The North American motor industry has created Harley-Davidson and legendary automobiles such as the Mustang, the Cobra or the Dodge Charger, but throughout its history it has not been able to develop not just a brand but not even a simple sports motorcycle that stuck.
There are several reasons why all the Yankee technological power has not been able to achieve what the Japanese, Germans, Italians have achieved and the Chinese are on their way to achieving. Probably the main one is that the average American motorcyclist has a conception of the large-displacement motorcycle essentially as a leisure and ride vehicle and the motorcycling competition par excellence in the US is motocross. In that sense, manufacturers have never put much interest in developing a “Superbike” that the market does not demand because whoever wants one already has the European and Japanese offer.
The other is the love for large displacements and volumes that Americans have in their DNA and that makes them always prefer a “the bigger the better” which makes no sense in a sports car.
Despite all of the above, engineer Erik Buell dared to mix water and oil and attempted the impossible: combine a chassis with the latest technological solutions with an Evolution engine of Harley-Davidson origin developed in 1980 and which can be qualify in many ways except as sporty.
The surprising proposal had an explanation and it is that Harley Davidson had acquired 49% of Erik Buell’s company in 1993 when he came looking for financial help to develop his ideas. On the other hand, although Buell was not ignorant of the unnatural combination he proposed, he also thought that incorporating a Harley-Davidson engine would help potential local customers see this strange combination as “genuinely American.”
Beyond that, the Buells had such interesting details as a double-spar chassis that served as a gas tank or a swingarm served as an oil tank. In addition, they had perimeter disc brakes and an exhaust that was placed under the engine block in order to achieve a short wheelbase and a high degree of lean when cornering.
The first Buell model appeared in 1987 and was the RR1000 Battletwin; a motorcycle derived from competition with a headlight, mirrors and the Harley XR1000 engine, of which only 50 units were manufactured. The first 100% street design was the RS 1200 Westwind from 1991, which put 325 units on the street.
Sales are anecdotal but still Harley-Davidson, which wants to diversify its offering, decides to continue relying on Buell although assuming full control of the small company in 1998. Subject from that moment on to tight financial control and an intense promotional campaign from Milwaukee, Buell managed to sell 100,000 units in 2006 but was always forced to follow a planning subordinate to that of Harley-Davidson.
It is in that period that the most important productions begin, such as those of the Thunderbolt and especially the XB Lightning of 2003, which opens the period of greatest relative commercial boom for the brand with models such as the City torque of the Buell Thunderstorm V-Twin engine available in 984 and 1203 displacement.
The “Streetfighters”
Both in the showrooms of the sector and in the windows of the dealerships, the Buells attracted a lot of attention and the specialized North American press dedicated space and affection to them… but even so they were not sold.
Those responsible for the brand kept wondering why their motorcycles didn’t fit until they came to the conclusion that the problem was not technological but one of size. Buells were very small motorcycles; They looked more like a 250 than a 1000 and that scared away those who wanted a 1000 that looked like a 1000 or who simply looked too big to get behind the handlebars of a bike like that.
The brand tries to react with more voluminous and apparent versions of its models such as the By then the Buells have already earned the reputation of “weird little bikes” and their fate is cast. In Milwaukee they get tired of paying for experiments and in 2008 Harley’s financial department withdraws a significant part of the budget assigned to Buell to allocate it to the development of new Cruiser models.
The Buell project definitively closes its doors on October 15, 2009 when Harley-Davidson announces the end of production and with it the development of what could have been the first great 100% American sports car.
The company will try to survive, now without the shelter of H-D, returning to its origins and manufacturing competition models with a Rotax engine as EBR, but the curtain of bankruptcy falls definitively on a Buell eaten by creditors in April 2014.
Paradoxically, the disappearance of the brand has turned the few Buells that remain into highly sought-after pieces for collectors, giving the misunderstood American motorcycles a popularity that they did not enjoy in their short commercial life.
As for Erik Buell, unresponsive to discouragement and after a few years in the shadows operating as a simple trainer, he has just launched the FUELL brand with which he intends to revolutionize the electric sports motorcycle segment.
