is a buell a harley

[meteor545]

its like asking if a holden or an opel is a chevrolet. no but they have the same parrent company. same as buell, mv agusta and harley-davidson, all owned by h-d motor company.

[vecchio lupo]

I love this thread, the points are almost all valid and supportable. my 2 cents are: when you see a "Shelby" you think Ford, while a Shelby Cobra is only Ford powered, the Shelby GT500 is a Ford Mustang.

Buell is more of an in house design model with shared underpinnings. I say Buell is a premium, over engineered H-D platform that focuses more on function than form.

Who knows? I only say they are H-D, because I have yet to see a stand alone Buell dealership.

[xlcruser]

If I by a custom built bike with a Harley Engine & Trans in it, is it a Harley, or a step child? Buel is owned by Harley doesn't that make it the red headed step child.

[Phelan]

Originally Posted by Kev M

...until you got to the higher technology thing - ya know what, I'm under the impression that the space shuttle uses higher technology, not most motorcycles. Unless there is something radically new about the ZTL rotors, both brands pretty much use the same technology - perhaps you can argue that Buell uses some more expensive lightweight materials, but I'm not sure how much I'd call that higher technology - it's still all pretty old common stuff.

I think the word we're looking for here is thoroughbred. A Buell has mass centralized exhaust, mass centralized components (under-motor shock on tubers, fuel-holding aluminum box frame and oil-holding swingarm on XBs), lighter unsprung mass (lightweight wheels, ZTL braking), and performance rubber to create a much purer form of the word "sport" .

[Phelan]

Originally Posted by lh4x4

Designed by Eric Buell and produced by the same contractors for HD. HD does not do it's own casting. The review by last months Cycle reports that the engines are unique to Buell. They reported that the parts I identified are only in the XB motor and the only HD motor to share some parts is the XR1200. The Buell XB motor pumps out 103 hp. If it is the same as the XL1200 why is it an anemic 65 hp?

I will accept the report in cycle world.

think what you want, but the magazine company does not build motorcycles, or work on them. Ask Dan at NRHS and he'll tell you what parts are the same. most are different, but all are similar, and other than the breather holes and manifold mounts, the heads are identical to the '04-up Sportster heads.

[TurboExempt]

This is another fun thread with no definitive answer. I am not saying either way but Buell's relationship with HD would make me consider a Buell before other sport bike brands for no valid reason really. I just like Harleys.

Probably just good marketing by HD but I can't think of Buell without thinking about Harley's even though they are very different machines. I've also been heavily exposed to them with all the time I have spent in the dealership and Rider's Edge.

I do want my wife to trade in her scooter and get a small Buell (Blast?) to ride around town so I can have fun with it too.

[milmat1]

Originally Posted by drvsafe

If I had heart, liver and lung transplants and received them from different donors, do I take on all of the donor's ethnicities? NAH!
One might say a Buell's got HD blood I suppose, but if it were an HD, it would probably not say Buell on the tank, yeah?
I mean am I right or am I right?!?

Well you can't be ALL RIGHT !!

Half of you is LEFT !!.........


This all sounds like a load of BUELL to me anyway,

Eric Buell has always been closely seperated from HD. The Castings are likely different, etc. But it's definetly a Sportster Heart !

[Desertfox]

Originally Posted by collinsb

.

Other than utilizing modified Sportster engines, Buell motorcycles have little else in common with Harley technology. In fact, it's construction is higher technology.

Actually I would go further and say that Buells are what a Sportster would be today if Harley's styling and performance departments weren't stuck in a 50's time warp. But we like it that way. Buell has taken the best of the Sportster (the engine) and ditched the worst part (frame geometry and suspension) and morphed it into a thouroghly modern,superbly handling road machine with the brute force and proven reliablility of a race bred classic V twin. The best of both worlds. the Sportster might actually be something like that if they can ever get Willy G. the hell out of the styling and R&D department.

[milmat1]

So the Short answer to the OP is:

NO ! If it were it would say Harley Davidson on it right???

I seen a XB12R the otherday for the first time up close. That is one sweet bike....MMMmmmmmmmmm.............

[Moved On / My Own Choice]

Originally Posted by milmat1

So the Short answer to the OP is:

NO ! If it were it would say Harley Davidson on it right???

NO, the short answer is YES and NO.

A Chevy is a GM, even though it doesn't say GM on the side of the body.

As such a Buell IS a Harley, but still a Buell...


Just to re-muddy the waters.