this explains the $3k drop in prices recently, at least one part of the equation.
http://www.buell.com/en_us/

Man, oh man     The rough economy doesn't always weed out the good from the bad; this is a classic case of a crap economy obliterating cottage industry.  A very sad day.  Only the bland survive...

And add to that, MV is up for sale as well.

Kind of a sad video to watch.

If they'd only hire somebody with an art degree to help them design the plastics and other aesthetics, they would have had some real winners.

HD's thinking: "Lets kill off the innovative branch" doesn't make a lot of sense to me, though I know there bread and butter comes from selling american iron.

All of this makes me wonder about the overall health of Harley Davidson.  Bet that's the next shoe to drop.  Tax dollar bail-out for The Motor Company?  

most of HD's money is made in apparel and after-market bolt-on products.  to that end, HD finance was the culprit of dragging down the financial standing of HD so in the interim they are planning on killing Buell (we know that already) but also divesting MV holdings to, as they say, "re-focus."

they are also looking at shutting down and moving the York, PA, location because of overall costs of doing business there with unbreakable contracts.  all this after the state of PA spent more than several million to update the plant not long ago.  I honestly don't think they will get Gov money right now or ever. 

HDFS successfully accessed credit markets for lending activities. A a $700 million term securitization transaction with a weighted average interest rate of 1.2 percent (not bad at all).

and from their balance sheet................
Cash and cash equivalents totaled $1.52 billion as of Sept. 27, 2009, compared to $504.4 million at the end of the year-ago period. Cash provided by operations was $511.1 million and capital expenditures were $89.4 million during the first nine months of 2009. For the full year, capital expenditures are now expected to be $125 million to $145 million, including $15 million to $25 million related to restructuring activities.

This is terrible, but good in a way.  Goodbye DMG.  They bent and made a mockery of the AMA rulebook to let these bikes race, ran off other manufacturers and ruined America's road racing scene.  Its sad, but I'm happy to see DMG lose their golden boy and plunge themselves deeper into the grave.  This is my opinion and of course it may prove controversial.

That's a sad video to watch. I met Buell in the early 80s when he was the importer of Dymag wheels, before he started building bikes. Again... very sad to see his dream die due to a screwed up economy. Wonder how well the HD shops will care for the exisiting customers. That's yet to be seen.

Quote from: Jester on October 15, 2009, 11:27:16 AM
This is terrible, but good in a way.  Goodbye DMG.  They bent and made a mockery of the AMA rulebook to let these bikes race, ran off other manufacturers and ruined America's road racing scene.  Its sad, but I'm happy to see DMG lose their golden boy and plunge themselves deeper into the grave.  This is my opinion and of course it may prove controversial.

I agree with the AMA stance you have.  Hell, look at the oval dirt tracks.  Every two feet there's a HD sign and nothing but XR1200's racing with one lone Ducati. 

i only watch wsbk and motogp (250 and gp, not enough time to also watch 125). ama can suck it.

Hopefully Erik will bounce back, maybe even better off without the bar and shield weighing him down.

Quote from: ato memphis on October 15, 2009, 01:18:53 PM
i only watch wsbk and motogp (250 and gp, not enough time to also watch 125). ama can suck it.

I think in times like these it is important to vent, to say what you really think, don't bottle it up   

if you can find one Buell's, the 1125cr's that is, are going for $5999.  Among others that are cheap cheap cheap cheap.

I've also heard that rumor... that's an awesome price if you were in the market for an out of production bike. Just hope Harley doesn't dick around all the Buell owners and treats them fairly in the future. I'd still like to see them on the road ten+ years from now. [moto]

I know someone with two 1125R's - one for track, one for street.  He just added a third as a "parts" bike    just in case HD pulls the rug out from under him.  Hell, for 6 grand...

7 years of parts will be on hand according to the HD bosses