Buell Motorcycle Company was discontinued by Harley-Davidson, Inc. in 2009, but in its short history the Buell brand managed to make an indelible mark on the industry. Company founder Erik Buell left an R&D job at Harley-Davidson in 1982 to build his own race bike. H-D bought a minority interest in the company in 1993. His efforts include short-lived RW750, RR1000 (Battle Twin), the S2 Thunderbolt and XB9R Firebolt. Buell, however, built more than racing motorcycles, introducing the Ulysses adventure sportbike in 2005. More recently, Erik Buell has started a new company – Erik Buell Racing. The first Erik Buell Racing motorcycle was introduced in 2011 – the 1190RS.
Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, Inc., produces sport motorcycles, motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel. Started by former roadracer Erik Buell, the bikes bearing his name are powered by air-cooled engines based upon Harley-Davidson designs but tweaked for greater performance.
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1982
Erik Buell leaves an R&D job at Harley-Davidson to build his own race bike.
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1984
Buell completes the RW750 (Road Warrior), designed to compete in the
AMA Formula 1 road racing championship and to provide an alternative to
the venerable Yamaha TZ750. Buell’s motor is a square-Four two-stroke
that was designed in Britain. He sells his first machine only to realize
that the AMA has, with the stroke of a pen, eliminated the class.
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1987
Buell releases the RR1000 (Battle Twin), featuring a Harley-Davidson
XR1000 engine. The bike had a dry weight of just 395 pounds and half of
that was engine.
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1988
Buell releases the RR1200 (Battle Twin).
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1990
Buell release the RS1200 (West Wind). The RS1200S follows one year later and the RSS1200 a year after that.
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1993
Harley-Davidson buys minority interest in Buell Motorcycles Company.
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1994
Buell introduces the S2 Thunderbolt. The S2T Thunderbolt follows the next year.
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1996
Buell introduces the S1 Lightning streetfighter.
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1997
Buell introduces the S3 Thunderbolt and the S3T Thunderbolt. That same year the M2 Cyclone is released.
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1998
Harley-Davidson purchases an additional 49% interest in Buell Motorcycle Company to become the majority owner.
That same year Buell introduces the S1W White Lightning.
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1999
Buell introduces the X1 Lightning.
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2000
Buell introduces the newbie-friendly Blast, which featured a single-cylinder engine.
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2002
Buell introduces the XB9R Firebolt. This is the first Buell with a
modern aluminum beam frame. As usual, though, Erik Buell’s iconoclasm is
evident in the way the alloy beams double as the fuel tank. It also
features a perimeter brake rotor mounted to the rim of the front wheel,
not the hub.
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2003
Buell introduces the Lightning XB9S naked bike.
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2005
Buell introduces the Ulysses, dubbing it “the world’s first adventure sportbike.”
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2006
The limited-production XBRR racer is built to the very edges
(competitors say, beyond the edges) of the AMA Formula Xtreme rules.
It’s to no avail. Despite bringing in ex-MotoGP star Jeremy McWilliams
to ride the bike in the Daytona 200, the XBRR will not make an impact
all season.
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2007
With the release of the 1125R, Buell breaks free of Harley-Davidson
air-cooled engine technology. The new V-Twin motor is designed by Rotax
and features all the modern conveniences: liquid cooling, DOHC, fuel
injection, etc.
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2009
Danny Eslick takes the 1125R to his — and Buell’s — first
championship in the AMA Daytona Sportbike class. Much controversy
surrounded the 1125R’s eligibility in the class, which was comprised of
mostly 600cc inline-four cylinders, though no other 1125R rider was able
to even remotely match Eslick’s results.
As a reward for Buell’s championship, parent company Harley-Davidson
decides to shut down Buell in the midst of the economic downturn.
Unfortunately, since Buell isn’t accounted for separately in
Harley-Davidson’s books, Buell couldn’t simply be sold off. Erik Buell
is down, but definitely not out...
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2011
After satisfying his no-compete clause, Erik Buell announces his new
venture, Erik Buell Racing. EBR focuses on its founder’s first love:
road racing, providing 1125R, 1125RR, and 1190RS machines for
competition.
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