This is from the Canadian Motorcycle Guide:
They've had to shut down their motorcycle production line, but the Buell factory will be abuzz with people and money come Jan. 28.Here are the details of the sale with pictures and inventory list.
An auction firm will start selling everything inside the factory at 2815 Buell Drive in East Troy, Wisconsin, and will continue for a month, according to a press release by Liquid Asset Partners.
"This factory was a state of the art, small scale factory. It's the type of facility that many tools and items will be of great interest to the home mechanic and motorcycle fanatic," says Bill Melvin Jr., CEO of Liquid Asset Partners, in the press release. "To make the sale successful we are prepared to deeply discount the inventory and sell everything in one month! It's stacked high and we're selling it cheap. The public won't want to miss these deals."
Included in the sale are the '99 BMW1100RT pictured here, a '98 Dakar KTM, a 2008 KTM SuperDuke, and a 2007 Triumph Speed Triple. Tools, trucks, lifts, trailers, tool boxes, a VIN stamper, paint guns, cabinets, welding equipment, a shovel, and a whole sh*tload of other things used to make and move Buell motorcycles will be sold.
I still have to wonder about the wisdom of not selling the Buell brand to a 3rd party. Polaris was rumored to be interested in buying the company and there must have been others. I'd have to bet that the H-D board of directors turned them down because they didn't want to look stupid when another company made a success out of Buell! Considering the immense cost of shutting down the company and laying off the employees it would show just how stupid they really are.
"Hey those are only loyal employees whose lives we're throwing into the Dumpster. Screw them, let's go collect our bonuses."
The brand Polaroid comes to mind when speaking of brand value of a vaporized company. Perhaps Buell is not as high value but the turnkey operation, including skilled labor, would fit into some business model. I will take the BMW though since it has no value to Buell anymore.
ReplyDeleteDon E
So what became of this wonderful sale...anyone attend and have anything to say about it?
ReplyDeleteSo, Buell bikes will be real cheap unless aftermarket supports them enough to stay on as vintage? obsolete?
David
I haven't followed up on it. I was going to look into buying that KTM but I just found a Moriwaki racer that I have wanted for a long time and bought it last night. That's my budget for this month!
ReplyDeleteErik has started his own independent shop to support Buells and the new race bikes. We'll see how that goes. He may be better off without HD. The HD dealers certainly never did him any favors.