Buell Motorcycle is a name you might not have heard of in a while, but the company has risen like a phoenix and was brought back to life a few years ago. The new company promised new motorcycles, and it’s seemingly delivering. The Buell Super Cruiser, a properly nutty cruiser with 175 HP of sportbike levels of wheelie-popping power, is going on sale with production getting closer. This novel machine is a first for Buell and I can’t wait to ride it. After you read this, you’ll see why.
A few days ago, Buell Motorcycle announced that the order banks for the new Super Cruiser were opening. The motorcycle was announced back in February 2023 and a few select outlets got to test the bikes back in the spring of this year. Now, the company seems to be on the path to delivering on its promise of actually putting the things into production.
It also helps that the motorcycle in question is simply silly. The Buell Super Cruiser is the company’s first cruiser and it has the 1190cc V-twin heart of a sportbike and so much power you can pop epic wheelies. Move over, Harley and Indian!
Now, I must remind you that despite the name Buell being thrown around a lot here, motorcycle visionary Erik Buell has nothing to do with this motorcycle or the company bearing his name. Erik Buell is still working on an electric commuter motorcycle under the company called Fuell. On the other hand, the current incarnation of Buell is the work of the company that liquidated Buell when Harley-Davidson killed it and also the same company that liquidated Erik Buell Racing (EBR) when that firm failed.
So, Buell’s name is all over the business and bikes, but technically it doesn’t have anything to do with him. I say “technically” because this new Buell Motorcycle company hit the ground running by selling warmed-over EBRs, which are originally of an Erik Buell design. That means you can still buy a Buell-designed motorcycle even though he hasn’t yet returned to making motorcycles.
Back when this new Buell company was created, it promised 10 totally new motorcycles by 2024. The company missed this mark and it wasn’t even close. Buell has announced only three new motorcycles with the Super Cruiser, the Supertouring, and the Baja 1190. Of these three, only the Super Cruiser is confirmed to enter production soon and only the Super Cruiser has been in the hands of journalists.
Buell is asking a pretty penny for these things, and we’ll get to that in a bit. But let’s see what you’d get.
So Much Power
The fascinating thing about the Buell Super Cruiser is that it’s really just a Buell sportbike trapped in the bones of a cruiser.
Buell tapped famous designer Roland Sands of Roland Sands Design for the Super Cruiser, and his mission was to incorporate as many existing Buell components as possible into something shaped like a cruiser. Sands sounds like a solid choice here. He had a history of racing bikes before getting into crafting award-winning designs, which fits well into the Buell Motorcycle canon.
Of course, having Sands rob the company’s existing parts bin saves the reborn Buell a bunch of development cash. But it also results in an oddball of a bike, unlike purpose-built muscle cruisers like the Triumph Rocket 3. Its engine is the Buell 1190cc V-twin, an engine that was originally an evolution of the 72-degree Rotax Helicon V-twin and powers the company’s sportbikes. The Super Cruiser also employs the Buell 1190 platform’s existing 17-inch wheels, structural swingarm, adjustable fork, and signature perimeter brakes.
Basically, the Super Cruiser might as well be a Hammerhead 1190RX built to outrun Harleys and weaker sportbikes rather than tear up a track.
Now, if you’re seeing some Harley in this Sands design, that’s not a coincidence. Sands says his inspiration for the Super Cruiser design was the Harley-Davidson FXR, a bike known its good handling thanks to none other than Erik Buell. The Super Cruiser is supposed to be a club-style motorcycle, which means a small and sleek headlight shroud and blacked out everything. It’s lean, mean, and looks menacing just sitting still.
Unfortunately, Buell is still pretty quiet about the Super Cruiser’s final spec sheet. The company says the engine is tuned to 175 HP and 101 lb-ft of torque. Cycle World got to test a prototype and reports that this engine has power all over the rev range, but really wakes up past 5,000 RPM and it sounds like you’re riding a steel thoroughbred above 8,000 RPM. This engine makes 185 HP in Buell’s sportbikes and redlines at 11,500 RPM in the same applications. Cycle World also notes that this thing makes so much power that you’re racing on to triple digit speeds while you’re still in just third gear. In other words, this bike lives up to its name in first impressions.
On paper, the Buell Super Cruiser is shaping up to be one of the fastest cruisers ever put into mass production. However, it won’t be the most powerful. The 2024 Triumph Rocket 3 Storm makes an impressive 180 HP and 166 lb-ft of torque, which leaves the Buell in the dust with its twist.
However, the Buell does have other tricks up its sleeve. That Triumph weighs a porky 706 pounds and you’re straddling a beefy 2.45-liter engine. The Buell is comparatively a featherweight at a projected production weight as low as 450 pounds. Ignoring the chunky Triumph, the Buell is still much lighter than other muscle bike fare with a lot more power.
Hopefully, Buell keeps on target with the projected specs because if it does, this thing will be a ball to ride. At the very least, ride reviews of the prototypes make the Super Cruiser sound so fun.
For The ‘Yutes’
Buell Motorcycle says its target market is the younger crowd that craves speed and performance in a cruiser. Well, young people tend to buy cheaper bikes right now, so how much will the Super Cruiser cost? Buell finally announced pricing and my estimate was right on the money. The 2025 Buell Super Cruiser will start at $25,900, or $23,900 for the company’s early bird special. That $25,900 is on par with other crazy muscle cruisers, but more expensive bikes tend to attract older riders.
In a 2023 press release, Buell says it earned $120 million in pre-orders, but the devil is in the details. That sounds like a ton of cash, but assume all of these pre-orders are for the early bird $23,900 bikes and that’s just 5,020 motorcycles. That number also assumes all of those $50 minimum pre-orders convert into purchases. As a side note, I would recommend Buell turn off comments on its press releases as each one is filled with spam for escort services and outright scams. Prospective customers aren’t going to be entertained with that stuff.
At any rate, Buell is moving on from pre-orders, and on September 12, the company will start taking deposits. Until November 12, the deposits are open only to those with pre-orders and you have to pay at least $1,000 to lock in that $23,900. After November 12, the books open to the masses for $25,900. Buell says the first customer units hit the road next fall. So if you want one and think Buell will deliver, now is the time to get in line.
It’s great to say that progress is being made on this project. Too many awesome ideas come and go without ever seeing the light of day. Of course, the Super Cruiser is still a year out, so I’m not sure I’d be throwing in all of my cash just yet. Still, a 175 HP, 450-pound muscle bike with the heart of a sportbike and the looks of a Harley sounds just too wicked. Hopefully, Buell pulls it off because I want to be one of the first to ride the bad boy.
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It looks like a parts-bin FXR bootleg with a superbike motor.
I see absolutely zero problems with this.
I still lament the loss of the Mighty V-Max. 200 Plus HP and it would idle around all day without much fuss.
All that money to have what looks like a really powerful Honda Rebel.
I don’t hate it, but that is what came to mind when I first saw it
The frame looks cheap to me, the first thing that came to mind was “embiggened Coleman pit bike”.
Why a company even has a comments section on a press release is beyond me.
They really should’ve hired a graphic designer. My eyes hurts from looking at the tank graphics … and the rest of the bike.
Why? Is this one of those things that “you need to be a designer” to get, cuz it looks fine to me.
*reopens Rocket 3 tab in a Private window*
Post HD Buell was cool for a few years but after Erik ran Buell 2.0 out of buisness I lost hope in that name.
Erik certainly isn’t the best businessman, but I don’t think it’s fair to say he ran it out of business. Lots of factors lead to the downfall, but it was always an uphill battle from the start. There was a slim chance it was ever going to make it.
That seat is dorky. The headlight cowl points to the ground, and nothing in the design flows. It’s a terrible looking motorcycle, and it’s sad that Eric Buell’s name is on it. He deserves better.
no he doesnt. have you watched him swindle people out of money with post Buell startups. Take a look at Fuell
Uggghhhh and the wheels are an ugly mismatch
You are wrong.
So after a quarter century has passed, Buell liquidators gives us a 1997 Cyclone with worse egos… I’ll keep my 2001!
A company named after a brilliant famous person that has nothing to do with them and has over-promised and under-delivered…hmmmm, seems familiar??!!
projected production weight as low as 450 pounds
Consider me highly skeptical.
The company says its current prototypes weigh around 470 pounds, so they just have to find 20 pounds to lose…or say 450 pounds is the dry weight. 🙂
There’s obviously way more to engineering than just tube diameter but those fork legs and frame tubes look really thin for bike that makes as much power as a SUV.
I wish. Right now I’m trying to talk myself out of picking up a clean Blast. 😐
But this… I dunno. It seems wrong to support an organization selling something with EB’s initials on it – i.e. trading on his name – when he wasn’t part of the project.
Yeah, I do wish the liquidation company chose a different name, but it’s clear they wanted to cash in on that name recognition. To his credit, Erik has been a good sport about the whole thing, directing more blame at Harley than at the liquidators:
“At the end of the day, it’s just a brand name. At one time it stood for innovation, but it was parked by H-D for 12 years. Time will tell what becomes of it next.”
And to pull back the curtain a little, Buell’s current venture is thankful that we’re one of the only outlets that routinely makes it clear that neo-Buell doesn’t involve Erik.
The 1190 engine is pretty cool for sure – Danny Eslick won the AMA Daytona Sportbike championship in 2010 (I think) with one. But as Erik points out, that was a long time ago.
Now the whole Fuell thing, an into-the-future electric bike, THAT sounds like Erik Buell’s mojo for sure.
That power to weigh ratio definitely puts it in sportbike territory.
As a Buell guy, I definitely want to like it, but I dunno, at first blush, it seems to be a copy of a copy of an Erik Buell product. Which kinda distances it from being a “real” Buell.
It’s the Buell essence – innovative ideas, smart multitasking – that at least for me made a Buell a Buell. This seems like sticking a sportbike powerplant into a cruiser frame and calling it a (pricey) day.
That’s a good way to put it. They’re basically putting Buell-designed running gear in a frame designed by someone else and made to look like another bike Buell had his hands on.
OTOH they could have bought the remnants of a failed business and sold it off piece by piece. So kudos to them for giving it a shot. Hopefully it doesn’t have the Buell essence of not working.