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Trade magazine: Harley turned down chance to save Buell

EAST TROY — A story in an industry trade magazine questions Harley-Davidson's decision to close East Troy's Buell motorcycles, reporting that Canadian conglomerate Bombardier twice made a bid to purchase the company.

Alan Cathcart writes in the March edition of American Motorcycle Dealer magazine (PAGE 50) that Bombardier was interested in purchasing the struggling division because one of its subsidiaries made engines for Buell.

Cathcart cites an un-named Austrian source as saying that Bombardier initially offered to "acquire the design, manufacturing rights and production tooling of the two Buell-Rotax models."

When that deal was turned down, Bombardier offered to purchase the whole company and was once again rejected, according to Cathcart.

The operation would likely have remained in East Troy, and Cathcart writes that there was the possibility that assembly of the CanAm Spyder might have been shifted to East Troy from Bombardier's Quebec factory.

Harley-Davidson reportedly incurred $125 million in costs for the shutdown of Buell.

Bombardier is not an unfamiliar name in Walworth County. At one time, they operated a recreational motor manufacturing facility in Delavan's industrial park. But in 2004, they decided to sell the facility.

Company founder Erik Buell has since gone on to form his own motorcycle racing company.

The new company, Erik Buell Racing, is an independent operation with a one-year agreement with Harley-Davidson that doesn't allow him to produce street bikes.

In the meantime, he's focused on 1125R-based models, the motorcycle ridden by champions in this year’s AMA Pro racing and NHRA Pro Stock World championships.

“It’s something I have a lot of passion for,” Buell said. “I was looking for what we could do out of respect for the workers and to help out the owners and dealers.”

Source: www.dealerworld.com