“You’ve got all these bad ass cars, why don’t we have cool bikes?” Well, Erik Buell is here to fix that conundrum with his EBR 1190RS. We realised we skipped the Buell “Made in America” episode three video from the EBR Nation series, so that’s above, and after the jump is a close look at the bike itself and what it’s like to ride.

Described as looking like an “exotic, high performance machine” on the aesthetic front the EBR 1190RS is up there with some of the best bikes on the market and we’d agree. The great thing about this particular motorcycle is that Erik Buell has made it specifically with racing in mind - it’s about competing and that’s the driving notion behind this bike.

Aside from the technical aspects of the bike and what it’s like to ride, Erik Buell says something very pointed in the video above and that’s about innovation in America. Rather than sitting around “waiting for someone to take care of you”, he and his team have gotten on with the job, being “pioneering” and “willing”, and have produced a great bike doing so. It’s something to be noted in our world of economic downturn and presumptions over job guarantees, and proves that innovation in the 21st century is just as important as it was 100 years ago.

Continue reading: Erik Buell Made in America and 1190RS We Are Here videos

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From the Prologue to the making of the EBR 1190RS, we go to another video called “Fingertips” on the new Erik Buell Racing 1190RS bike. The video series - EBR Nation - traces the creation of the new Buell bike and the man himself says he wanted to be “pioneering” and “innovative”.

Does that sound like bragging? Who cares, really, as Erik Buell is probably one who can brag about his engineering prowess. More from Geoff May in the video reveals how good the EBR 1190RS handling is and, despite the research and development that’s gone into it, just how easy it is to ride it fast.

There’s also more on its power delivery, throttle response and traction from Tony Stefanelli, although the video is not loaded with information. At this stage we’ll forgive them all the hyperbole - check it out in the video.

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There’s no doubt that the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS is a hot bike and now it looks like we’ll get a series of videos on the making of the EBR 1190RS, starting with this prologue. The new bike from the brain of Erik has made its AMA Pro Superbike racing debut, and now we get to see just exactly what goes into this impressive (and expensive) US sports bike.

The word that Erik Buell “held nothing back on this bike” (from Geoff May) reveal what the man intended to do - come back into the industry and prove exactly what he could make. Luckily for us, it’s not always true that great people have nothing to prove because that’s exactly what they like doing, and these are the kinds of creations we get.

The man himself says “I’m Erik Buell and I do motorcycles”. And we’d like to see more here in Europe, please. Nice video - we’ll be bringing you more if it proves to be a series.

Source | A&R

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Bolted-on fairing never looked so good as on the 2012 Erik Buell Racing 1190RS road bike - and it never cost as much, either. The hot new creation from reborn Erik Buell’s racing bike building outfit is going on sale in a limited run of just 100 models in the US, and the base price kicks off at a whopping $39,999 USD. That converts to about 26,650 euros and here in Europe it’s being described as more than justifiable given the engineering prowess behind this machine, and the fact it’s almost a hand-built and designed bike.

The Erik Buell Racing 1190RS superbike is truly a powerful unit with 175 hp and weighing just 176 kg, dry. The roadgoing bike has been based directly on its racing big brother, and with the team focusing on its production, 100 units will be made in the course of 2012. The components are top quality, using an Ohlins front fork, rear TTX shock and a purpose-built EBR braking system. An Erik Buell Racing 1190RS carbonfibre edition is also available (for another $4,000 US). We doubt if any of these will be hitting European roads, but we’d love to see them if they do. 1190RS full technical specs after the jump.

2012 Erik Buell Racing 1190RS

Continue reading: Erik Buell Racing 1190RS street bike released

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The 2011 Dakar rally has a list of the usual suspects for its motorcycle categories, but with a few changes in the number of participants. Making its presence felt is the new 450cc capacity rules, meaning that KTM has a lot less bikes in the rally this year than previously. There will be a reduction from 126 to 62 KTM bikes, but the flipside is that other manufacturers are increasing their competition, with Yamaha, Honda, Aprilia and BMW all entering extra bikes.

This is not to say that KTM won’t take home the prize in the 2011 Dakar anyway with its new 450 Rally bike; it’s been on a winning run since 2000 after all. Last year, though, it had to share the podium with the new Aprilia RXV 4.5. Meanwhile, news has broken that before Harley-Davidson killed off the Buell brand, there was an Erik Buell 450cc off-road model in the works.

According to an interview between Buell and motorcycle journalist Alan Cathcart, that offroad project is back in the development books. The 450cc Buell offroader uses a single-cylinder Rotax motor and has an aluminium frame, although it may not be the lightest bike in this segment. While Erik Buell Racing is clearly born of track roots and will probably stay that way, it plans on investing specifically in the reliability of its offroad model.

Continue reading: The 2011 Dakar rally and future Erik Buell offroader in the works?

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Another motorcycle brand jumping on the teaser video band wagon (we don’t mind for the moment but how long will this go on for?) is Erik Buell Racing, who has produced this video of its first street-legal bike, the 1190RS. It’s based on the 1190RR track-only bike and should be available from February next year in the US.

The racing bike was originally based on the Buell Barracuda 2 which never made it to production before Harley-Davidson shut down Buell operations, but the new 1190RS will be equipped with a v-twin engine. We’re expecting more videos to come but so far the Americans are not happy with the marketing efforts, saying that this world class, high end bike comes across as a red-neck barn build (from HFL).

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Here’s a look at the Erik Buell Racing model 1190RR, and a lot of online readers are wondering why it was never built with this design in the first place. Hopes are that one day the racing bike will still give birth to a street based model, and with a bit of access to market, maybe we could see Buell bikes back on the roads. Enthusiasm is going rife, and in the last Daytona 200, three Buell bikes made it into the top 20.

The goofy air of the 1125R is still there, but generally speaking the Buell 1190RR has a far more elegant design and seems to indicate an evolution in Erik Buell style. There is still plenty of support out there for Erik and his engineering credentials, and if these bikes get the opportunity they deserve on the track, we could soon see some more developments for the company and the brand, once the Harley Davidson chains have totally been thrown off. For more details, see the Erik Buell Facebook page.

Erik Buell Racing 1190RR

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Buell’s new-look racing company has sold its first race bikes to the Pegasus Race Team, who will use them in the European Sound of Thunder Series. The two bikes are 1190RR-B European spec superbikes, and will join other bikes, the 1125R and XB, in support classes.

2009 Sound of Thunder champion, Harald Kitsch will ride the new bikes, and Buell is hoping this will be the first success story for the new chapter in the company history. Erik Buell says:

“We are extremely pleased that the Pegasusrace team will be the first team in the world to get the new 1190RR-B. Over the years, I’ve been very impressed with every aspect of their organization and I know they will do well,” said Erik Buell of Erik Buell Racing. “We’ve been working very hard to develop this bike and get our race shop set up and organized as we begin to showcase the finest race parts and technology we can deliver without restriction.”

Buell 1125R

Source | Motorcyclist

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In the news of Harley Davidson killing off Buell, many a comment on the internet was about how fans would love to see Buell get a chance at racing, properly. In a kind of consolation prize from Harley, but one which we hope will kick some dust in their eyes, the Buell name will live on in a racing capacity only, and we won’t be seeing any road bikes.

Erik Buell will head up the new Erik Buell Racing company, to be based at the Buell factory in Wisconsin, which will also retain some of the workers from Buell that were looking at losing their jobs on Harley Davidson closing production. The new Erik Buell Racing company will supply the Buell 1125R to racing teams.

The new business is being supported by Harley Davidson, and hopefully we should see some new racing developments and technology come out of the Erik Buell Racing initiative. The Buell 1125R is homologated for the Pro-Racing circuit and as long as its specifications comply with the rules, it can be used in racing. More details in the press release, and a video, after the jump.

Buell 1125R

Continue reading: Buell back with Erik Buell Racing

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