| Author | Message | ||
     Trbulnt |
November 2010 Interview with Erik Buell by: Ken Peters - NY, New York What first inspired you to begin creating motorcycles? I absolutely love motorcycles, and have a mixture of mechanic, engineer and artist in me, so it just kind of came naturally that I could envision new motorcycle designs easily. The hard part is always turning the ideas into a production reality, especially not as a one off piece of art, but in numbers so more people can enjoy them and developed so they can be ridden for many years. Many have called the 1190RS marketing campaign you launched “brilliant and innovative.” What inspired you to take that approach? Well, I always like things that are innovative, and my friend Joe O'Brien from Rat Pak Records proposed the rough concept, I immediately started laughing and joined the process by adding some more ideas. Is it true that you will be presenting two more 1190RS teaser videos before the end of the year? Well, it wouldn't be a teaser if I told you for sure right? But, probably likely...we and others had a lot of fun with the first one. Is there an official street date for the 1190RS, or is that still a company secret at this point? Our goal is the spring, but we are not announcing a specific date yet. During the AMA race in Alabama, Geoff May really shined as a racer; at one point he looked like he was going to take it all the way. How excited were you when he took the lead? I wasn't doing backflips like the announcers on SpeedTV thought, but only because I can't! I will admit to jumping up and down and cheering at the top of my lungs, though. And maybe a few tears. It was extremely emotional. We have a little team of dedicated people, and not much money, and the cheering and emotion was for all the guys at our shop and on the team who had been trying so hard all year against all odds. One of the most powerful things was seeing people from some of the competitor teams cheering too. It actually brought me to near tears. OK, maybe more than near. This is the highest level of racing and it is an honor just to be in the series. To actually battle for the lead was pretty incredible. Will Geoff May be with Erik Buell Racing in 2011? That is the plan. Geoff really enjoyed riding for us in 2010. He came up through the ranks as a private rider before being picked up by major factory teams, and he and his wife Jodi have said they really love the team and that they appreciate how hard what we are doing is. Geoff also knows how passionate the fans are for what we are doing, and that inspires him. He said he got more support in his first time riding our bike to tenth than he got when he was on the podium with other brands. From our side, we love Geoff; he is a hugely gifted rider, but also very calm, professional, respectful and knowledgeable. Will you be using a different model for next year's races, or are you going to continue using the 1125RR? The plan for next year is to switch from the Buell 1125RR to our new street model we will be releasing in the spring, the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS. This will be the first production motorcycle from our little company, and we know it will be a lot of learning for the race team, but we are very excited about it. Earlier this year you partnered up with an East Coast record label (Rat Pak Records), who not only sponsors the team, but also appears to be a big part of many other aspects of Erik Buell Racing. What made you decide to go with Rat Pak Records as opposed to one of the larger mainstream corporations? Working with Rat Pak has been a great fit for us. They are young, innovative, quick, and really fun. There is an incredible energy in working with a company with few layers, where you can be directly connected with the visionary head of the company, rather than going through layers of management. In a recent poll from a popular motorcycle magazine, 67% of the people voted that they were more interested in what Erik Buell was going to do next as opposed to your major competitors. Why do you think you hold such an appeal? I think people always find an underdog appealing, and relate to small companies who have new ideas. It is obvious that most big lumbering corporations and huge pools of money often don't make the world better. Small companies of dedicated people who are committed to doing great things, not busy manipulating wads of money, have always been what drives progress. With the way information is available now, individuals all over the world can find these innovative little companies who are doing what that person wants, and they can have a voice. You recently released a CD under the moniker Erik Buell and the Thunderbolts, Anthem. How long have you been a musician? I actually dropped out of college my freshman year and played bass professionally for a number of years. But I became burnt out on the lifestyle, and moved over to my other love, racing motorcycles, and that pulled me back to college and then on to my main career. I completely stopped playing until about ten years ago, when I started up again just at home learning to play guitar. Over the last few years I started really getting back into it. Are there any plans for a follow-up CD or tour? Definitely I want to do another CD, and am already working on songs. Anthem was really rewarding personally to do, and lots of people like it, so it is good to finally have an outlet for this other voice inside. We are talking about a tour, and although my motorcycle business workload is high, I would love to do it. Music is not complete until it is being heard, and to be part of that complete and immediate circle where you create the music live and the audience takes it in and completes the song by their dance and enjoyment is a pretty amazing experience. What can we expect from you and Erik Buell Racing in 2011? Hopefully we'll always be a little bit unexpected and fun in what we do, but that in itself is probably what you can expect. Wait, is that possible? | ||
| Blake |
Springtime? Perfect! | ||
| Firstbuell |
hey Erik, recruit James Toseland to guest with you & band at the Miller SBK round !  | ||
| 007blast |
what a great guy! | ||
| Court |
WOW . . . the amazing part is how HUGE a roll that enthusiastic customers have played in driving this. The guys (and gal) at Erik Buell Racing are fanatical about succeeding and delivering something fun. By the way . . . it'd be so cool for folks to start dropping Geoff notes to let him know how proud and excited we all were in the way he represented Buell this last year. The guy, in fact the entire team, was really amazing. Court | ||
| Swordsman |
"Hey look, it's Axl Rose! Oh... wait a sec....." ~SM | ||
| Reepicheep |
Don't just read the article here... Make sure you visit: http://www.ratpakrecordsamerica.com/erikbuell There are other new goodies on that page in addition to the interview with Erik... | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
Did you see the jacket and helmet? Love to win this one!. | ||
| Americanmadexb |
Geoff also knows how passionate the fans are for what we are doing, and that inspires him. He said he got more support in his first time riding our bike to tenth than he got when he was on the podium with other brand. We ARE being heard! Awesome! (Message edited by americanmadexb on November 02, 2010) | ||
| 86129squids |
Diggin it!! Go Erik!! Go Erik Buell Racing!! |
