I read in article in one of my recent mag issues, that showed a buyer riding off with a prototype of the new buell sportbike that we will never see:
It is amazing that H-D turned down an offer for selling Buell to another company. They could have negotiated the sale with just the Rotax-based models if they were that worried about a competitor handling their technology. It's not like that many riders had the older buells anyway.
I never could get accustomed to the standard 1125R body style, but it was an amazing bike.
The only reason I could come up with is that selling Buell takes a potential revenue stream from existing H-D dealers. They have a five-year agreement for support and rebates on units sold, which translates into possible Harley owners at a later date - instead of sending them out the door to a competitor. If that were true, then the strategy makes sense.
Either way, it is a way to use Buell's insight as a means to generate cash. Unfortunately this is becoming a real-world business strategy for many companies and organizations.
