Everything from Buell Motorcycles is about to be sold off in a liquidation sale beginning January 28th. You know what they say, “everything must go!” Everything from machine tools to tool boxes to office furniture, the whole company. Good Bye Buell.
Press release follows:
East Troy, WI (PRWEB) January 18, 2010 — The Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, has ceased manufacturing motorcycles. On January 28th, 2010 Liquid Asset Partners, a Michigan liquidation firm, will begin the liquidation sale of vehicles and factory equipment from the State-of-the-Art facility. Over the past 26 years Buell has manufactured over 130,000 motorcycles and created avid fans worldwide. The liquidation sale will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for Buell riders and fans to view the inside of the factory and purchase the equipment used to make the high tech sportbikes.
“Buell had a great run as a quality American motorcycle with fans worldwide.” says Bill Melvin Jr., CEO of Liquid Asset Partners. “Buell spared no expense in making their beautiful bikes and in purchasing the factory equipment. There is a tremendous interest in the equipment and vehicles left in the factory and there are so many tools nobody will go home empty handed!”
The liquidation sale will start January 28th and run everyday for 30 days until everything is sold. Regardless of cost or loss, millions of dollars worth of equipment and tools will be sold directly on the factory floor. The Liquidation firm will be selling at enormous discounts, right from the start. Customers can buy tools for their garage, computers for their offices, and motorcycle specific equipment for making and testing their bikes.
“This factory was a state of the art, small scale factory. It’s the type of facility that many tools and items will be of great interest to the home mechanic and motorcycle fanatic.” says Bill Melvin Jr., CEO of Liquid Asset Partners. ” To make the sale successful we are prepared to deeply discount the inventory and sell everything in one month! It’s stacked high and we’re selling it cheap. The public won’t want to miss these deals”.
The liquidation sale starts January 28th at the Buell Factory at 2815 Buell Dr, East Troy, WI. It is open to the public everyday until everything is sold. Hours of operation are 10am till 7pm Monday thru Saturday and 12noon to 5pm on Sunday. Buyers may view photos and inventory online at www.LiquidAssetPartners.com.
Link: Liquid Asset Partners
4Cammer says
Sad end to some of the best bikes ever built, by one of the last real motorcycle guys in the industry.
Good luck with Erik Buell Racing Mr.Buell, hope you can sell me another bike in the future. HD sure as heck will not.
Lohmann says
I find it quite interesting that the liquidation sale includes the following bikes: 98′ KTM Daker, 08′ KTM SuperDuke, 99′ BMW1100RT, & 07′ Triumph Speed Triple!
Nicolas says
A good opportunity to buy a piece of motorcycle history …
todd says
nice catch Lohmann. I wonder how long they’ve held onto those bikes (assuming they were used for competitive study). Maybe they were just starting to look at them for future model development, maybe they we left there by employees at the wrong time… It’s a shame to scavenge through the ashes but I’d probably be one of the people sifting through it all if I lived closer.
-todd
Josh says
Make sure you go through the pic gallery, there’s a “disowned” sign on one of the monitors.
A building full of skill has been emptied. I feel a little sick thinking about that.
Mike says
Sounds like it might be time for S&S to gobble up the remains and start to use the X Wedge motor in the beam frame chassis. And ditch that goofy rim brake!
steve w says
I am only 2 hours away and everyday is Saturday. SOooooooooo i just may make a road trip. I don’t find the other brand bikes odd. Most companies do research om other machines. Many from Harley ride and own other bikes to gain observation on the market. You cannot design for the future if you are blind. It will be a sad 30 day sale.
James Bowman says
I personally am less than impressed by Harley Davidson’s decision to get rid of Buell chances of me getting a Harley were not all that high anyway but pretty much zero now. I almost bought a Sporster but it was like we will be adding this garbage and that and you will be paying this much and you can have it our way. After being treated like that by two seperate dealers they fell off my radar. Then I was considering a Buell and now I am just expessing my frustration I guess, but HD is on my banned column henceforth!
Brad says
Hopefully the killed all the pods, because they killed Buell.
nortley says
“A building full of skill has been emptied. ” You got that right, Josh. Were I some on the move company in a neighboring state, say, Victory in Minnesota, I’d see that building full of skill as an opportunity to branch out, add Erik Buell and his workers to the payroll, and sport bikes to their catalog. S&S/Buell would be a logical combination too. Even a non motorcycle company could do it. Caterpillar-Buell anyone? A recent post here showed a Buell looking good in yellow.
Shawn says
Does Erik get a cut of the sale. Probably not if Harley has its finger in it. Same deal here, if I buy a cruiser in the future it’ll be a Honda Fury or a Victory. Harley, you lost more than what you thought you were going to gain.
Scott says
I nearly puked when I read this paragraph from the release for Harley’s new “Pink Label Collection”:
“It’s an unwritten rule in motorcycling culture to stop for a distressed rider. Of course, rider ethics go well beyond the open road, as motorcyclists often stop on the journey of life to help those in need – rider and non-rider alike. In the spirit of that support, Harley-Davidson introduced a new clothing line today designed to aid those touched by breast cancer.”
Harley’s actions regarding Buell have shown – much more specifically than any clothing line could – that Harley doesn’t give a crap about anybody or anything but their bottom line.
So they discontinued Buell so they could focus on their “core business” and the first big news is a new clothing line. I guess there’s now question about what Harley’s “core business” is anymore.
Soon there will be nothing left but the clothing stores and people will say: Remember when Harley used to make motorcycles?
Andy says
What a shame to loose a really nice bike for the british roads , and so good looking ! I would like to own one one day . Buell should be sold as a company not in bits , and give them a chance to rise again .
Phoebe says
Hmph…so much for Buell technology being brought to Harley. Not that I was exactly expecting that anyway. =P
Someone tell me again why they’re keeping Erik around?
Mark F says
I’m with the majority of you. Yeah, I had some issues with my XB9R, but once they were resolved, they were resolved. The bikes been very reliable. I’m sad to see Buell go and glad I have a little piece of motorcycle history to call my own. Not to be bitter but I think the chance of me ever buying a Harley now are ‘nill’.
kneeslider says
@Phoebe: “tell me again why they’re keeping Erik around?”
They’re not.
Phoebe says
Oh right, thanks Paul. For some reason I thought he was still staying with HD *and* doing Buell Racing. I’m glad he left them.
Al Bondigas says
It is very sad that Buell is now being liquidated, but it is a sign of the times indeed. What amuses me though is the self proclaimed “Buell prospect customers” like James Bowman who state …”Then I was considering a Buell and now I am just expessing my frustration I guess, but HD is on my banned column henceforth!”
Buell had lackluster sales to begin with ( over 130,000 motorcycles manufactured in 25 years) and the guys who were ” considering a Buell” will never give H-D their business. Hahaha.
powermatic says
Will be interesting to hear about the prices for this stuff from people who attend-since this isn’t an auction, prices will be set, and it’s job #1 for liquidation companies to make as much money as possible, I’ll be curious to see if there are any real deals. People tend to get overly excited at these events, and over-pay for stuff that might have been found cheaper elsewhere. But, I may be proven wrong.
Kurt says
I saw this after returning from a ride Sunday on my new to me 07 Buell XBSTT. It replaced my BMW 650 and keeps my Buell Uly company in the garage. The ride was great and it saddens me that people will no longer have the opportunity to purchase and ride one of these machines. Thank you HD Inc. for keeping the dream of an American Sportbike alive.
PaulN says
That makes me want to barf, and take a road trip to WI for a little shopping.
Tin Man 2 says
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.
Chris Robson says
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.
Bobert says
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.
Chaz says
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?
James Bowman says
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.