Buell's humble beginnings...
Buell's humble beginnings all started in this shed. Here he stands next to the original VR-1000 prototype. Note the side-mount radiators.
Erik Buell is one of us. An enthusiast for as long as he could remember, racing has always been in his blood. In fact, it was while racing his Yamaha in the AMA that the notion of building his own racebikes crossed his head. With a background in mechanical engineering, the wheels were in motion to build a better racebike for the highest class in the AMA at the time: F1. And in his little shed in Muckwonago, Wisconsin he went to work. The year was 1985, and the very first Buell—the two-stroke RW750—had just been completed. Unfortunately, he only sold one bike before the AMA killed off the class. Under normal circumstances this would be enough of a blow to pack up and go home. But Erik Buell is no ordinary man. Instead, Erik’s focus changed. While his heart still lied in racing, the harsh reality was that there was no way he could keep up with the ever-changing rules in professional racing. This then forced his hand to production motorcycles. After leveraging a second mortgage on his home, he now had capital to start anew. A gamble that he risked every last penny in his name to make successful.
The VR also incorporated Buell's...
The VR also incorporated Buell's now trademarked fuel-in-frame design. If you look carefully at the nose you can see the filler tube. The furnace in the background was used to heat the shed during the winter.
ELVIS, or Electronic Linked...
ELVIS, or Electronic Linked Vital Information System, is Buell's proprietary software responsible for tracking every piece of every Buell made since the beginning of the decade.
But before a bike can ever make it to production it first has to be designed, analyzed, and tested. With a total staff of less than 200 employees (yes, less than 200) this is no easy task. Though each team wears multiple hats, functions can be broken down into those three departments.