all the tooling and IP, and bada boom bada bing, Buell Mk 2.

its late, I think too much. going to bed.

[gammaguy]

four cylinders belong in cars my man

no they dont-all cars should be sixes,and all four cylinder bikes should be square fours with rotary disc valves

and on the subject of Buells-if you like one,buy one now.they will never be cheaper.and the rotax engine is a far better unit than that old HD lump.
Owning a rare/discontinued/difficult to get parts for bike should not stop us from being individuals,or else we may as well all buy a GN 250 and be excited about parts availability and fuel economy.

Thats not why i ride

[merv]

More comments on Soup with quite a different perspective because few seemed to have liked what happened with DMG taking over the AMA racing http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/...xpldeleted.htm

[Big Dave]

More comments on Soup

That column is for whiners that can't get their head around handicap racing - like Nascar, V8-Supercars, SBK and most other racing enthusiasts can.

[Big Dave]

.and the rotax engine is a far better unit than that old HD lump.

That is a subjective call. It's a faster more powerful engine no doubt.

Better for road and street use I don't entirely agree.

[merv]

I for one never criticise another person's ride and get enjoyment from watching anyone ride anything. So Buells were OK by me.

Me and Mrs merv have just got back from another trip to Zurich to see our daughter and everywhere we went there were crowds of people and things seem to be humming. It is hard to see the recession any more but no doubt it is still hanging on balance sheets. Even the Poms seemed upbeat. When we were there in January all the talk was about High Street closures, but that was no more in the news.

We thought we were travelling off peak up there but there were crowds of tourists everywhere too and all the planes were chocker - I am sure Rob Fyfe is smiling a bit more now too.

We decided to come home via San Francisco for a change and I saw and photographed this sign on the walkway of the Golden Gate bridge. I hope Erik Buell takes note.

[Elysium]

I already see more Hyobags taking up floor space once occupied by Buells at ANZA Motorcycles.

[dangerous]

the rotax engine is a far better unit than that old HD lump

That is a subjective call. It's a faster more powerful engine no doubt.
Better for road and street use I don't entirely agree.

Buell owners didnt buy a HD bassed engined bike cos they wanted 'faster more powerful' in fact they wanted 'that old HD lump' those that want the new Rotax might as well buy a Aprilla, Ducati Morini etc... same thing at the end of the day, the "BUELL" is for those that like personality over being faster than there nabour.

IMO, Buell did them self no favours with the Rotax, having said that I like it but for dofferent reasons to the older Buells.

[Big Dave]

a Blast owner's reply

[Ocean1]

I saw and photographed this sign on the walkway of the Golden Gate bridge. I hope Erik Buell takes note.

They've been there for yonks dude, well before the recession.

Didn't work either, and they were in the process of installing netting under the bridge when I was there earlier this year.