American Sport Bike Tech Area

ASB Statement about the Closure of Buell

As most of you probably already know, on Octover 15th, 2009, H.D. announced that no new Buell motorcycles would be produced as soon as the current production line is stopped. We are all devastated by this news, but there doesn't seem to be any likelihood of this changing.

First and foremost, Joanne and I would like to express our most heartfelt condolences to the wonderful folks at Buell Motorcycle Company that carefully build the fine machines we've come to love, and to Erik Buell for having to endure yet another setback in his quest for the great AMERICAN sportbike. It was very clear from the announcement video that this has been very hard on Erik, and we hope that his pain and the disruption to the Buell Elves lives is brief.

Our phones have been ringing off the hook with folks concerned about OUR well being and whether we would still be around after this. THANK YOU for your concerns, but don't worry about us, save your thoughts and prayers for the Elves in East Troy. We'll be fine, and we aren't going anywhere. We still have plenty to do, and we will be around to service your need for Buell parts and accessories for years to come. There are still aftermarket parts suppliers out there for vintage BSA and Triumph motorcycles, and they haven't been built for almost 40 years. We'll be here for you for some time to come.

There will never be any more Buell air cooled motorcycles built ever again, and that enthusiasts of these bikes should snatch them up while they can. HD is providing some pretty hefty incentives to the dealers to move them out, and I think certain models will disappear fast as a result. I'm truly saddened by the loss of the air cooled line, as the unique combination of power and simplicity are what brought me to Buell to begin with. But I see no way that any future for Buell can include the air cooled products, given how intertwined they are with HD manufacturing and intellectual property rights. I'm less pessimistic about the future of the 1125 or 1125 derived product lines. We'll see. I'm hopeful for some type of resurgence with those products.

I have ZERO concern for parts availability on the XB and 1125 product lines for several years, although spare parts pricing is going to creep up, and the Buell P&A and race parts product lines will likely disappear altogether very soon. Tube frame parts may become scarce much faster without the life support that the folks at Buell give to them. There never was a huge amount aftermarket support for the tubers, and some of those suppliers have already stopped producing parts (i.e. Banke, Joker, Crossroads, etc). We'll do what we can where we can to keep things alive.

The mainstream aftermarkets parts manufacturers have never fully embraced the Buell motorcycle lineup, though we were seeing more aftermarket support with the 1125 line. It's always been enthusiasts that have provided the best in aftermarket parts (i.e. Banke, KDFab, Dark Horse, Precision, etc). I don't see anything fundamentally changing there.

As far as the future for Buell, well, only a fool would bet against Erik. He's been knocked down harder than this before and has gotten back up stronger than ever. If he is up for the formidable challenge, if HD is willing to part with Buell developed IP rights and trademarks, and if there are enough venture capitalists out there in this abysmal economy to pitch in, I think the future could be quite bright indeed for a liquid cooled Buell line. You can bet several new Rotax powered models were in work prior to this announcement, and hopefully they will be able to come to fruition.

And if/when the Buell Phoenix arises from the ashes of the recent destruction, you can bet that American Sport Bike will support the new bikes as well as the legacy product lines.

Thank you for your support
Al & Joanne