Buell Motorcycles

Buell Motorcycle Company was founded by racer and engineer Erik Buell, with its first machine, the RW750, built in 1983 for AMA Formula 1 competition. Harley-Davidson took a majority stake in 1998, turning Buell into a subsidiary building distinctive American sportbikes. Harley discontinued the Buell line in October 2009 as part of a post-recession refocus on its core brand under new CEO Keith Wandell. Erik Buell subsequently founded Erik Buell Racing to keep building high-performance machines; India's Hero MotoCorp bought a 49.2% stake in EBR in 2013, but the business filed for receivership just two years later. The Buell name itself was revived in 2021 when Liquid Asset Partners acquired the brand and trademarks from Harley-Davidson. Today's Buell, led by Bill Melvin and based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, hand-builds bikes such as the Hammerhead 1190RX using mostly American-made parts - a small, independent revival rather than a return to its Harley-backed scale.