BUELL WINS 2009 AMA DAYTONA SPORTBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP

HD needs to drop Buell and develop MV. It would not compete on showroom floor with HD and HD dealer would probably take better care of a high end customer.

 

Drop Buell immediately after winning?

 

Congrats to Buell. I have ridden and enjoy them.
I appreciate an American made sportbike.
Even if only partly local:
Air cooled=engine/tranny from USA, frame from Italy
Water cooled=frame USA, engine/tranny Austria

However, the rulebook was heavily skewed for Buell to win this one, so a hollow victory at best IMO. They gave Buell way too much displacement/weight edge. Example=inline 4 limited to 600cc while Buell had water cooled twin of 1125cc, almost double the size.
Other twins in series were smaller.

 

Eslick still rode his heart out. The real controversy is how the AMA let the new 1125RR (pure racebike and not built as a street model AT ALL) become magically homologated and available only to licensed racers for American Superbike class. Talk about a gift! Out of the box, it scored in the top 10 at the last race of the year.

That's pretty transparent favoritism for the AMA/DMG to give an American motorcycle that kind of advantage.

 

Seems an awful lot like Brock Lesnar beating B.J Penn, but wait.., even MMA won't let that event happen.

 

The only Buell rider to win races was Eslick in Daytona Sportbike, next Buell was usually out of the top 5. He just meshed with the bike well. KWS Aprilia struggled with two proven riders in Thompson and Davies. It wasn't until the end of the year that they were consistently near the front. The twins definitely had an advantage at some tracks, while the fours had the upper hand at other tracks.

The question is this: was 400cc was not enough for Aprilia, but 525cc was too much for Buell?

 

The Aprilia is basically a 10 year old design. KWS was only running it so they can get ready to roll with the RSV4 next year with Aprilia. But I see your point. However, the Buel had a huge power advantage on the RSV1000R and well, everything in the field. It was running an extra 20 pounds or so. Eslick simply had more skill than his teamates and could take advantage of it. You put any of the other top riders from the other teams on that Buell and they would have ran away with it also. Its a testament to the other teams that they ran the Buell so tough this year IMHO, you could see the riders pushing really hard on some tracks.

 

It is too bad Ducati still doesn't make the 999R. It would have absolutely spanked the Aprilia and Buell. The 848 was not really raced by a top team and had miserable results. If there ever is going to be an 848R, and a top team uses it, it would be competitive.

It seems the point of the rules (and I am not defending DMG by any means) was to have a variety of bikes in the same class. The KTM Superduke was also eligible. In the original draft even a GSXR750 was to run. With the Gixxer I though "game over, if you want to win you will be on one" But it was removed from the list soon after. Then again the liter Ducati would have been excluded for the same reason.

But love them or hate them, DMG adjusted the handicapping so that we did have close racing with several winners on a variety of machines. So many people are hung up on the displacement alone, but obviously there is more to making a production sportbike into a winning race bike. Buell (or anybody else) simply cannot build a 600 inline to compete with the Japanese. Triumph failed miserably. Few others have dared to try. Much better from a marketing perspective to differentiate yourself with a unique configuration and displacement.

I do think Buell deserves credit for building a machine that can compete with the best 600's that Japan Inc can build, both on the track and street. It needed extra displacement to do it, but take away Eslick and the Buell is considered a grid-filler. I actually hope he moves to another team and wins again, right now everyone assumes it is the bike.

The 1125r is the first Buell I have ever remotely considered actually buying (air-cooled = vibrating POS). So at least for one 30-something sportbike enthusiast with disposable income (ideal demographic?) Buell has already had one small success because of racing it.

 

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Sep/090915expdelfool.htm

 

so did the rules!

 

Where is the little barf icon ?

 

Buell has never been a profitable part of HD. I don't think winning AMA Sportbike will increase Buell sales. I rode 1125 at two of their track days and it was a fun bike. I would not buy one for a few reasons.

Now MV- I will put up with poor dealer body, parts supply etc.

 

Just make sure you don't park it near your Ferrari....some of the ugly might rub off.

 

I got your barf icon.....

 

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Sep/090918hondaout.htm

 

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38149

 

Dean Adams from SBP.com "I'm just curious: why on earth would any manufacturer sign up for more DMG abuse after what they have been exposed to, shown, and had their nose rubbed in this year? Why on earth would you actually allocate funds to a series which is essentially run so that DMG's favorite and special manufacturer of choice—Buell—can run rampant? Why would you build bikes and go to the track ready to race, when at any given moment, seriously, Buell throws together a bike not supported by the rule book and DMG will approve it for competition and will actually defiantly stand there and defend doing so, based seemingly in part on the idiotic justification that Mat Mladin's Superbike isn't street legal?"

 

First, a manufacturer goes racing to sell motorcycles. Winning this Championship will increase the pride of Buell ownership but it will not sell many 1125's. Ask the owner of any HD dealership if Buell contributes a profit or loss to their bottom line? Those dealerships have to carry Buell. Most HD dealers would drop Buell for economic reasons. I want HD dealers to be able to carry MV. An HD dealer is most likely profitable and better capitalized than most "Euro" dealers.

The 1125 retails for closer to $12K. No. MV Agusta does not sell an 11K motorcycle. For me, this would be comparing a Ferrari to Corvette (flame away). However, MV does sell in price range of the HD line up (16K-35K). The F4CC at $120K is a work of art and I would love to own one.

Winning any championship takes a lot work and I am not trying to take anything away from Buell or Danny. Eslick is one hell of a rider.

 

When Harley acquired MV I too hoped that many H-D dealers would also carry MV.

However, I have been told by two dealership owners and a lifetime employee at H-D (recently retired) that it is the other way around. One big reason H-D bought MV was for their dealer network in Europe.

That sounds quite hokey to me to spend north of $100M for a small marque and its meager dealership network, but they were all consistent in this message.

IMO, Erik Buell is considered the fair-haired boy within top H-D management and he has some say what is sitting next to his bikes in the dealerships. I doubt Buell has ever been in the black over the past 15 years of Harley ownership, but the profit/loss is reported together.

If you think about it though, it doesn't have to be either Buell or MV pairing with Harley. There would be room for both. The buyer for a CityX and an F41078RR are two different people.

 

thumbs up... i still have yet to ride the 1125? but I'm sure i willl, ive heard a lot of good things from some of the trackday riders/club racers.


this further supports their points.