Buell to stop making bikes

[Paivi]

After 26 years, Buell is no more.

Erik Buell's statement

Q&A

Statement
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My other bike's a Monster...

[Dom]

Blimey. There's also a soppy video at https://www.buell.com/en_us/

I didn't know that they were struggling, so that's a bit of a surprise. I can't say I ever thought much of their bikes though.
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Photos and that

[Kickstart]

Hi

Looks like they are trying to flog MV as well:-

https://www.jsonline.com/blogs/business/64352502.html

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[JAMSXR]

Never nice to see a motorcycle brand go down the pan, even if they are American. It's surprising really I see a fair few being used as commuters, it's not like they are unpopular bikes? I'm guessing due to the way the bike is made (pretty different to your average motorcycle) and with current 'economic crisis' they were probably loosing money selling them at the price they did...
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Honda SFX50 > Aprilia SR125 > Aprilia RS125 > Honda RFV400 > K4 GSXR600 > KTM Duke > C1H 636 > K3 GSXR1000 > Aprilia RSV-R > Triumph Street Triple R > Ducati 899 Panigale > Aprilia Tuono 1100 > Triumph Daytona 675R > KTM SuperDuke 1290 2.0

[Kickstart]

Hi

Not sure. I was wondering if Buell and MV were too close and whether Harley might do something about that, but closing one and selling the other seems to be excessive.

Wonder if Erik Buell is going to try and buy out the company from Harley.

Harley do seem to have lost a lot of sales recently.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[and]

...

[ms51ves3]

[MarJay]

Shit.

To be fair though, the 1125R was the worlds biggest abortion mixed in a bucket of cow shit with a stick made from the ugly tree.

Hopefully Erik will buy his company off of HD and start up independendly. With decent engines.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[MarJay]

This is actually really odd because they recently announced the discontinuation of the Blast! bike. Why would they do that, and then announce the discontinuation of the entire Buell line?

I'm actually feeling pretty down now.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[ms51ves3]

[Dr. DaveJPS]

weirdly i did wonder if it was a prank watching the video as the camera man or someone else seems to be sniggering at times, although that might have just been the crap headphones i was listening on.
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"intelligent inattention is preferable to unintelligent tinkering"
www.davejps.com

[TeddyCanuck]

[hmmmnz]

its a shame, as the finally got a decent engine in that nice frame of theirs,
the stinkin push rod engine has been holding them back for years
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the humans are dead
I kick arse for the lord
Wiring Diagrams BIDNIP it bitches

[bazza]

[Tome]

[MarJay]

[MarJay]

The UK Buell Enthusiasts group is surprisingly quiet on the matter. I posted this:

[Kickstart]

Hi

To me HD is a fashion item, sold on the name / style being fashionable. Fashions change and once HD becomes no longer fashionable they will be stuffed as they do not have engineering based products that can really compete.

As to torque, what matters is torque at the rear wheel. If you produce torque at lower revs and do not rev out then you need to run higher gearing for the same speed. Which effectively costs you torque at the rear wheel. So no real gain.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[MarJay]

[Kickstart]

Hi

But you could try something like a Guzzi, or even something like a Yamaha MT01. The Harley engine was designed to be an old lump to keep the buyers of Harleys happy, and then Buell had to try and make a silk purse from a sows ear.

My point on torque was that what you like isn't really torque (as without taking gearing into account it is irrelevant), but the way that a bike feels. Buells agree with you.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[MarJay]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Would think the KTM would have been too close to the revvy V twins of Ducati and the like.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[MarJay]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Difficult to know.

Comparing an SV1000 to an XB12, at 3k the XB12 has about 1/3 more power (and hence torque). However the SV revs about 50% higher so for the same road speed could use lower gearing. However at ~7000rpm the XB12 is only producing ~10% more power and torque, and so with the same lower ratios the SV would have FAR more torque at the back wheel.

In effect (ignoring vibration and how that affects how the engine feels) if geared for about the same umph at low speed the SV would pick up its skirts and run away as speed increased. The Buell would be less rev dependent, but ultimatly quite a bit slower.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[MarJay]