The recent news that the Buell Motorcycle Company is going out of business came as a shock to many, and followed a year of controversy for Buell in AMA roadracing. Harley-Davidson’s sport bike division has struggled to compete with the likes of Honda, Yamaha and Ducati, but they were ultimately defeated by the global economy. The company recently celebrated their first AMA roadracing championship in the Daytona SportBike division with Danny Eslick riding a Buell 1125R to the title. Eslick won the championship in the final round at New Jersey against a field that included the Yamaha YZF-R6, Honda CBR600RR, Suzuki GSX-R600, Ducati 848 and Aprilia RSV1000R.The fact that the 1125R was racing in a series where many of the bikes were powered by 600cc engines made the bike’s presence controversial from the start, but Eslick didn’t dominate the competition. The bike did have a power advantage, but the more nimble 600cc bikes had an advantage on the tighter circuits while the Buell showed it’s strength on tracks where it could stretch its legs. The company also introduced a customer race bike for the American Superbike class called the 1125RR during the season. The fact that the bike was built for the sole purpose of racing and didn’t adhere to the AMA’s requirement of being certified for the street led to more controversy.
In the end it comes down to more people being out of jobs in an economy where unemployment continues to move in the wrong direction. The Daytona SportBike championship produced exciting racing week in and week out despite the power advantage of the Buell. With Buell’s demise and Honda’s recent withdrawal the future of AMA roadracing after a turbulent season under new management is at a crossroads. Recently retired and newly crowned American Superbike champion Mat Mladin summed up his feelings on Twitter, “I just met Eric Buell at New Jersey for the first time. Don't know him personally, but seemed like a great bloke. I have detached myself from the racing since the last race, but with Buell’s demise today it is hard to not feel sad about racing in the USA”.
