Erik Buell quits Harley, founds new company

Looks like the Free Erik Buell t-shirts worked, he’s quitting Harley to setup a new company, Erik Buell Racing. “It will mean a lot to me personally to see Buell racers competing for wins and championships in the 2010 season and beyond,” says Erik. His new company will supply race-use-only Buell motorcycle parts, prepare bikes for competition and will build and sell Buell 1125R racebikes under license from Harley. The company will be based in East Troy, Wisconsin and many current Buell employees will be offered jobs. Hooray! We wonder what this means for the SBK-ready Buell Baracuda II. Official statement below.

Update: Don’t get your hopes up that this news will mean the return of Buell street bikes, at least in the near term. Since the 1125R has already been homologated by AMA Pro Racing, it can continue to compete. The rule book states: “Once a motorcycle has been approved, it may be used until such time that the homologated motorcycle no longer complies with the technical rules.”

Update 2: You can now find Erik’s video statement above. Compare how happy he looks here to his video announcement that Harley killed Buell.>

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