So Harley Davidson closes down the production of Buell bikes?
 

apparently HD made more than 70% less revenue this year compared to last year and their solution is to close down their innovative brand of sports bikes and continue to produce their ancient steel hogs. anyone else see something wrong with that?

The money talks...

i don't understand your point? so what if buell was an innovative motorcyle, there are more "ancient steel hogs* sold than any other motorcycle brand- BY FAR. buell is/was a tiny blip on the motorcycling world's radar

h-d is a legacy brand, they fucked themselves doing loans through h-d credit and are aying the price.

fact is, buell was never profitable for h-d in any real way, h-d threw a shitload of money to it over the years, since they were rolling on sales of the *ancient steel hogs* they could afford to.

buy a ducati if you want a sport bike

you know, years ago I was blacklisted by Harley Canada for buying too many bikes and reselling them on the open market, my , my, how things have changed. Back then we used to say its people like us, who will be on the buy list when things go down :winkwink:

you should thank harley, you'd be sitting on a bunch of motorcycles right now if you were still in that business.
:1orglaugh:thumbsup
fact is, h-d's woes are exemplary of the entire industry, every manufacturer's sales are way down, except for 2 - triumph and ducati, go figure that eh!

i have actually no idea how many Buell bikes were sold, but i find them impressive and the number of things the guy invented is impressive too. it would be a loss - why don't they at least try to sell it?


i'm an Enduro guy, if i ever buy a bike again i try to get me a Yamaha XT 550 like i once had. but nevertheless i like Buell while i would never buy HD

that was a while back :winkwink:

i'm with you, i can see why you are impressed, erik buell is an engineering genius. but he's the one who started the whole nightmare going in the direction it's gone over the years, specifically, selling the buell rights to harley and letting them put the sportster motor in it and sticking to the need to design *quirky* bikes, innovative, but strange. only recently did they switch to a motor (the rotax) more in line with the type of bike.
buell has always been the red-headed stepchild of harley. buell's problems started the second he sold his soul to h-d. i think everyone meant well in the beginning, buell was a harley frame engineer and is credited with designing the best frame ever- the fxr. so he was employed by harley at the time he designed the 1st buell bike.

but i don't think the story is over, h-d has a non-compete contract currently with buell, but they have no plans to make a competing bike. i suspect they are holding out to sell the rights to some entities with deep pockets who can take erik buell and the buell bike in the direction it needs to go


\no, i think h-d did the right thing by shutting it down, the moco has bigger problems to fry.

Big kudos to any brand that has customers tattooing themselves with the logo.

sums it up right there eh.

here's an article on current motorcycle sales-

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...533,full.story

personally never cared for the Buell line, my current HD favorite is the Cross Bones. Will wait till the spring, if I'm going to get one, maybe the price will have come down by then.

money talks :)

Quoted for truth, tho a Ducati is more than a mere bike.

go on.! !!1

thanks, that made me understand it much better :)

Well a Ducati is a mere motorcycle in the same way a Ferrari is a mere car.

it's a very cool story i think, right?! has the potential for a great ending- *bloated corporate joke jettisons small but innovative buell only to see them turn record profits after striking out on their own!*!

indeed!