COBRA

The May 2010 issue of Cycle World has a fantastic article called “The Demise of Buell”. Mark Hoyer, a journalist, prior employee of Buell and long-time acquaintance of Erik writes an excellent inside story on the closing of Buell. We even get a close up view of what was to be the next big Buell — the Barracuda 2, an upgraded, turbo-version of the 1125 series.

This is a MUST READ!!

Pick a copy up at the newstand — if you can find one. If not, you can download the back-issue now for just $.99 from Cycle World.

Here’s the first part of the article, along with a link to download the entire issue.

The Demise of Buell

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Roll On Columbus is a family friendly, motorcycle enthusiast focused charity event to raise money for Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Doors will open Saturday, May 22nd at the LC Pavilion in the Arena District of Columbus, Ohio at 12:00 PM.

There will be vendors, dealers, demonstrations, live music, vintage bike show, custom bike show, The Trials Guys, The Motosphere, MiniGP racers, MSF demonstrations, fun, games, prizes, and much more. The entire day has been planned to keep every age entertained.

Let’s show our support for the children!

Our first ride of the 2010 season is here!

Mark your calendars for Sunday, May 16 @ 10am for a 160-mile loop to the east of Columbus, running from Reynoldsburg through Newark, over to West Lafayette, down to Zanesville, and back over to Reynoldsburg. We will meet in the Walmart parking lot in Reynoldsburg at I-70 and 256 (opposite side of the highway as the Motorcycle Hall of Fame).

There’s gas and food right there as well, so come early and be ready to hit the road. Kickstands up at 10am. There will be a gas & food stop mid-way through, so plan on 5-6 hrs. We’ll circle back around to where we started at Walmart for a full 160-miles.

This ride is a COBRA ride, but you’re welcome to bring along non-COBRA, non-Buell riding friends.

Here’s where we’re meeting - Walmart parking lot in Reynoldsburg:

View Larger Map

And here’s the route:

View Larger Map

Like last year, the ARC class is still being held as a pilot class in Ohio. There are just a few classes this year, and they’re all coming up quick. Masa and I took the class last year (at different times) and I considered it to be an excellent course for just $25. It’s mainly being held 3x over Memorial Day Weekend.

This is a one-day class on your own scoot that reinforces the principles taught in BRC and ERC, and adds a few more things — like sliding your butt half-off the seat for better turning control. MSF has a FAQ about the class here.

If anyone is interested, here is the information I received about it…I’m considering going again myself (trying to take some kind of course every year).

The ARC-ST is still being considered a “pilot” course in Ohio, so it is extremely limited this year at ODPS in Columbus and at the MSF Campus in Troy.

The Columbus offerings are over Memorial Day weekend - one class each day on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (May 29, 30, and 31). There is 1 opening (as of 11.05p on 3/31/10) for the only other Columbus class - Sunday, April 18th. The Columbus classes are scheduled from 8a-5p and include an hour for lunch.

There are currently 8 openings for the class in Troy on Sunday, May 9th. That class is scehduled from 9a-5p.

To register on-line ( https://www.dps.state.oh.us/MOScheduling/MO_Ohio.aspx ), select Franklin County (for Columbus) or Miami County (for Troy). The ARC-ST classes are listed as ERC classes, but will have either “ARC-ST format” or *Advance RiderCourse* in the description.

I hope we’ll be able to expand the number of classes and sites next year (2011 season), but that remains to be seen.

Thanks for your interest in the course, and if there are any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Our first meeting of the new year and new decade will be on Thursday, January 21 @ 6pm. We’ll be meeting at the Barley’s Smokehouse & Brewpub located near downtown Columbus on Dublin Road.

Barley’s Smokehouse & Brewpub
Ale House No. 2
1130 Dublin Road
Col.OH 43215

Hope to see you all there!

“Erik Buell, Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of Buell Motorcycle Company, will leave the company to establish Erik Buell Racing, an independent motorcycle race shop.” (full press release)

Woohoo!!!!

Erik Buell Racing

MORE INFORMATION: Here are the details on where we’re meeting Sunday morning (October 25).
Pilot Station/Wendy’s at 3600 Interchange Road, at the corner of I-70 and Wilson Rd.

Kickstands up at 9:00, so show up early for food/gas

IMPORTANT UPDATE: This ride is turning out to be a pretty significant event.  The BadWeb forum now has a heavy thread on the QuickBoard with riders across the country showing their support and desire to ride.  A few of those “in the know” have made contact with the factory and there is a green light for us all to show up mid-day on Monday, October 26.

If you arrived at our humble website from outside of central Ohio, please see the BadWeb thread for details and hopefully riders in your area.

ORIGINAL POST FOLLOWS:

Shocked…stunned…at a loss for words.

Buell Motorcycle Company is closing their doors. For good.

Buell has a very emotional video from Erik on their website. Here are a couple of New York Times links with some additional information.

New York Times AP Article

New York Times blog report

In a last ditch effort to see the business (in it’s current state) as well as attempt to extend condolences as well as appreciation, Mike F. is riding to East Troy and has generously offered to lead a group of any and all who want to come.

The rough plan at the moment is:

• Leave Columbus the morning of Sunday, Oct. 25th
• Arrive in East Troy Sunday evening
• Stay in a hotel/motel
• Spend as much time as possible at Buell Monday morning
• Ride back Monday afternoon/evening

That means we’re looking at about 500 miles a day, two days in a row. It may be a bit uncomfortable, and a bit emotional.  But it will be well worth it to pay respect to a motorcycle company and the visionary man who built it.

It’s a very sad day for Buell owners. Buell has always been one of the most distinctive bikes on the market. With the factory doors now closing for good, these awesome machines have just become even more rare.

If you’re interested in the ride, you can email us at contact@cobrabuell.com or post into our BadWeb forum.  More details will follow.

We have a great ride being organized by Mike F. on Sunday, October 4 (rain date Sunday, October 11). Come one come all!!

The Blues, Brews and BBQ event on Sunday was a great time for all those that came out! Mike took some pics of the event and there are some comments in the forum from some that came out.

I’m bummed I missed the event myself, but from the pics it looks like we had some newer folks out. That’s great!

The ride is over, the memories are fresh, and the pictures are up.

In a word, it was…fantastic!

Our group was made up of four riders:
Bruce - Leading the pack on a XB12Ss Lightning
Masa - Next in line in his XB9R Firebolt
George - Following on his Suzuki SV650S
Kurt - Sweeping the group on his Honda Interceptor

We left mid-day on Friday, June 26 and rode about 380 miles to just south of Knoxville, TN where we stayed next to the airport in Alcoa, TN for the night. Took us about 6 1/2 hours with three gas stops and a couple, “uh…where are we?” stops. LOL

Saturday morning found us on the Dragon, a first for all four of us. We didn’t even realize we had started on it until we stopped at a curve and talked to some old timers on their hogs. We hooked up the video camera and off we went. Masa and Bruce flew down the road pretty well on the Buells, while the Honda and Suzuki were a bit more relaxed.

We hit Deals Gap about 10:30am and like everyone says, it was pretty quiet at that time in the morning. We easily parked and checked the place out, then hit the Dragon again. This time Masa took the lead with the helmet video, with Bruce following. Masa pulled ahead at the first curve and Bruce never saw him again until we stopped at an overlook!

We then finished the Dragon and continued a bit more down the road along the lake. In hindsight we should have stopped and turned earlier, as this was when Masa received the first and only “performance award” of the ride.

Our third ride through back to Deals Gap was caught up in a bit of traffic, so that ride was a lot more relaxed but still enjoyable.

We then ate lunch at Deals gap and then took off down US 28 about 2pm, headed to the Blue Ride Parkway.

The BRP was breathtakingly beautiful. The ride exceeded all our expectations, with great curves and rolling hills/mountains and stunning scenery.

We rolled into Asheville, NC for our 2nd night of rest, and then continued along the BRP the next morning. After 235 miles of the BRP and only 2 short detours along the way, we exited off at US 21 and headed to Wytheville, VA. US 21 turned out to be an awesome ride as well. We spent our 3rd and final night in Wytheville and immediately turned on to I-77 to head home the next morning.

Something about I-77 turned some key critical thinking off in both Bruce and Masa as their blood got pumping on the ride and they proceeded to burst down the mountains at 110MPH+. Top that with some incredibly strong windy conditions the entire 350 miles home and in hindsight that was pretty poor thinking. Thankfully all went well regardless of the poor decision making in speed. However, speaking for myself (Bruce) I will probably not lead a group in the near future until I can get a handle on the lead foot…er, make that lead “hand” I seemed to have contracted from this ride.

1,112 miles later and we were back home.

Can’t wait until next year’s ride! Hope more of us can make it then!

Oh, you want some pictures? Okay, here are some highlights from the ride. Enjoy!