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[J-Carr]

Nope.  In fact, if they loose or give up their Buell Service Authorization they would not even be allowed to do warrenty work.  It would have to be taken to another authorized dealer.  According to a friend at a dealership, they're allowed to work on the bike without voiding the warrenty, but Buell would have no obligation to reimburse the dealer for the labor or parts.

Ride Safe,
J-Carr

[sportygordy]

Nope.  In fact, if they loose or give up their Buell Service Authorization they would not even be allowed to do warrenty work.  It would have to be taken to another authorized dealer.  According to a friend at a dealership, they're allowed to work on the bike without voiding the warrenty, but Buell would have no obligation to reimburse the dealer for the labor or parts.

Ride Safe,
J-Carr

True DAT. I know one dealer in Sacramento that would give his left "emmm' for a Buell Dealership. Another dealership nearby is claiming record sales for the Buells, along with Sportsters. These are Calif stores,,. I think Local has a lot to do with Buell popularity.

[Jock]

 

[Puzzled]

Got an email from Harley Davidson of Washington (DC) the other day, they are getting rid of their Buells and are having a blow-out sale.  They have 4 1125R's going for $9k ($2800 off) and Lightnings for $7800.  (snip)

That is dirt cheap for a 1125R. I have been shopping and the best I found was 10K. I'll drive to save another 1K

[OhioDave]

That explains why there was only one Buell at the Harley display in Cleveland last month at the International Motorcycle Show.

[Mr. We]

One of our local shops (Colonial) still advertises that they sell Buells, but more importantly, they do sell the Vespa and Piaggio Scooters now... 

[Highjagger]

From Erik Buell himself : http://www.buell.com/en_us/

You can easily see that it was not easy for him . 

[Talon]

From Erik Buell himself : http://www.buell.com/en_us/

You can easily see that it was not easy for him .  

Yep, I just looked up the same thing, their closing. It's a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson.

[Twolanerider]

Wonder if there's a non-competition clause rolled up in all this somewhere that will keep him from doing anything outside of or not approved by HD?

[Puzzled]

I suspect and I know didly squat, that they are loosing the name only. I forsee a HD based Sport Bike in the Future. That would eliminate the Buell dealerships in the HD houses. Now it will all be HD based (name) products. Harley's 3rd quarter report was just released and here is a quote from it,

And with our product plan we are confident that we will continue to expand the appeal of Harley-Davidson motorcycles to the under age, under 35 age group.

[Puzzled]

Highlights From HOG's Q3 Conference Call; Discontinues Buell Brand, Sees More Dealerships Closing in N-T, But Int'l Growing

1:13 pm ET 10/15/2009 - StreetInsider

Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) reports Q3 EPS of $0.11, which includes items and may not compare to the analyst estimate of $0.21. Revenue for the quarter was $1.12 billion, which compares to the estimate of $1.1 billion. Surprisingly, shares are up 3.5% today.

Highlights From HOG's Q3 Conference Call:

Harley-Davidson is narrowing its guidance for full-year 2009 shipments, and now expects to ship 222,000 to 227,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles to dealers, including 35,000 to 40,000 during the fourth quarter. The Company continues to expect full-year gross margins to be between 30.5%-31.5%.

Harley-Davidson also unveiled major elements of its go-forward business strategy to drive growth through a single-minded focus of efforts and resources on the unique strengths of the Harley-Davidson brand, and to enhance productivity and profitability through continuous improvement. As approved yesterday by Harley-Davidson's Board of Directors, the Company will discontinue its Buell product line and divest its MV Agusta unit as part of this strategy.

(CFO) To-date we are on track with previously announced restructuring activities. We're working to reduce administrative cost, eliminate excess capacity and exit non-core operations.

Our decision to discontinue Buell and sell MV Agusta takes into consideration the following. Investment in the Harley-Davidson brand has provided greater returns than either the Buell or MV Agusta brands. Harley-Davidson customers have a much higher repeat purchase intend and our success in attracting new customers to the Harley-Davidson brand indicates the brand is well positioned to grow worldwide in the future.

The Buell dealer network will continue to sell new motorcycles into 2010 and provide service into the future. We have chosen to discontinue the Buell product line as oppose to selling the business in part because Buell is so integrated into the Harley-Davidson business systems and distribution network. From an accounting perspective, Buell is not considered a separate and distinct operation and as a result will not be presented separately as a discontinued operation.

Of approximately 125 million in total cost associated with the discontinuation of Buell. We expect to incur approximately $55 million of restructuring and impairment cost in 2009 related to contractual requirements, write down of asset and severance benefits. We also expect to reduce our hourly workforce by approximately 80 employees and our non-production primarily salaried workforce by approximately 100 employees.

During Q2, we recorded a $14.2 million impairment charge relate to the fixed asset associated with Buell.

In addition to restructuring charges, we anticipate approximately $60 million in cost related to helping our dealer sell their inventory and charges for absolute inventory which will negatively impact gross margin in Q4. In addition, we expect approximately $10 million of cost in 2010. Buell revenue was $134.9 million in 2008 and $59.4 million 2009 year-to-date.

Turning to our plans to divest MV Agusta. Like Buell ongoing investment in MV Agusta does not align with the company's long-term strategy. MV Agusta has value driven by its respected heritage, exciting products and passionate workforce. It is a standalone entity with a separate distribution network. As a result we expect to report MV Agusta results as a discontinued operation which means MV revenue, cost and earnings will be reported as a separate line item below Harley-Davidson's income from continuing operations beginning in Q4.

MV Agusta revenue was 15.9 million in 2008 and 42.9 million September year-to-date. Net losses were 30.1 million in 2008 and 52.6 million through the first nine months of 2009. This includes the $18.9 million, I'm sorry, this includes an $18.9 million impairment charge of good will related to the purchase of MV Agusta recorded in the third quarter.

[Zinister]

The guy that sits behind me at work was watching a video with Erik Buell giving the speech. He has a Buell and it's killing him to see them go out of business.


I bet the value of his biked dropped allot today and now he can't buy a new one to replace it in the future......a real bummer!!

[VaEagle]

I think it's a shame for H-D to stop production of the Buell and sell MV Agusta. My .02 is that H-D needs to attract a younger rider that doesn't have a lot of disposable income but wants a dependable bike with performance that comes right out of the showroom and they don't have to spend thousands to get it to run well. I don't believe that a new paint job or chrome bits on a Sportster will entice a younger rider away from the imports.
For anyone looking for a Buell, I just got an email from Hampton Roads H-D and Southside H-D in Virginia : they are selling the Buell blast for $1,000 off and the other Buells for $3,000 off (I am guessing MSRP prices) this month. Their email stated they would honnor warranties for Buells as well.

[BG]

I personnally like the Buell bikes.  I always thought that they were a well built alternative to the rice rockets.  I hate to see that they are going out of business but I can't say that I didn't see it coming. 

[ice6900]

Dealers are already pushing hard to sell there inventory of new bikes.

Got an email 2day from Buell, bla bla come n test ride a new Buell n get a free back pack ...........