Erik Buell says he’s carrying on

Erik Buell Racing, has declared itself insolvent and ceased trading after failure to find funds to support the company into the future.

In a statement about the business failure, Erik Buell said: “The turn we recently took, after we thought we were moving forward, was unexpected. We thought we had secured funding but, in the end, we were not able to get the funding in place. Therefore we need to do the best we can under the circumstances for all parties in interest. To say this setback is a disappointment does not begin to express what I feel right now. I am personally grateful for the support of our outstanding workers, customers and vendors. While this is a sad ending, I personally hope for a new and better beginning.”

But a new post on Facebook by Buell shows that this is unlikely to be the last we hear from the American, he said: “Thank you for the supportive posts, texts, and e-mails since the announcement that EBR has ceased operations. This is a difficult time, and your comments mean a great deal to me personally and also to the EBR team that has done such amazing work over the past few, intense years.

“No doubt, it was an incredible ride, feeling like the longest qualifying lap ever. And, then, just when we knew we were about to set an all-time record, we tossed it in the last corner…

“Keeping with racing analogies, now we need to get back on the track and look ahead remembering all the things we were doing right around so many turns.

“Unfortunately, in the end, we tried to do too much with too little funding, but it doesn’t diminish the accomplishments. We introduced the world class American superbikes of 1190RS, 1190RX and 1190SX, while at the same time doing revolutionary work for Hero on the HX250R, Leap, SimplEcity, iON, RnT and many others, plus concepts never publicly seen. It was great EBR innovation and design, and introduced new technology to Hero and its suppliers to provide a real kick start for them. But in the end all of this simply overwhelmed us, and for that we are sorry and saddened.

“I want you to know that looking ahead my focus is 100% on helping the receiver best maximize the value from EBR to benefit all, and I will make every possible effort to get the new organization to where it can support the dealers and customers first, and then help find investment to get back to full throttle.

“Thank you for your support, it means a great deal. Please stay tuned – I cannot predict the future, but always believe the best is yet to come.

“Erik.”