| Author | Message | ||
     Easyrider |
HIIIIIIIIIIIIIHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAA Buell Back in Business with 1190RS Steve AtlasExecutive Editor Executive Editor Steve Atlas is the leader of the new blood at MotoUSA. Atlas has AMA racing creds that are even more extensive than his driving record. Wednesday, September 15, 2010 Print Share Erik Buell Racing founder Erik Buell tucks in and shows off is 1190RR race machine. An Erik Buell Racing 1190RS street-legal version is in the works for 2011.While details are extremely sparse at best, Erik Buell Racing has officially stated that they will begin production of a street-legal sportbike in 2011, called the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS. This new American-made machine is the evolution of the Buell 1125RR, a bike which was developed and produced while the former Buell Motor Company was in business under the ownership of Harley-Davidson. In a surprise move at the end of last year, American cruiser manufacturer Harley announced it would be shutting down Buell. The sportbike company was originally purchased from founder Erik Buell, which he then continued to run, growing it into America’s largest and most successful sportbike motorcycle manufacturer. But with the economy turning the motorcycle industry upside down, Harley decided to focus on its bread and butter, cutting all endeavors non-H-D, including Buell. In the works right up until the very end was what Buell was calling its Barracuda 2. The replacement for the flagship 1125RR, the Barracuda 2 was slated for release this year and so far along in development that running pre-production versions had been logging their final street miles and a formal press introduction was in the works. Unfortunately, this never happened, leaving quite a few loyal Buell followers extremely disappointed and sportbike enthusiasts quite confused. An evolution of the original Buell 1125RR, the 1190 features sleeker bodywork and a much more appealing image overall. No photos of the street version have been released, but this is the basic machine it is based off of. Never one to give up, instead of taking the cushy position inside Harley-Davidson they offered him, founder Buell went off on his own, self-funding an AMA race team and continuing the development of his latest sportbike. No longer call the Barracuda 2 and changed quite a bit, Erik Buell Racing will begin production of its new Erik Buell Racing 1190RS street machine for next year. The only images of the base machine that we have seen are in full race form, called the Erik Buell Racing 1190RR. These show an evolution of the 1125, though far better looking with sleeker bodywork and a much smaller frontal area. The 1125's Rotax V-Twin engine gets bored out to 1190cc but is stil sitting inside the fuel-holding, aluminum twin-spar frame. Many of the other innovations accredited to Buell also remain, including the large, single-disk perimeter front brake and linkage-less rear shock. The original photos of the 1190RR racebike also shot the under-engine mounted exhaust he first introduced over a decade ago, though surprisingly in a video teaser for the new bike a side-mount shotgun-style is seen briefly on what is obviously a very early-production machine. No other details were announced, other than the following statement from Buell about the new bike and the team’s AMA racing efforts, which were supported in part by fan donations: “"There was no question that we had to start work on a new street motorcycle design for 2011, but we also knew we had to go racing at the highest level in 2010. The solution came from suggestions on our social media sites, where race fans told us they would support us directly if we would just set up a site. We could not have made the last four rounds of the series without these contributions, as we simply needed to invest our money into the new motorcycle." The release also stated that the team with rider Geoff May will finish out the AMA season at Barber Motorsports Park September 24-25 and more information about the racing efforts can be seen at www.erikbuellracing.com. You can also see the first of the YouTube video teasers below and we will continue to bring you the rest as they are released, as well as any other news regarding America’s newest sportbike. | ||
| Father_of_an_era |
Oh, something just happened in my lower extremities!!!!  Very excited to see what happens in the near future. | ||
| Nightripper |
buell faces 2 serious problems, how much will his bikes cost and will he sell enough of them to stay in bussiness. Also will any dealers take a risk and sell buells after their history. | ||
| D_adams |
Factory direct sales? Works for Dell computers.... | ||
| Augustus74 |
That article stated everything most of us here already know. Good to see Buell get any kind of press though! | ||
| Fresnobuell |
buell faces 2 serious problems, how much will his bikes cost and will he sell enough of them to stay in bussiness. Also will any dealers take a risk and sell buells after their history. Please elaborate on the "history" dealers should be afraid of? Also, how can you call price a "problem" when you don't even know what the price will be? Your posts are all negative. What's your problem?} | ||
| Nightripper |
Nothing negative, just look at buells track record over its history. 1. Bad economy 2. Alot the major bike manufactures are cutting back on racing. 3. who will buy these buells. 4. for the price that the new 1190's might cost, a buyer could probably buy the latest ducati or a bmw superbike. 5. The simple fact is that there is not alot of disposible cash floating around the world economy and trying to sell a new sport bike will be very tough. I'll give eric buell alot of credit for trying again to sell a production bike to the public, but its going to be very tough in the present economy. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I'll give eric buell alot of credit for trying again to sell a production bike to the public, but its going to be very tough in the present economy. Thanks for keeping it real, Night. I think everyone knows it will be a tough road ahead. I should already know from years of experience on the Badweb there will ALWAYS be naysayers no matter what. All people in the know misspell Erik Buell's name. | ||
| Nightripper |
It would be great if Erik could price the bike between $8-10k range. The problem why the harley buells never really caught on was their high price and lower performance then the competition. Its really a joke when you see companies like the new norton trying to market a 70hp steel frame, twin shock, inline twin for $20k a bike. Only a few rich sobs' will buy it to try and be cool. At least the new triumph got it right with the pricing of their models to make a real come back. With there interpertation of a JAP multi. If a company wants to succeed they need to produce a bike that the public wants and can afford. Producing a bike that is to high priced and that only a few ppl really want, will never really succeed in todays market. It makes you really wonder why some of these investors and companies even waste their time on a project that is destined to fail, unless there is a way to make some profit on these endeavors. | ||
| Westmoorenerd |
Nightripper- Let's be realistic about the price... $8-$10k is entry level pricing nowadays on bikes. Looking at the 1190RS's competition: (UJM 1k, 1198, RC8, RSV4, S1000RR) pricing could be anywhere from $13k-$17k. | ||
| Nightripper |
I think you really looking at $17-$25K once you factor in the high labor costs in the USA and high costs of short production costs of specialty parts. Most companies casting and machining companies, don't even want to talk to you unless you want to order a 1000 or more qty of a specific item. | ||
| Trojan |
To be honest these drip fed press releases are starting to get monotonous now and are all lacking important details. I have to think they are being released deliberately to attract a financial backer as it just isn't possible that Erik Buell Racing could manufacture a street bike in any volume in their current incarnation. Maybe there is stuff going on behind the scenes that will allow a lot of the H-D owned technology to be built and sold under licence, but they stillneed a workforce, factory, manufacturing tooling etc before a bike ever turns a wheel from new. I would love to see this happen, but I would like them to stay quiet about it until it is a done deal and will definitely happen instead of the drip drip drip of PR. As for price points, I think that people will need to compare prices to other hand built low volume bikes rather than previous Buell models or current high volume models from other manufacturers. I would think at leaast US$30,000 would be a more realistic price for a homologated street legal machine. | ||
| Budgolf |
Maybe Erik Buell Racing isn't planning to produce any serious volume. The guy has been a racer first from day one. He might not be trying to get back into full time large scale motorcycle production. From what I've read that has come from Erik Buell Racing and not everyone else, (meaning articles and interviews Erik has done) the 1190RS is being released so that they can continue to racing and do it on a platform that is more advanced than what they have now now. I don't know, but from what I read, he can produce 30,000 of these, or he can produce 3 and be legal for AMA. The 1190 RS might be a build to order bike. Who needs a dealer network for that? But it sure would be cool to go into my local Erik Buell Racing dealership for parts, sales and service! | ||
| Pilot172 |
Why do we automatically assume that Erik Buell Racing will produce the streetbikes themselves? Since Buell needs a lot of money to get started anyway, he might as well look for an investor/ producer/partner. BRP production facilities? or is this too far fetched? Dennis | ||
| Trojan |
or is this too far fetched? No I would think this would be a very sensible option (only tempered by previous experience of being under a big company shadow). What I want to see is some SOLID news instead of the constant Twitter/facebook,press release stuff that says exactly the same very time. I have read this same story rehashed countless times over the past 6 weeks now with no new information forthcoming at all. The fact that the information has been released to international press would suggest that the bike won't be built in very small numbers for US consumption only, but how do we know if we are not told otherwise? We have seen a lot of 'coming soon' releases from numerous prospective bike manufacturers where actually nothing arrives at all. I would rather read nothing and be surprised at the launch of thenew bike than read the same old PR release every week with no solid information to back it up with. | ||
| Jdugger |
> Factory direct sales? Probably won't/can't happen. Most states have franchise laws around motor vehicles which prevent a factory direct sale. | ||
| Curve_carver |
Hopefully the bike wont cost over 14k. Keep in mind most folks finance there vehicles nowadays.That will be another battle for the consumers.I didnt see this bike with any passenger hangers  And they went away with the underslung exhausts with a conventional side outlet style. Similiar to a 01 r1 except dual outlets. This side style will cost less to produce over the original muffler. These are a couple things I just noticed but in all reality price and streetability in my eyes will be very difficult for him. Erik doesnt have harley money to buy in to large lots of parts .This will be a big problem. Hopefully Erik can overcome these obsticles, keep rotax developing this 1125/1190 engine and keep us all on the roads in the near future. I for one will be upset if a superior model of my bike will be released. there is so many things on my bike that I wish were different and I see those changes on this RS | ||
| Crackhead |
> Factory direct sales? "Probably won't/can't happen. Most states have franchise laws around motor vehicles which prevent a factory direct sale." I think all that matters is Wisconsin laws. You are buying the bike in Wisconsin and having it delivered to your state. | ||
| Court |
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| Jdugger |
> I think all that matters is Wisconsin laws. Well, I'm a long way from an attorney, but I think there's more to it than that. SmartCars got slapped over this in Texas a while back. Not sure of the particulars. Clearly I'm hopeful you are correct. | ||
| Anonymous |
Hey, Trojan, what drip fed press releases? There has been a grand total of one which went out the day before the video showed up, and it was half to thank the people who helped, and simply said we were working on a street bike. No details, because they are not ready to be released. ONE press release from Erik Buell Racing.} | ||
| Hootowl |
Yeah, so far all I have seen trickling out is conjecture on places like badweb. Erik Buell Racing has been pretty much mum. I sure do enjoy reading the conjecture though. As an addict, I'll take it any way I can. | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
I like these teasers and stuff like that it gives me something to look forward to...since we don't have new buell model year releases to get excited over any more. | ||
| Bigevildoer |
> Factory direct sales? "Probably won't/can't happen. Most states have franchise laws around motor vehicles which prevent a factory direct sale." That's the first point... but when a Dell computer craps out (example given for factory direct sales) it's not that expensive to ship it back for a replacement or repair... a bike on the other hand, not quite so easy. | ||
| Froggy |
Dell does on site repairs via contractors. | ||
| Freight_dog |
Good point Big, I hadn't thought about warranty work. That raises a couple questions. I've got two local dealers for Ducati, one that will handle MV, at least one for KTM. I will be happy not to go back to an HD dealer for an Erik Buell Racing bike but who will I go to? Ok, Froggy kinda answered my question before I hit post, but I would feel better knowing there is some kind of network that supports my bike. A contractor is not exactly a dealer who stands behind the product. (Message edited by Freight_dog on September 16, 2010) | ||
| Dannybuell |
@ Trojan - 'to attract a financial backer.' LOL How many hand built $30,000 bikes will he sell? I suspect that there is capacity in Oregon, California, Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Vermont, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Florida where the unemployment rate's are over 10%. I suspect that there is capacity in East Troy too. Changes from a tooling standpoint, the radiator and it's mounting hardware? | ||
| Fast1075 |
This very much reminds me of a fellow named "Honda" after WWII...who took some surplus parts and built the first model of what became a legendary motorcycle company. He had to sell something to get the capital to go truly in his envisioned direction. Erik Buell is in essentially the same position...may the force be with him.. | ||
| Blake |
>>> To be honest these drip fed press releases are starting to get monotonous now and are all lacking important details. That third word you used is out of place in that sentence. | ||
| Nightripper |
They could out source all the design work to India and have the India Enfield Plant build the bike and rename it 1190RR CURRY CHICKEN. |
