FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I’m just a fan of racing and performance motorcycles. I don’t have the power of a journalist or a politician, but I’m so frustrated by the silence of those who are in power – regarding the Buell/Harley situation – that I felt I needed to speak out. While I’m sure your readers have mixed opinions on Buell’s participation in the AMA this year, one thing that I think can’t be debated is they are the ONLY American motorcycle that has even tried to compete with any seriousness since most of us were born (no, I’m afraid I don’t consider the VR1000 a serious effort). And with the 1125RR, it looked like we finally, after all these years, had an American motorcycle that could take on the best in the world. And then Harley pulled the plug. I can’t blame Harley for pulling the plug. Buell was, in most ways, the polar opposite of Harley. Harley emphasizes form over function while Buell emphasized function over form. Buell was tiny and Harley is huge. Buell wass creative and innovative and designed bikes that were like nothing we’ve ever seen before while Harleys aren’t much different today than they were 50 years ago. Harley’s decision to dump Buell might have been the best thing for Harley – if Harley’s methods really are a valid business model. . . . but why not let someone else continue to make Buells? Harley’s claim that Buell is too “integrated” rings very hollow to anyone who has ever visited the Buell plant. If you went there, you would have seen Buell engineers, Buell purchasing people, Buell production personnel etc. making Buell Motorcycles. There aren’t any Harleys to be seen. If I were a journalist, I would ask Harley: “If Buell was so ‘integrated’, how were you so neatly and easily able to shut down their facility and end their jobs without hurting Harley?” When it comes down to it, the only functions that are “integrated” are functions that are liabilities to Buell rather than assets. Ask any Buell owner and they’re likely to tell you the worst part of owning a Buell is getting it serviced at a Harley dealer. Okay, there’s an area of integration. And remember the “Book of Buell” in which we were told we no longer had to wave? Yes, marketing is also “integrated” with Harley – which explains how a marketing campaign that didn’t seem to have a clue who Buell riders were made it to the light of day. Harley claims to stand for freedom yet they won’t let Erik Buell – a person who truly embodies that ideal in a way the suits at Harley will probably never understand – earn a living. Sure, Harley has probably has contracts that can lock him up until he’s old enough to buy a Harley, but I have yet to see a Harley ad that says: “Do you believe, as we do, that the world should be run by lawyers? Congratulations, you may be ready to own a Harley.” I do see plenty of Harley marketing that says they believe in American jobs. Really? I like Buells because I like light, nimble, responsive bikes. The chances of me buying a Harley is about the same as the chances of Johnny Rock Page earning a #1 plate next year. No. Sadly, it looks like my dollars will be going overseas. Last year, Buell sold $123 million worth of motorcycles. That made them the second biggest manufacturer in the US (Victory sold $94 million). That means, if Harley is successful in preventing them from continuing under new ownership, Harley will become, for all practical purposes, a monopoly. And even though they were a monopoly a month ago, we now have the ability to slightly lessen the stranglehold of their monopoly by simply demanding that they give investors a chance to buy Buell. Where’s the outrage from those in power? Am I the only one who cares that we will be losing the only domestic manufacturer who has been worth a damn in my lifetime? Are we completely powerless? Can we really do nothing but sit back and let Harley-Davidson define what an American motorcycle is all about? I hope not, but I’m afraid I’m beginning to feel that way. Gary Hoover Mount Laurel, New Jersey More regarding Buell being killed, from various readers: FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I wonder how the DMG/AMA rulebook will deal with this situation (Buell folds) in 2010? Mark Abreu Wilmington, North Carolina FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Now that for DMG that has put so much effort into trying to insure that Buell was going to be a major presence in their series and alienated those that have put a lot more into the series over the years, what are they going to do now. I never thought things could really get worse than the way the AMA ran the road racing series, but as I found out years ago when a company I worked for was bought, when you think things can’t be worse, they can. Paul Trautman San Jose, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Well that should put a kink in the DMG road racing program; no pace bike, no 1200cc motorcycles in the 600 class, no Harley race class. Roger has already pissed off the Japanese factories and was playing them against getting other manufacturer’s involved but his choices may have just been limited. Can you say “blindsided”? Wonder what the DMG spin on this is going to be? Bruce Monighan Sacramento, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Here’s a question I’d like to see in Roadracing World, “Why are people buying the Buells now?” Sure price is a factor but that infers people at least had some interest prior to the company folding. If that’s the case… I have no idea what that means. They were interesting but not enough to justify the cost? They were uninteresting but not cheap enough? I’ve been around the collector car biz long enough to know it’s impossible to predict future collectibility but some things hold true. Was it rare? Was it unique? Does it have provenance? As a collector’s item the 1125 in particular might have an edge as a class winner. My gut says no or I’d have one in the garage. At any rate I don’t see that as a motivation for recent buyers. So, the question remains why are people buying the bikes they passed over before? How could Buell have lured these buyers in before HD dropped the brand? I’m sure Erik would like to know as well. Phillip Williamson Lake Mary, Florida FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: H-D kills Buell I see by the cover of the new issue, Roadracing World is all over the debacle at Buell. Can you pass this along to H-D; When did the rider become the last consideration of building motorcycles at H-D? H-D motor-clothes, H-D lunch-boxes, etc. H-D is making billions on the name. Hey, Willie G, the motorcyclist’s satisfaction should be your primary concern, Not the dividend the shareholders make on the backs of the assembly line worker all the way to the parts guy at the local dealer who is handing Joe H-D Rider his new fringed leather do-dad. I was standing in my garage looking at our Lightning and Firebolt, dreaming of a 2010 1125R. So it’s over? Such innovation gone. Getting the warmed-over Sportster engine a nice high tech chassis in an incredible simple package, really is a feat to be admired. Regardless of the rumors spawned by followers of the latest trend, Buells are really neat motorcycles. And now with a modern engine, a really nice bike in it infancy. Damn, what a sorry waste of time to appease a board of idiots at H-D. Riding and enjoying the motorcycle used to be something special. Grant Crandall Phelan, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: So Harley and Buell are too “integrated” to allow Buell to continue. Funny but I thought the new engine was an Austrian design. Perhaps Buell is not integrated enough for Harley’s liking? Damien Dipace San Lorenzo, California