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Refurb
| Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 07:45 pm: |
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Erik Buell Unplugged and Uncut, Part 2: The Death of Buell Motorcycles http://www.cycleworld.com/article.asp?section_id=3 &article_id=2123 "CW: Will you be moving to an island and building custom guitars?" "EB: No, I'll be back in the motorcycle industry. I still believe we can build an American sportbike that's a valid product, and I think we were there." Yes! |
Mikexlr650
| Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 08:01 pm: |
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nice read. i remember john burns original articles on the xb's. he "got it". that pic of an xbs laying on a front yard with a bunch of kids bikes captured the "why" of riding so perfectly. jmho |
Hughlysses
| Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 08:06 pm: |
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Very good part 2; thanks for posting the link. A few new bits of information and confirmation of a lot of things we've heard or thought for the last few years. |
Ulynut
| Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 08:15 pm: |
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It was always easy to take a whack at us. And it would've been harder once we'd been successful. Yup. |
Americanmadexb
| Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 09:33 pm: |
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"It means they didn't understand the customer. And from the perspective of a company that's only two percent of sales, well, those guys only have so much brain capacity and only so much capability to deal with a ton of information." |
Lemonchili_x1
| Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 09:54 pm: |
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"EB: My plans tend to be a little more aggressive, my plan was to be there in 2011. We were going to run American Superbike this year and hoping to do really well, and go to World Superbike the following year. " Thanks H-D |
Paint_shaker
| Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 10:22 pm: |
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Yup, thanks H-D... I can't wait to see wait Erik can do next!! Cheers! |
Guell
| Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 10:26 pm: |
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Cant wait to see what he does being unshackled from harley. |
Glitch
| Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 10:32 pm: |
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To me, the XB9S could maybe be the streetbike of the last decade, in my own humble opinion. It's a beautiful thing when someone gets it. |
Blake
| Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 10:44 pm: |
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John Burns is exceptional. |
Hootowl
| Posted on Friday, March 05, 2010 - 09:29 am: |
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"Just like guys have a license to put Harley-Davidson on a T-shirt, I have a license to put Buell on a motorcycle this year." Subtle. Beautiful. |
4cammer
| Posted on Friday, March 05, 2010 - 10:42 am: |
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John Burns is one of the few bright spots at CW, and totally destroys anyone writing at Motorcyclist. Was glad to see CW hire him on full-time, as I think some of the old stand-bys are getting a bit predictable. |
Ohio_xb12
| Posted on Friday, March 05, 2010 - 12:01 pm: |
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I have always loved my Buell from the day I got it. No offense but I kinda looked at some of the guys around here as almost fanatical and over the edge about the Buell motorcycle company. Only now that things have changed do I fully understand what a special relationship we have with the company and Erik. (Homecoming etc.) He sure doesn't give up no matter how unfair the circumstances he has to deal with. I feel certain in saying that we will look back at the Harley split and say that it happened at the perfect time. Erik had come just about as far as Harley was ever going to let him and breaking off now when he has all the manufacturing contacts (BRP)and experience at producing motorcycles on such a large scale that he needs may be a good thing. |
Midknyte
| Posted on Friday, March 05, 2010 - 12:33 pm: |
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Cant wait to see what he does being unshackled from harley. Sometimes things like this are needed to light or fully stoke a fire under your butt... I feel certain in saying that we will look back at the Harley split and say that it happened at the perfect time. Erik had come just about as far as Harley was ever going to let him and breaking off now when he has all the manufacturing contacts (BRP)and experience at producing motorcycles on such a large scale that he needs may be a good thing. I concur. And, surely, his 200 year plan did not hinge on the premise of being part of HD forever anyway. Granted it would have been nice, and a very good thing for HD, if they had played it better... (Message edited by midknyte on March 05, 2010) |
A_s_r
| Posted on Friday, March 05, 2010 - 01:04 pm: |
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quote:CW: What's your take on the Harley-Davidson statement about not selling Buell because it was too deeply integrated into the company and H-D dealerships? EB: Yeah, well, I'm just an engineer...
Yeah, and Court's just a construction worker. |
Iman501
| Posted on Friday, March 05, 2010 - 02:39 pm: |
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good article thanks for posting! |
Ourdee
| Posted on Saturday, March 06, 2010 - 11:32 am: |
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We're just Badwebbers, I have to say that Erik is amazing. Does me proud to have him as the head mechanic on my bike. Had to be the best read I've had since EBR started up. When the license on "BUELL" runs out, He can use my name. I am looking forward. |
Littlebuggles
| Posted on Monday, March 08, 2010 - 07:34 am: |
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Enjoyed the read, posted it to Canyon Chasers and they posted up both parts one and two. It's nice to get to hear Erik's perspective on the matter. |