Motorcycles produced by Buell a splash on the weekend with the launch of the new super cruiser bicycle. Based on the company’s 1190X sports bike, this new bike is based on Roland Sands’ Buell cruiser. This new bike is part of a lineup of products from Buell, which includes the 1190x and Hammerhead sports bikes, as well as the upcoming Baja mountain bike and a new sport touring bike.
Buell CEO Bill Melvin and an investment team bought the company out of bankruptcy and now he is looking forward to steady growth of the product. Buell’s history is certainly fascinating, but Melvin and his investment team have high hopes that they can revive Buell and build a successful all-American motorcycle company. So what does Melvin say about Buell’s future?
Why Roland Sands? I met Roland in 2004 at the V-Twin show (V-Twin Expo) and we got into the industry. I met Roland again when I relaunched Buell. I contacted him and said, ‘Hey, what do you think about building a great cruiser, something fascinating.’ It took about a year and a half.
What is Roland’s design brief? I said, ‘Keep the engine and the rear swing.’ That’s the key to why it handles so well. We decided to keep the racing front suspension, rim brakes and sport wheels. We keep that whole package.
Did you release Roland or did Buell work closely with him? That is cooperation. They have two ideas. They come back with ideas, and both are the same. We want to use performance components. What better handles that setup? That’s what we did. We will continue to have spotless notions. This is a collaborative effort. They really can’t believe it.
Will Roland also make Buell’s next bike? Right now we are riding on this wave. All are getting ready to get ready for the crowd. We’re going to Daytona. But, we have more than that, a sport bike, a naked one, the Baja. The next one to come off the production line will be the SuperTouring; Q3 is what we are aiming for.
You’ve established an interesting business model with lots of small displacement bikes instead of a top-of-the-line bike. We want to diversify the product line. American performance motorcycles, that’s Buell, and what does it look like? Baja, SuperTouring, 1190. Volume will increase. Our leadership team is built to build our company with leaders and talented team in the factory.
Don’t have any supply chain problems? Not much. We are working through it well. But we are also going slow. As that continues to grow, we are set to take on volume. We have received a lot of support from the business community (Michigan). They all wanted to help and give us ideas and make connections.
Where do you want Buell to be by the end of 2023? Let’s go with 2025. By the end of 2023, the supply chain will be running really smoothly. We want to have more service centers and premium service centers where people can touch and see current Buells. Behind the scenes, we’re trying to get the Super Cruiser out and get it done. We won’t rush that bike. We cannot rush. It’s been a hit and needs to be taken out of the factory, and when that becomes hot and called in, we’ll start with more.
So, in 2025? There is that bike, and there are other bikes as well. That’s all I can say. We will have a lot of exciting new things.
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