A proud American in the streets of Paris

Proud to be American

Not as widely known as parent company Harley-Davidson products, but not shy to show they are from America, Buell Sport motorcycles have developped personalities of their owns. Today, I had the opportunity to picture this mighty and aptly named Thunderbolt enjoying a rest before roaring again.


Some history

The Buell Motorcycle Company is an American motorcycle manufacturer based in East Troy, Wisconsin and founded by ex-Harley-Davidson engineer Erik Buell. The company first partnered with Harley-Davidson in 1993, and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harley by 2003. On November 17, 2006, Buell announced that it had produced and shipped its 100,000th motorcycle.

The first Buell motorcycle, the RW750, was built in 1983 purely for competing in the AMA Formula 1 motorcycle road racing championship. At that time, Erik Buell was a top contending privateer motorcycle racer. After completion of the first two RW750 racing machines, one of which was sold to another racing team, the Formula 1 series was cancelled. Buell then turned his focus towards racing-inspired, street-going machines using engines manufactured by Harley. In 1993, Harley-Davidson Incorporated joined in partnership with Buell Motor Company as a 49% stakeholding minority partner and the company formed was renamed "Buell Motorcycle Company". In 1998 Harley purchased majority control of Buell, and it has been a subsidiary ever since. Since then, Buell has used modified Harley-Davidson Sportster engines to power its motorcycles.

More here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buell_Motorcycle_Company