Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127852
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By Scott Rousseau
rik Buell is in the en viab le po sition
o f be in g ab le to go throu g h lif e
with no regrets.
lt has alrea dy bee n 16 years since the
former Harley-David son eng ineer began
the laboriou s task of bu ild ing mo torcycles of his own unique design , and it all
began with the Buell RW750 in 1983 .
The 750cc, two-s tro ke , squa re -four,
ro ta ry -va lved raci ng machi ne was
d esigned specifically to compete in th e
AMA's premier Formula One road racing se ries . Th e prototype RW750 fir st
made its competitive debut in an AMA
Nationa l a t Pocono Speed way in th e
summer of 1983. Buell continued extens ive tes ting and development work on
the bike through out tha t seas on, refin in g the bi ke in to a more co m petiti ve
racer, a nd his effor ts appea red to pay
off. During testing a t Talladega, Alabam a , the RW750 was clocke d at a to p
speed of 178 mph.
Developmen t on th e RW750 continued th rou gh 1984, and a p rod uction ver sion was released at the end of the year.
Just one unit was sold befo re the AMA
pu lled the plug on Formula One in 1985,
a nno u nci ng tha t th e class wo u ld b e
abandoned in fa vo r of Superb ikes fo r
the 1986 seaso n, e ffec ti ve ly ki lli ng
Buell's project.
Und au nted, Buell merely se t a new
goa l, th is ti m e darin g to bui ld a tr ue
w orld -cla ss s por tb ike tha t wo u ld be
d esigned and built in the USA. His road
racing and Harley-David so n engi nee ring heritage certainly sho wed in his first
attem pt , w hich wa s called th e RR1000.
The rad icall y s tyled sing le-seater was
powered by a Harley-Davidson XR1000 ,
en gine , with the stiff, lig ht cha ssis featuring a rubber engi ne-mou nting sys tem
that later beca me a pa tented engineering
trademark of Buell sportbikes.
The RRlOOO utilized the engine as a
fully stressed member of the fra me, an d
also in co rpora te d a ground -breaking
new rear-su spension system that saw
th e rear shock absorber mounted un derneath the engi ne . The shock operated in
rev erse of the conventio nal co m pres sion-rebo un d practice, extending rather
th an compressing wh en und er a load . A
total of 50 RRlOO m odels we re proO
du ced du ring 198 7-88 . Th en H arleyDavid son 's XR1000 engi ne su pply wa s
depl eted .
But Buell saw the opportunity to continue developing his design by using the
12030c Harley-Da vid son Evo lutio n XL
e ng ine in ste a d of th e XR, a nd thus
began redesigning the chassis to accommodate the Sports ter mo tor. The res ulting RRI200 model was introd uced during 1988, and 65 were produced for sa le
through 1989.
Buell cons tantly conti nu ed to evolve
his motorcycles, introducing the RSI 200,
a two-sea t version of the RR model, in
19 89. Prod u cti on fi g ures s tea d ily
increased as well. Just over 100 RSI 200s
were produced throu gh 1990.
Five-speed transmissions we re a new
feature of the Harley-Davidson XL
engine in 1991, and Buell responded by
adapting new engine-mounting poi nts
and fu rther impro vin g the RS chassis.
Th e 1991 mod els we re the first Buells to
use inverted front forks, stainless-steel
braided brake lin e s and a six-pis ton
Iro nt-orake caliper.
As Buell motorcycles were refined,
E
th e co m pany's manufactu ring capa bilities w e re ex pa nded . Th e 199 1 m od el
ye ar m ar ked th e fir s t in which Bu ell
Motorcycle Co mpa ny not only designed
bodywork , but produced it in its own
new co mposit e a n d pai n t shop. The
result w as g rea te r quality con trol and
improved design flexib ility.
Harking back to the RR, Buell in trod uced a s ingle -sea t version of th e
RS1200, du bbed th e RSS1200, fo r the
1992 model yea r. Combined production
of RSS a nd RS m od el s to tal ed 325
throug h 1993.
His success through the years did not
go un not iced, especially by hi s former
e m p lo yers, an d in February of 199 3,
Harley-Davi dson an nounced tha t it had
acqu ired 49 per cen t of the Buell Mo torcycle Co mpany, providin g The Mo tor
Com pa ny with an inro ad to the sportbike market and Bue ll with the capita l
tha t he would need to ens ure th e survival of the marque.
So a r med , Bu e ll res tyled a nd
. renam ed his motorcycle again for 1994,
launching the 5-2 Thunderbolt tha t has
beco me the platform for the res t of the
Buell fami ly , which has expanded to
incl ude bot h a stan dard and sport-tou ring vers ion of the Th und erbolt, the hotrod sing le-sea ter SI Lightning (and lim ited-edin oo Wh ite Lig htn ing), a nd th e
"spo rt standa rd" M2 Cy clone.
Under the guid a nce of rece n tly
na med presid en t a nd chi ef o pe ra ting
officer Jerry Wilke, Buell now maintains
a 171-dealer network wi thin the United
(Top) The RR1000 was Erik
Buell's first attempt at a single
seat. XR1 DOO-powered, full-race
sportblke.
(Above) In 1994, Buell launched
the S2 Thunderbolt that has
become the platform for the rest
of the Buell family.
(Left) Buell took on the "hotrod"
look with the single-seat S1.
(Below) The Buell headquarters
in Wisconsin.
States, its ma rk et sh are growing fro m
8.3 percen t to 16.2 percent in the 1995-96
model year. Its 1998 production goa l is
3895 units, a far cry from the production
ru n of a s ing le Japan ese s po r tb ike
model, but a vast improvement ove r the
o r igi na l 50 RRIOOO In addi tio n, the
s.
company continues to increase its recognition factor wi th the introdu ction of the
Buell Riders Ad ventu re Grou p (BRAG) Buell' s ver sio n of th e Harley Owne r' s
Group, if yo u will . and in moto rcycle
racing w ith the Buell Lightning Series,
under the sanction of No rth American
Sport Bike.
Through it all, Erik Buell has continued to do thi ngs his way, buildi ng
American sport motorcycles tha t utilize
si mple, innovative technology to
enhance the riding experience.
No reg rets.
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