cleanup to meet wikipedia s quality standards . the specific problem is this article contains repetitive and potentially conflicting text that does not add to the factual content and it often presents information in a confusing or ambiguous way . please help improve this article if you can . october 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message buell motorcycles former type subsidiary industry motorcycles founded 1983 founder erik buell defunct october 30 2009 headquarters east troy wisconsin u.s. products motorcycles parent harley davidson website www.buell.com the buell motorcycle company was an american motorcycle manufacturer based in east troy wisconsin and was founded in 1983 by ex harley davidson engineer erik buell . 1 harley davidson acquired 49 % of buell in 1993 and buell became a wholly owned subsidiary of harley davidson by 2003 . 2 on november 17 2006 buell announced that it had produced and shipped its 100 000th motorcycle . 3 on october 15 2009 harley davidson announced the discontinuation of the buell product line as part of its strategy to focus on the harley davidson brand . 4 5 the last buell motorcycle was produced on october 30 2009 bringing the number manufactured to 136 923 . 6 in november 2009 erik buell announced the launch of erik buell racing an independent company run by erik buell which initially produced race only versions of the 1125r model then subsequently offered an updated 1190rs model for the street or the track and is currently producing a further improved 1190rx model which is also intended for street or track use . 7 contents 1 history 2 technology 3 buell models 3.1 tube frame bikes 1984 2002 3.1.1 rw 750 road warrior 1984 3.1.2 rr 1000 battletwin 1987 1988 3.1.3 s2 thunderbolt 1994 1995 3.1.4 s1 lightning 1996 1998 3.1.5 x1 lightning 1999 2002 3.1.6 s3 thunderbolt 1997 2002 and s3t thunderbolt 1997 2000 3.1.7 m2 cyclone 1997 2002 3.2 blast 2000 2009 3.3 xb series 2003 2010 3.3.1 xb2 type 3.4 1125 series xb3 2007 2010 3.4.1 1125r 3.4.2 1125cr 4 racing 4.1 buell xbrr 4.2 buell 1125rr 5 references 6 external links history edit the first buell motorcycle the rw750 was built in 1983 purely for competition in the ama formula 1 motorcycle road racing championship . at that time erik buell was a top contending privateer motorcycle racer . after completion of the first two rw750 racing machines one of which was sold to another racing team the formula 1 series was canceled . erik buell then turned his focus towards racing inspired street going machines using engines manufactured by harley . in 1987 rockville harley davidson in rockville md now battley harley davidson battley cycles in gaithersburg md became the world s first buell dealership and the owner devin battley has buell 1 an rr1000 in his personal collection . 8 9 in 1993 harley davidson purchased 49 % of buell investing 500 000 and taking erik buell s house as security . 10 11 erik buell took the deal against strong advice from his attorney . 10 harley davidson ceo jeffrey bleustein had bought it as a skunkworks development . 10 in 1998 harley davidson bought a majority stake and took control of buell motorcycle company and the company became a subsidiary . since then buell has used modified harley davidson engines primarily from the sportster to power its motorcycles . buell facility most buell motorcycles use four stroke air cooled v twin engines originally built for xr1000 sportster . after these were depleted a basic 1200 sportster engine was used . in 1995 the engines were upgraded with buell engineered high performance parts and further upgraded in 1998 . the liquid cooled harley v rod motor developed by harley davidson then made street legal according to the epa by porsche citation needed was originally an erik buell project designed for a fully faired ama superbike buell by 1998 . 10 harley decided the engine should also be used in a sport cruiser then took over development making it too big too heavy too expensive and too late for buell . 10 harley davidson forced buell to follow the rigid product planning and distribution process beginning in the 1990s with the philosophy that buell was the starter brand and customers would eventually trade up to a harley . 10 by 2008 harley s credit arm harley davidson financial services hdfs was struggling and the lower resale value of buell motorcycles meant that new bike sales were significantly affected . 10 when harley ceo keith wandell was hired he immediately questioned why harley even owned buell . 10 wandell who had never been on a harley before being hired was heard talking about erik s racing hobby and questioned why anyone would even want to ride a sportbike . 10 he organized a team to analyze the adrenaline market and concluded that sportbikes would encounter high competition and low profits while cruisers had high returns . 10 on thursday october 15 2009 harley davidson inc. announced the end of production of buell motorcycles in order to focus more on the harley davidson brand . selling buell was not legitimately considered as harley didn t want their harley dealerships to sell an outside brand and harley didn t feel buell had much value without the dealer network . 10 in a news release on the buell website the same day company officials thanked customers employees and dealers for an unforgettable ride . 12 closing the buell brand was estimated to cost harley approximately the same as their total investment in buell over the past 25 years . 10 erik buell immediately began looking for outside buyers finding brp who owns the austrian rotax engine manufacturer brp powertrain a good choice especially since harley would have to pay rotax an eight figure sum for the 1 125 cc engine contract . 10 erik buell later founded erik buell racing to provide support for 1125 and xb privateer race efforts . 7 technology edit buell ztl front brake buell xb models also incorporated the industry s first zero torsional load ztl perimeter floating front disc brake system a patented inside out wheel brake design that puts the brake disc on the outer edge of the wheel 13 rather than at the hub . this lets the suspension function better improving control and traction through reducing unsprung weight on the front wheel because only a single disc and caliper with a corresponding reduction in bolts and brake fluid is needed compared with the conventional dual disc brake setup on most modern sport bikes . in an exchange in the pages of motorcyclist magazine between suzuki engineer james parker creator of the gsx radd hub center steering system 14 and buell s director of analysis test & engineering process abraham askenazi parker conceded the ztl system s advantage in unsprung weight . but he pointed out the remaining weight is located further out on the rim where it is most detrimental to acceleration and braking and that there were potential heat transfer issues and the need for one fork leg to be stronger than the other . responding askenazi disputed all of parker s criticisms saying the ztl system was 30 % lighter than the brakes on the suzuki gsx r1000 and that the inertia of having the weight further out on the rim and the heat generation near the tire were not negative factors based on testing . askenazi concluded that testing and race track experience had proven the ztl to be state of the art. 15 16 other industry innovations introduced by buell in the xb lineup were the fuel in frame technology and the dual use of the swingarm as an oil tank . 17 also all buell models have a muffler mounted below the engine which helps keep mass centralized with some models featuring a computer controlled valve to switch between two exhaust paths as necessary to maximize torque . buell designs focus on providing good handling comfortable riding easy maintenance and street friendly real world performance . buell motorcycles were engineered with an emphasis on what they called the trilogy of tech mass centralization low unsprung weight and frame rigidity . 18 buell engines were designed to be street friendly both in fuel efficiency up to 70 mpg us or 3.4 l 100 km or 84 mpg imp with the blast and in torque the 1 203 cc version produces 110 n m or 81 lbf ft . they are also simple and easy to maintain . most buell two cylinder engines utilize computer controlled ducted forced air cooling variable speed fan that only activates as required two valves per cylinder a single throttle body zero maintenance hydraulic valve actuation and zero maintenance gear driven cams . buell models edit tube frame bikes 1984 2002 edit this sectionion needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message rw 750 road warrior 1984 edit the rw 750 was a development of the barton formula one racing motorcycle . 19 buell bought the parts and tooling from the failed barton concern and developed the rw 750 for his own use and for sale to private entrants . 20 the engine was a liquid cooled two stroke square four . 19 20 buell s development resulted in a more competitive racer but production ceased when the ama discontinued the formula one class . 19 20 rr 1000 battletwin 1987 1988 edit rr1000 battletwin the rr 1000 battletwin was a street sportbike using a modified road warrior chassis and a harley davidson xr1000 engine . 21 buell invented the isoplanar engine mounting system to allow the heavy vibration prone engine to be used as a structural member of the frame without transmitting the engine vibrations to the frame . lack of space caused buell to put the suspension components under the engine . the linkage caused the spring and the shock absorber to extend when the wheel went up . 22 variations on the rr 1000 battletwin include the rr 1200 battletwin 1988 1990 the rs 1200 westwind 1989 the rs 1200 5 westwind 1990 1992 and the rss 1200 westwind 1991 . citation needed s2 thunderbolt 1994 1995 edit two seater with road warrior based chassis and sportster engine . the s2t thunderbolt 1995 1996 was a touring version with saddlebags . the s2 was very expensive to develop around 100 000 and 1 399 units were sold in the first year well over the 300 units buell had projected . 10 s1 lightning 1996 1998 edit buell s1 white lightning the s1 lightning was a more fundamental sportbike than the s3 thunderbolt and m2 cyclone that it was marketed alongside and the production on this model was stopped at 5000 after only 3 years . variants of this version of the lightning were the s1 lightning 1996 1997 1998 and the s1w white lightning 1998 . the s1w came with a larger tank and thunderstorm cylinder heads which gave an extra 10 hp 7.5 kw . 23 x1 lightning 1999 2002 edit the x1 lightning was the successor to the s1 lightning line . they all used the thunderstorm heads fuel injection dynamic digital fuel injection and incorporated larger fuel tanks as well as completely different body designs . the most recognizable frame piece was the brushed aluminum tail section that swept upward and back underneath the two up seat . the 1999 x1 lightning was awarded motorcycle of the year in japan . citation needed s3 thunderbolt 1997 2002 and s3t thunderbolt 1997 2000 edit 1999 buell s3 thunderbolt the s3 thunderbolt sport touring model was produced from 1997 until 2003 along with a mechanically identical s3t touring model that ran through model year 2000