4 Years ago Erik Buell had to face his employees and tell them that HOG(NYSE) was shutting his company down, and they’d all soon be unemployed. Just as bad, their dream of an American world class motorcycle was dying. But Erik and his infamous “elves” were not so easily defeated. While HOG(NYSE) sold off tooling and wouldn’t even let Erik put his own good name on a motorcycle, they quietly started a whole new company in a desolate garage just feet from the factory HOG(NYSE) kicked them out of. They found new investors and suppliers, and further developed the brilliant water cooled V-twin Buell sportbike that HOG(NYSE) first bankrolled and then abandoned along with Buell.

http://www.erikbuellracing.com/

And is Buell ever back! Click on “Motorcycles”, and peruse the specs… 185 HP, gobs of torque, traction control (it’ll need it), and the weight of a 600. Totally, utterly, and completely competitive with the world’s best superbikes, even if they’re built by billion dollar corporations. Yup, it’s narrowly focussed and at nearly $20k I can see why the dealer list is a bit short. But the dream is alive again, and this bike is the “bootstrap” that will bring Buell back to life. But HOG(NYSE) still owns that name, so they can’t officially call it a Buell…