International Dealer News IDN 124 April/May 2015 | Page 40

news ROOM

Erik Buell Racing (EBR)
BRIEFS runs out of money

NEWS
Indian manufacturer Royal
Enfield, whose parent company
Eicher is in a joint venture with
Polaris, posted record income in
2014 of $482m, says it sold
300,000 units in 2014, plans to
manufacture 450,000 in 2015,
and will open a new technology
centre in the UK by the end of
this year - not far from Triumph's
factory in Leicestershire.
German carbon parts
manufacturer 3C Caron
Group have bought the
Horex brand, the German
manufacturer of the VR6,
who filed for bankruptcy in
September last year. Horex
unveiled a new prototype,
the Rf4, at INTERMOT last
October, but failed to secure
hoped-for refinancing and
closed at the beginning of
December.
Kawasaki maybe about to follow
up its 2013 first ever Scooter
launch (the J300), having filed
trademarks at Europe's Office for
Harmonization in the Internal
Market for J500 and J125. It is
unknown whether the new
models will be genuine Kawasaki
models, or again be re-badged
Kymco scooters.
Swiss conglomerate
Hostettler has opened a US
warehouse for its iXS apparel
brand. iXS USA has put its
towel down at Deerfield
Beach, Florida, and is actively
seeking dealers. It is believed
that the company's US range
will be its Gore-Tex licensed
products.

40

ERIK Buell Racing, the East Troy,
Wisconsin based motorcycle
manufacturing business that Erik Buell
established after Harley closed Buell
Motorcycles is 2009, has itself "ceased
operations" according to reports in the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Those reports say that the company
has more than $20 million in
outstanding liabilities and that it has
placed itself in receivership with a
state court ultimately to decide the
outcome of a filing process that will
see bids made for the remaining assets
of the business.
Erik Buell Racing (EBR) closes
leaving 126 employees out of work,
and a big question mark over what, if
anything, Erik Buell will be able to do
next.
In addition to Buell's own money,
EBR had received $25 million in 2013
in exchange for a 49.2 percent
ownership stake from India's Hero
MotoCorp, the world's largest
motorcycle/PTW manufacturer in unit
terms.
The news has industry observers
questioning the viability of Hero
MotoCorp as what was described at
the time as a "strategic partner" for
such an ambitious project.
Following the launch of its 1190RS
race bike in 2011, Buell used the Hero
investment to fund development of the
1190RX production model, unveiled in
2013, and the 1190SX streetfighter
styled 'Superfighter' that was unveiled
last year.
Recent reports suggest that the
company was also working on another
new model, believed to be an
adventure tourer designated 1190AX,
but production at the East Troy EBR
factory was, in theory, only part of the
equation.
Buell and the impressive line up of

INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - APR/MAY 2015

engineers that he had hired were
contributing to development of new
Hero models including the HX250R
that is expected to be among the initial
offers if Hero MotoCorp follows
through on its November 2014 Milan
show announcement to and start
selling in selected European markets
later this year.
EBR's ambitions have also included
the creation of its own race team, the
establishment of its own European
subsidiary, based in the Netherlands,
and pursuit of a number of other
future-facing projects including a
400hp gas-electric motorcycle engine
that Buell is reported as having
patented recently.
In a statement cited by the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Buell is

quoted as saying "the turn we recently
took, after we thought we were
moving forward, was unexpected. We
thought we had secured funding, but
in the end, we were not able to get the
funding in place.
"To say this setback is a
disappointment does not begin to
express what I feel right now. I am
personally grateful for the support of
our outstanding workers, customers
and vendors. While this is a sad
ending, I personally hope for a new
and better beginning."

Unveiled in 2014, the 1190SX 'Superfighter' as EBR were terming it
demonstrated the flexibility of the 1190 platform and the direction that EBR
wanted to take.