Comments on: Buell Factory Liquidation Sale to Begin January 28th

By: James Bowman

James Bowman — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:27:24 +0000

Didn’t Harley also prevent anyone else from buying Buell as a company and continuing the company, but opted to liquidate them instead ensuring they could not go on? What a shame what a sham. This will be long remembered I think and they have soured a whole lot of people, not that I was ever into dressing like 5 million other people to be different anyway or they gave at rat about customers anyway.

By: Chaz

Chaz — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:47:27 +0000

Leave Harley out of this??? Wasn’t it Buell that grew more than any another Moto company over the last few years? Wasnt it the Buell team (no help from Harley) that built a world class, AMA Championship winning motorcycle? Buell wasn’t profitable? Maybe not on the level of vests and pins and fringe leather sold along side Buell (bad idea in the first place). But the fact that Buell accomplished so much with so little should have kept the company open and building motorcycles for another generation.

What happened to the excuse of Buell being to integrated with HD to sell them off? They can liquidate the Buell factory to try and make a quick buck but refused to sell them outright, choosing instead to SPEND $100 million just to close them??? This whole situation defies logic.

Keeping Harley out of this would be insulting to anybody other than a pointless, throttle-blapping Harley rider or a HOG shareholder in denial.

Its obvious HD is in trouble, and had been for some time. 4th quarter earning report for HD is due tomorrow, 22 January. I guess we’ll see just how “profitable” Harley really is?

By: Bobert

Bobert — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:19:53 +0000

Let’s leave Harley out of this. The Harley brand is profitable, the Buell brand was not. It’s simple as that. No record company wants to keep around a band that spends money for years making singles that fail to reach any measure of success or break-even gaining capability.

No, Buell faltered due to a variety of other reasons, not the least of which is an economy that does not encourage ownership of toys. If you’ve been following motorcycle news lately, you’d see that Yamaha is losing money like mad and shuffling CEOs, Honda’s motorcycle sales are dropping quarter after quarter, and Suzuki isn’t importing any 10 models to the States due to a large number of 09s still on showroom floors. Unfortunately, Buell, as a startup, could not absorb the losses as gracefully as the big four.

Buell’s controversial styling was another thing going against them. Sure, there are always those of you who look at an 1125cr and think “Wow, what a beautiful and unique looking bike.” But for every one of you, there are twenty people looking for a sportbike that’ll look at the Buell and think “Wow, it’s so different and/or weird-looking. I would never ride that.” The same issue plagued Buell’s nakeds – soft, rounded styling when the industry trend demanded pointed shapes and sharp edges.

That said, it’s sad to see the brand go, and the sale will be a chilling reminder of what was and could have been.

By: Chris Robson

Chris Robson — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:04:19 +0000

Just one more step in the Harley’s corporate management short sighted believe that getting to their core business is growing a chain of clothing stores (crap made in China to boot) and masquerading them as motorcycle stores. Buell offered HD a niche, and quality brand, and their Corporate beancounters chose Tee shirt sales over a quality motorcycle brand. I hate to see any company go out, but this one just didn’t make sense.

By: Tin Man 2

Tin Man 2 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:53:05 +0000

Take a look around, this type of sale is going on all over the country. Yes its very sad that Americans dont support the industrial base in their own country. Every purchase you make is a vote, Do you vote to keep your neighbors working? Or do you vote to support industrial growth abroad? Every Dollar counts.