Erik Buell

Eric Buell is Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of the Buell Motorcycle Company, which is owned by Harley-Davidson Corp. After receiving his degree in engineering Buell worked at Harley-Davidson in the late 70s and 80s. He was involved with concept motorcycles, Porsche-designed "Nova" V-four program, and was responsible for stability and refinements to the chassis design of the FXR series of cruisers, noted for their rubber-mounted engines.

Buell was an avid part time road racer and quit his job at Harley-Davidson to found his own company. Buell's first production motorcycle was a racebike that featured radical aerodynamics and was powered by the a self-built version of the Barton two-stroke, square-four engine. His later creations, built by his Buell Motor Company, were powered by the Harley-Davidson Sporster engine. The first of these, the RR1000 had lower aerodynamic drag than all but a small handful of 21st century sportbikes.

In the 1990s, Buell formed the Buell Motorcycle Company in which Harley-Davidson invested a 51 percent interest from the company's onset. Harley-Davidson later bought complete control of Buell Motorcycle, and currently distributes all Buell motorcycles through selected Harley-Davidson dealerships. Erik Buell remains responsible for the engineering and design of the motorcycles that bear his name.

In an attempt to market to beginning riders he developed the single cyllinder Blast model which has sat for extended periods of time on showroom floors without selling due to the Harley Dealer network being unable to fathom that market prices based on supply and demand should be taken into account in setting prices.