Buell is done, finished, gone

[goof2]

Originally Posted by No Worries

From the article: "The decision to drop Buell comes only a month after a Buell 1125R bike beat Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki motorcycles to win the coveted American Motorcycle Association's sport bike championship Sept. 8 in New Jersey. It was the first pro championship for an American motorcycle manufacturer since 1986 and the first for Buell."

Is there anything Harley Davidson on the 1125R? What does Buell need from Harley Davidson? Dealerships for sales and service.

Too bad Eric doesn't know that this is the best thing to happen to him. He should distance himself from Harley Davidson, which caters to aging baby-boomers (but not me).

Maybe he should become the first American motorcycle company to sell motorcycles and parts directly off the internet. Or at least join with dealerships from a smaller company with a similar sporty engine, like Aprilia or Ducati.

I suspect what Buell needs from H-D is cash. I doubt they are making a profit. What are the odds of them successfully setting up their own manufacturing and dealership network when they can't make money without having to do those things?

Additionally, with the state the motorcycle business is in right now, how many people are lining up to spend the cash necessary to start carrying Buell when H-D can't manage to sell the bikes?

Most manufacturers wouldn't want to go to direct internet sales. Dealers are great for a number of reasons, but the ability for a customer to touch and sit on a bike is lost over the internet. Also lost is dealers paying for inventory to exist. When inventory sits on a manufacturers floor nobody is paying for it. The last issue is nobody has yet figured out how to perform service and warranty work over the internet.

[Gas Man]

Originally Posted by Tmall

Erik won't let buell dissolve.

Harley may drop em, but he'll come through with something else. He always does..

It is a shame though. If they would have franchised them out with the Japanese dealers instead of keeping them in the Harley boutiques, they may have sold better.

I think Buell will do something to come back on its own. I doubt Eric will let it completely die.

Originally Posted by drewpy

just means marko will have something new to bitch about lol


it actually sucks, i was loving the buells and what they stood for

Dude you don't even know... I think this is going to completely devistate Marko. He is going to need a big "biz hug".

Originally Posted by Tmall

anybody else think this is just the start or things?

Honda still has a lot of new 07s on the floor.

They just happen to have a big parent company to eat the losses.

I think its just the start of things. Something more will happen.

Originally Posted by No Worries

Is there anything Harley Davidson on the 1125R? What does Buell need from Harley Davidson? Dealerships for sales and service.

Too bad Eric doesn't know that this is the best thing to happen to him. He should distance himself from Harley Davidson, which caters to aging baby-boomers (but not me).

I don't think there is any hd on the new 1125. Marko will know for sure.

I agree. I think Eric will now be able to direct design where ever he wants. Like he did with the 1125.

[Trip]

Erik Buell can't go anywhere else with his name on it or with any of the designs Buell created. Hell, Harley can sue the pants off of him if he tried to pawn off any of his ideas anywhere else that he created for Buell. Harley owns his designs and his name. HD will have to get paid to release any of this to anyone including Erik Buell. Apparently there were no worthy buyers, so it's gone.

Buell is dead in the water until Harley says so.

[Gas Man]

Unless HD allows Eric to buy out HD from the name sakes

[Trip]

Originally Posted by Gas Man

Unless HD allows Eric to buy out HD from the name sakes

yep, he has to chalk up a bunch of cash to get Buell back and all the crap that comes with it. No one wants to pay their price because the brand isn't worth it at this point. It has no dealers or service centers besides Harley. Harley still has to deal with the warranties. Whoever buys the name, has to deal with all that shit and no one wants that shit right now. You may see a remergence later after parts issues and warranty service are no longer on the plate and they can start brand new without having to deal with these bikes at all, but that may be years down the road.

[Gas Man]

I dont know man. There is way too much passion in Erik Buell to let this go by the wasteside. This has been his baby from day one.

I wont admit to knowing it all but marko has told me about it. Has a book on it. I just do see Eric calling this quits.

besides you are speaking from speculation. Nobody here knows the contracts between buell and hd.

[Trip]

Originally Posted by Gas Man

I wont admit to knowing it all but marko has told me about it. Has a book on it. I just do see Eric calling this quits.

besides you are speaking from speculation. Nobody here knows the contracts between buell and hd.

He isn't calling it quits, he is working for Harley now. He said it himself. I don't see him finding a financial backer to save what's left of Buell without the Harley network. The amount of cash he needs to go it alone to keep the old line going would be huge. He would have to recreate most of the dealer network and have the cash to do all the warranty shit. It's a ton of fucking money that he just doesn't have without harley. That's what took him from a boutique bike builder to what Buell is now, Harley money.

HD owns a majority stake in the Buell name/brand/designs. He is stuck. HD effectively owns everything he did with that brand including the name. He would have to start from complete scratch.