Quote: Very short sightedness on HD's part. These ventures were to bring new riders to their family, and now they will loose the future. I really was considering a buell for the mountains in NC. Now I'm not so sure.
Yeah, it probably is short-sighted on H-D's part alright Paul, however I never got the impression that H-D management OR, as Bob mentioned above, the dealerships really were ever all that much into helping Erik Buell in his venture, other than maybe throwing money his way and hoping for a return in their investment.
Case in point:
A decade and a half ago Harley campaigned their prototype engine in their VR1000 race bike which they entered into the AMA Superbike series. It never did all that well in that series, however it was a major step forward in design for them. That motor, which would ultimately be placed into their V-Rod models WOULD HAVE BEEN much better placed into a Buell motorcycle than what Erik appeared to have been regulated to do, which was tryin' to make a relatively ancient design Sportster motor perform as well as he could in his lineup of mostly sport-oriented motorcycles.
But, as we know, the powerplant in Buell motorcycles never did become reasonably "modern"(i.e. water-cooled, OHC or DOHC) until just recently when he made the decision to outsource them from Rotax.
And so, I feel this once again seemed to be a major mistake on Harley's behalf YEARS ago, and in my mind pretty much sealed his fate years ago too!
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
