Erik Buell, Founder and CTO of Buell Motorcycles says it himself in his website. His Blast model was initially conceived as a first bike for somebody who has never been on a motorcycle. Something cute, light, low and easy to handle. But he admits that it has never been an innovative, breakthrough sport bike and that it has somewhat pulled away people from what is really a true Buell bike.
Because the Blast doesn’t fit with the brand, Erik has imagined a very creative way to announce its extinction. With a great sense of humor, by a process that he calls “ruthless engineering”, Erik Buell is shown turning Buell Blasts into colorful metal cubes (pick your color), each numbered and signed by Erik himself. Read this full “Crushing Story” and see 2 videos of the new re-designed Buell Blast (0 HP, 0 ft.lbs, 360 pounds) by jumping to this Buell Page.
Added Sept. 12, 2009 9.30 pm. Buell, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, will lay-off employees and is temporarily stopping production.
I dont care who you are, That’s funny!!
Steve Carr
….and there is always a knock on effect like for those guys Mac Motorcycles you posted about in June this year.
So, do we all suppose the Buell Layoffs, production stop may have some connection to the purchase of MV AUGUSTA? Any word on H-D pushing them more into the US?
I have seen this design with a Buell before, Why do they get the credit.
Kudos to Eric for his creative genius with a motorcycle. Finally you have an engine “1125” Rotax “that is more conducive to a sport bike.
Mating up with Bombardier/Rotax to design a power plant that has potential, was a great step forward in showcasing your strength as a builder/manufacturer.
But here it goes, crushing a Buell blast is not crushing news, designing it to begin with was crushing enough.
Now comes the ” crushing news ” that Buell has garnered the AMA /DMG Sportbiket bike championship for 2009. congrats !
A class where the Buell 1125cc competed against 600 cc four cylinders. Buell is on its game, I just can’t imagine how one was so successful in just one year of racing.
We will be waiting to see the ads for Buells racing victory. The competition won’t stand a chance.
Looks like a typical Willie G. design to me …… at least if it sells he will take full credit for it away from Eric !
Over & Out,
Jeff
Cute way to turn a mistake into a PR karate chop
steveb
http://45dgree.com/
RE:
“…colorful metal cubes…”
Enough of em might make an interesting wall.
-nicker-
Interesting. The Blast was a great entry-level bike, and market competition for the 650 Suzuki Savage. Super “disposable” bike for the Riders Ed courses. Guess neither the Harley or Buell name was suitable for the tank? Don’t think that’s a good call for a company losing market share. When folks would ask about a good “first bike” I used to recommend the Blast or Savage, guess now it’ll just be the Savage.
HOW MANY OF THESE CUBES WILL MAKE IT TO CHINA ?
It’s a real shame that Buell never imported the Blast into the UK where it would have sold like hot cakes, especially with most sports bikes not suiting shorter – and yes, usually female – riders. A few were brought over for the H-D Riders School, and people who rode them liked them, and were disappointed to find they weren’t available here. Quite a marketing opportunity missed.
i was told that they are still going to make blast’s for the riders training course that harley dealerships have, but that they wont be selling them to the public anymore.
can they be used for coffie tables or end tables
I don’t see how that could possibly be profitable? All that tooling & floorspace to sell a few thousand bikes? Maybe they’ll make ’em in China?
It might have been better to let the Buell Blast fade from memory into oblivion, rather than glorify it as a failure as a piece of crushed sculpture. It assures that Buell Blast owners will now never want to buy another Harley after being ridiculed for their purchase of the Blast.
As for Fuji’s Comment: “Now comes the ” crushing news ” that Buell has garnered the AMA /DMG Sportbike championship for 2009. congrats ! A class where the Buell 1125cc competed against 600 cc four cylinders. Buell is on its game, I just can’t imagine how one was so successful in just one year of racing”
This really shows what a screw-up the new Daytona Motorsports Group has made of the AMA roadracing championship with the Daytona 600cc Sportbike class where a 1125cc DOHC 4-valve Twin Buell can run with 600cc fours and Ducati 848cc V-Twin? An embarassing inequality to say the least.
At the AMA Superbike season final at New Jersey last week in the premier Pro Superbike Class composed of 1000cc Japanese 4-cylinder superbikes and 1200cc Ducati superbikes, the Buell 1125cc Rs finished a very competitivie 6th and 8th place against bikes its same displacement size.
New Jersey Motorsports Sept 5th Saturday Superbike:
1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha)
2. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki)
3. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
4. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha)
5. Larry Pegram (Ducati)
6. Taylor Knapp (Buell)
7. Blake Young (Suzuki)
8. Cory West (Buell)
9. Damian Cudlin (Suzuki)
10. Geoff May (Suzuki)
13. Neil Hodgson (Honda)
So for DMG to allow the same 1125cc Beull to cherry pick in the 600cc Daytona Sportbike class which is 3 seconds a lap slower than the Superbike class is a joke. Let alone award them the Championship in that class for 2009
And don’t give Buell too much credit for building this 1125R sportbike. The engine, suspension, brakes and wheels were designed, built and sourced from other manufacturers in Europe and Japan. They had to do this as the aircooled Sportster engine is not a viable sportbike engine.
I don’t think it is cool,clever or humorous to turn a brand new little bike
into colored cubic scrap.
It would have been better if the surplus Blasts were given to Randy Mamola
for his Ride for health charity, where they could have productive lives doing
good for people who would appreciate them.
They deserve a lot more respect than they got here.
Jim Gianatsis :
Good to see someone pick up on my slant on the Buell.
Amazing how people buy into promotional gimmicks/farsts.
I can see Harley Davidson accepting the trophy for ther lopsided victory [true to form] but, for all the comments on Eric Buell being a stand-up guy, it would seem a little contradictory for him to step forward in the shadows of the company and accept such a bogus feat.
I have for a long time wondered how the company would approach their endeavors in racing with the Buell and the 1125, so none of this comes as a surprise.
They have been going downhill for years, guess it’s catching up with the buell company.