Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 17, 2013 some of the tooling and so on they didn't want anymore, so we took what we'd learned from the 1125 series, and then just went forward. So it wasn't a completely new motorcycle from the ground up, but a pretty big jump in evolution from the 1125R - we probably would've never gotten to this level with the old bike. The focus was to say that if I'm re-launching the brand as EBR, the first model I want to come out with is a Superbike. Much like when I launched the Buell brand many years ago, and the first thing I did was launch a Formula 1 racebike, I wanted to do something similar which showed a clean break from Buell, but would be a mainstream, clearly identifiable motorcycle that can race in AMA Superbike. Doing that meant building a limited production street version, and that's what you've been riding. But to go to World Superbike, we need a volume production model, and that's what the 1190RX will be. I also wanted to prove some of the things we thought had value but may not have been fully appreciated, and if we could show they worked in the Superbike world, then people could appreciate that they were good designs - like as the inside outside single front brake rotor, or the fuel in the frame. This is exactly the motorcycle that I've wanted to build for the past 20 years. We finally got it done! When did the first prototype run? There were several stages. We built the 1190RR in 2010, which was an evolutionary product we raced in a few AMA Superbike races, leading us towards the 1190RS. It also competed in Europe and won a couple of Pro Twins and amateur Superbike championships in Germany, which we learned a lot from. And then in parallel, I was try- standings, and Eslick eighth after finishing second in the Homestead round). Aaron Yates replaced Eslick this past season, in which the American V-twins continued to give a good account of themselves, especially on tighter tracks where their excellent handling could outweigh their relative lack of horsepower. The chance to ride one of the Carbon Edition street versions of the EBR 1190RS (complete with magnesium wheels and carbon bodywork, yielding a 6.6-pound weight saving but at a hefty $46,495 price tag) entailed travelling to the EBR plant in Wisconsin, where Buell employs a workforce of 110 people – vs. 30 just one year ago, and only 10 at the end of 2011. By chance, the day I was there saw a barbecue being held out back of the factory, to bid farewell to the latest contingent of Indian engineers who'd been working at EBR for the past three months, and were heading home that weekend to Hero's HQ in Delhi – to be replaced by the next batch of twice as many people. "Part of our synergy with Hero is training their engineers in the way we do things here at EBR," says Erik Buell. "There's a specific interest from Hero in racing technologies because they want to be part of that, and because there's a growing market in India for larger bikes." Back in October 2009, after completing a 30-lap magazine test at Barber Speedway aboard P135 ing to get my hands on the engine and the chassis and all the other pieces that I needed to make sure that I could get back into business. Because now I had to build at least 100 units, since the new AMA rules said you had to build 100 examples of a genuine street-ready motorcycle. We reached production in mid 2011 and we've made another 35 this year. Is this the first of a series of future EBR V-twin products? Yes, we're developing a range of high volume, more affordable, streetbikes. We have three in the works, of which the 1190RX we launched at the AIMExpo in Orlando, Florida, in October is the first. The engine won't be exactly the same as the RS, but very, very close to it – and this volume production model will allow us to go World Superbike racing next season, as we intend. Danny Eslick's AMA title-winning Buell 1125R, I crashed the prototype Buell 1125RR factory Superbike I'd also been invited to sample, and wound up in the University of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham. Five days later, Buell was out of business. So it must have taken some faith on Buell's part to give me the keys to one of his limited edition $46,000 EBR motorcycles for a day, and allow me to become the first journalist to ride one on the street, as well as cutting some laps at the nearby Blackhawk Farms racetrack. he 1190RS's 30.5-inch high seat seemed pretty tall even with the thin foam seat pad, though I could just put both feet flat on the ground at stop lights. The rid-

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