So why do I hardly ever see a Buell on the road? As Buell himself put it: “Our design DNA is radically different.” The use of the engine as a fully stressed member of that frame was key, as was rear suspension planted beneath the motor and a host of other tweaks designed to bring all the bike’s weight as close to the centre of gravity as possible. MCN Buell bike reviewsįrom the early years of production in the 1980s his bikes were characterised by taking Harley engines and putting them in a stiff and light chassis combined with a rubber-mounting technique patented as the ‘uniplanar’ system. Watch out, too, for a rim-mounted front disc brake. It may also carry its fuel in the frame and its oil in the swingarm. A typical Buell is short, light and steers like nothing else. Buell applied the concept of mass centralisation long before Honda claimed it for their own. Technically imaginative, performance-focused design. The two-stroke, ‘square-four’, rotary-valve engine was built purely for he himself to race in the Formula One class. The first bike he designed and built was the RW750 in 1983. He grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania, put himself through engineering school at the University of Pittsburgh by working as a bike mechanic, raced in the AMA Superbike and Formula One classes, and spent 14 years working for Harley-Davidson before founding the Buell Motorcycle Company. Then in 2009, after six years of stuttering, they were gone.Įrik Buell is an engineer, entrepreneur and ex-racer. They were light, quick steering and innovative. Founded by the charismatic engineer Erik Buell, Buell carved out a reputation for performance machines wildly at odds with what you’d expect from an American bike.
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