| Author | Message | ||
     Arbalest |
Q: "Given that Harley Davidson retains the rights to all Buell intellectual property, how are you able to sell motorcycles under the Erik Buell Racing name?" A: "One thing that I did get from them, which I think was a great move, was the ability to license and use the Buell name and sell derivative Buell racebikes until December 31, 2010." (more follows, but not relevant to this post) What can he sell after December 21? It sounds like he will not be permitted to sell the 1125 derivative bikes. arbalest | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
Maybe, but he can sell 1190 bikes..and really given the choice, I'll take the 1190. Well at least that's my assumtion givin that he said he will be selling the 1190rs. Not that I really know ofcourse. | ||
| Arbalest |
2008xb12scg Elswhere in the article, it says that the 1190RS and RR "come from a similar highly modified Rotax 1125R engine, hot-rodded by Erik Buell Racing with a stroker crank, big bore cylinders, titanium valves, race spec rods and more...." Doesn't HD own the 1125 motor? I thought the 1190 was separate effort, and not owned by HD, since it was a prototype. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
it's all so confusing | ||
| Xbduck |
The motor is owned by Rotax, that was part of the deal if the contract ended early, or so I was told. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Brilliant marketing by Erik Buell. Shows his drive and determination. Very good Mojo if you are trying to sell yourself and your ideas to investors and/or possible partners. When Hardley pulled the plug...it all didn't just STOP...the logistics of a manufacturing company are like a lumbering train...materials, supplies, and components that were under purchase order or minimum quantity contract will still delivered. If you are smart and savvy, it is a fairly easy thing to direct those late arriving materials towards the stockpile. Using the network you have developed, risk a portion of your own money for a few custom parts that fit the chassis you already have. Take take some of the spare motors, develop custom parts...for example Ferrea or Kibblewhite most likely make a blank that just needs to be fit for the valves. Any number of American, Asian, or European companies could build pistons based off modified existing CAD designs...I had a set of custom pistons built by Venolia one that really weren't as expensive as one would think....same story with cams...any number of vendors could do it, especially if semi finished billets were available. There is no real mystery....the 1190 is a brilliant evolution of a world class supertwin....not a brand new bike...but in many ways better than a brand new bike...development has come along nicely, considering how well Pegasus is doing in the European series. Pegasus has developed the Tyfon varient...they or SOMEBODY invested time and money making the molds for the "fairing"...if that is a rotocast piece, the mold is not cheap... The 1190 is not "new"...but it is the best thing that can be done now that would make any sense at all. Right now Erik and crew are back to the 2010 equivalent to the "work shed behind the house"...and doing as Court would say "Amazing things" with what they have to work with...there is a frequently expressed hope that Erik can find support in the market...he already has some support or he would not be where he is at this point..."people" believe enough to risk investing in the development of the specialized parts... Me...I'll have to sit and see how it goes...I'm waiting for that 250 pound 600cc single... | ||
| Court |
>>>>The motor is owned by Rotax, that was part of the deal if the contract ended early, or so I was told. I think you may have been provided inaccurate information. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Doesn't really matter who own's the motor, Erik's got the connexion with Rotax & I'd imagine it wouldn't be too hard for Rotax to provide a "variant" of it to him. As my old Dad taught me, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."  (Message edited by Mr_grumpy on December 05, 2010) | ||
| Elvis |
I'm just going from what I've seen in recent interviews, but it seems like the engine - through whatever series of agreements - is available to Erik if he wants it (and it seems clear he does). He has indicated that he has contingency plans if he can't access all of the Harley intellectual property he needs. I suspect the differences between the bike incorporating Harley IP and the one that excludes Harley IP would look very similar to a lay-person and only differ in relatively esoteric, technical ways. One example is that Steve Anderson mentioned a very cool and very light rear wheel. Harley may own that and Erik may have to use his own design if he can't get the rights to the Harley wheel. . . . chances are his could come out even better and since Harley won't use the old design, I would hope they would do him (and the suppliers who worked hard to create some of those items) the small favor of letting him use those parts and not stand in the way just to be jerks. | ||
| Jaimec |
Hope springs eternal. | ||
| Court |
The wheel will . . in the future . . be an interesting story. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
i am just annoyed that Alan C did the interview and split a bit of it up between two magazines....damnit now I have to spend 10 bucks on magazines |
