The big domestic iron is usually made in generous quantities, but in the early days at Buell they were handcrafted in a suburban Milwaukee quonset hut. The early RSS1200 monoposto was made for only a couple of years and totalled just 98. This original owner put on just 12,000 miles during the 25-plus years of…
Early on at Buell, Erik was transitioning to road machines, lining up dealers, arranging drive-trains with Harley, and a couple of hundred was a successful model. A break in the weather ( or maybe the no-reserve auction ) has generated some interest in this low-mile RS1200. 1991 Buell RS1200 for sale on eBay The RS1200…
One of Buell’s last Harley-powered models, the XB12 Super TT has a slightly longer and more stable XB2 chassis, powered by the 1203cc pushrod twin. Styled as a super / hyper street machine, it’s a great performer and snappy dresser. 2007 Buell XB12 Super TT for sale on eBay Part of the XB2 upgrade was…
On the upswing in the later 20th century, Erik Buell was a sharp engineer who developed a succession of street machines from his weakness for race bikes. The RR1200 Battletwin was based on the classic Harley-Davidson twin, expanded to 1198cc, used Buell’s own “isoplanar” engine mounts, and had a contemporary streamliner body. This example has…
Erik Buell’s creations have almost always been over on the wild side, and this later 1200cc Westwind is no exception. Built in quite limited numbers, it had several innovations, and a big Harley twin which booked more ft.-lbs than hp. The Kansas example has low miles and appears un-fettered, should clean up nicely. 1990 Buell…
Patriotic bike enthusiast, racer, and entrepreneur Erik Buell had a dream: to make an all-American sportbike. That would have been nearly impossible for a small-timer to do if he’d insisted on creating an engine from scratch to power the bike, so Buell took a proven, iconic American motor and stuck it into his new motorcycle.…
Not long after Harley-Davidson purchased a 49 percent stake in Buell Motorcycles, the company introduced their more mass-produced bikes, the 1995-96 S2 Thunderbolt touring bike, and curiously afterward, the S1 Lightning sportbike in 1996-98. With total production of about 5,000 units, the S1 was a nice success for Buell as they tooled up for the…
Given a clean sheet of paper and nearly unlimited resources, it’s no surprise when major manufacturers come up with good motorcycles. In fact, when you consider those factors, it’s shocking how often they get it wrong… But Buell had neither advantage in building his motorcycles and still managed to come up with some very interesting…