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Photos: A Future AMA Star in the Making

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One of the banes of any photographers existence is when someone walks right into the middle of your shot. There seems to be two schools of thought on how to deal with such an incident, with some preferring to let nature take its course, and wait for the intruder to leave the frame, while others prefer the scream/temper-tantrum school of thought that may or may not include throwing a gear bag in a fit of rage.

Where a photographer falls on that spectrum seems to be a function of how much time he or she spent setting up the shot, how much Red Bull had been consumed that morning, and whether it was another photographer who decided to start working with reckless abandon for his fellow photojournalists. However, there are some incidents where when someone walks into your shot, it is a welcomed addition. Snapping photos of the American flag-clad Erik Buell Racing 1190RS, I had such a moment, which I think touches the inner-child of all of us.

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Bikes

Up-Close with the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS ‘merica Edition

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Erik Buell Racing had a good weekend at Sears Point, with Danny Eslick riding the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS to its first podium in Race 1, with Team Hero. Making an encore podium in Race 2, Geoff May also put the EBR 1190RS on the third step, this time for Team Amsoil/Hero. With the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS benefiting from Sear Points emphasis on handling instead of horsepower, the EBR has made up a ton of ground in just a short amount of time.

While the EBR 1190RS race bikes were on the track, their $40,000+ street-legal counterparts were on display outside of the Erik Buell Racing garage. Rocking an American flag livery, I naturally took pictures of this show bike. Eye catching to say the least, nothing says “Made in ‘merica” better than a red, white, and blue color scheme, especially when it is laid over carbon fiber. And while I want to love this bike because of its nuances and outside-of-the-box technical design, I don’t.

Trading patriotism for originality, Erik Buell Racing is still pushing the same worn-out Americana marketing plan that Harley-Davidson built for the sport bike company way back when. With two podium victories, a gorgeous product, and a story that is an encapsulation of hard work overcoming adversity, you would think that the folks from East Troy could put away the cheap parlor trick of using Americana to sell motorcycles. One gorgeous bike in its own right, but a played out theme as well. What happened to being innovative guys? Photos after the jump.

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News

Erik Buell Racing Partners with Hero MotoCorp

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While we have been expecting Erik Buell Racing to join forces with a larger company at some point this year, today it comes as a bit of surprise to learn that EBR has partnered with Hero MotoCorp. The deal sees Hero becoming the title sponsor for two teams in the AMA Pro Racing National Guard Superbikes Championship — Team Hero and AMSOIL Hero, while Erik Buell Racing will give Hero design and technology inputs for bikes destined for the Indian market.

In practicality, this partnership would seem to suggest that Erik Buell Racing will help Hero MotoCorp, a company recently freed/dumped from its partnership with Honda, build sporty two-wheelers for the Indian motorcycle market, while the cash-infused Indian manufacturer will help the boutique American sport bike maker continue to go racing in the United States. This news also puts Danny Eslick on the Team Hero EBR 1190RS for the 2012 season, while Geoff May will continue with the AMSOIL Hero EBR 1190RS. Thanks for the tip Kevin!

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News

Erik Buell Racing Considering 250cc Learner Bike

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Several sources have now confirmed that Erik Buell Racing is considering making a 250cc learner-style motorcycle to compliment its EBR 1190RS race/sport bike. Presumably filling the niche left behind by the crushed Buell Blast, the 250cc bike would be geared towards new and first-time riders, and would likely be MSF RiderCourse friendly. With bikes like the Kawaaski Ninja 250R / EX250 topping the sales charts as the best selling sport bike in the US, the folks at Erik Buell Racing are surely eyeing the market potential of a smaller, lightweight sport bike for the company’s growing product line.

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Bikes

2012 Erik Buell Racing 1190RS – $39,999 MSRP

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Erik Buell Racing has a new website, and with it comes more information about the 2012 Erik Buell Racing 1190RS street bike. With only 100 bikes being made, the 175hp v-twin rocket ship weighs only 389 lbs wet (without fuel though), which for the spec-sheet racers should be plenty to drool over. That sort of exclusivity and performance will cost you dearly though, as the the EBR 1190RS is going to hit your wallet for $39,999 (roughly the price of a well-packaged mini-van), and if you want the extra-drool worthy carbon edition, that’ll be another $4,000 added to the price tag.

When the 100 Erik Buell Racing 1190RS street bikes are sold though, EBR will be able to go racing in the AMA Pro Racing circuit (EBR missed its goal to race at Infineon and now seems likely for Barber, or Mid-Ohio) with the 1190cc race bike. Erik Buell Racing is currently campaigning in the American Superbike series with Geoff May on an 1125RR, which is down on power compared to the other bikes according to the race team.

The $40,000 price tag is going to be quite the hurdle for Buell and his crew, though finding 100 enthusiasts shouldn’t be an impossible task. If $40,000 isn’t your cup of tea for a motorcycle, it would seem Buell and his crew have you covered there, as the company is teasing three new models: the RX, SX, and AX. Let the speculation begin on what those models could be, full tech-specs on the 2012 Erik Buell Racing 1190RS and photos are after the jump.

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Banter

How Do You Build an Erik Buell Racing 1190RS?

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Erik Buell Racing finally has its own official YouTube channel, which is sort of strange considering how well the small company has taken to the internet and viral marketing. Sidestepping that oddity, there is of course the issue of what good is there in having a YouTube channel if it doesn’t have a video — not to worry, the folks at EBR have our backs there. We’re not sure if the EBR 1190RS is the great white hope of American sportbikes, but we like Buell’s gumption and grit to start anew in one of the worst economic climates since WWII.

For some weekend eyecandy, feast your eyes on a time lapse video of the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS motor being built, along with some cool footage of the Erik Buell Racing’s streetbike being tested on the dyno. Only 100 EBR 1190RS street machines will be made, at a price Erik Buell Racing calls comparable to “the price of a top of the line minivan,” which sounds pretty steep for a motorcycle, but will help the Wisconsin company comply with AMA homologation regulations, and race the EBR 1190RS at Infineon later this May.

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Racing

EBR 1190RS AMA Race Debut Expected at Infineon

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New surrounding Erik Buell Racing and its 1190RS street bike continue to pour in, as the company has announced a three-year title partnership deal with AMSOIL for the Erik Buell Racing AMA Pro Superbike team.

While the news of race sponsorship is certainly good for Erik Buell and his crew (Geoff May will continue at the helm of the #99 race bike), we think the company’s goal of debuting the EBR 1190RS as its race bike starting at the Infineon round in May is what will really excite Buell’s legion of fans.

EBR will start with last year’s 1125RR at Daytona, and expects to switch to the then homologated 1190RS, with its larger displacement, starting at West Coast Moto Jam held in May at the Sonoma track.

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News

Is This The Erik Buell Racing 1190RS?

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Posted to Erik Buell Racing’s Facebook page yesterday, this photo is what we presume is the soon to be released Erik Buell Racing 1190RS street bike. Based off the EBR 1190RR race bike, Erik Buell & Co. have been slowly teasing the idea of producing a limited production street bike, now that certain legal obligations are coming to a conclusion. No word yet on price or quantities, but we don’t expect this to be EBR’s foray into large production, and units are likely to be hand produced at the American company’s race shop.

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Bikes

Erik Buell Racing 1190 Typhon by the Pegasus Race Team

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What do you do when you are the only race team outside of the United States racing a Buell…and winning…a lot? Well you build a street bike concept of course. Based off the Erik Buell Racing 1190RR race bike, the folks at the German Pegasus Race Team have taken the 1190RR race platform and made the EBR 1190 Typhon streetfighter concept. Drawing inspiration from the lines of the Buell XB, some parts from the soon-to-be-released EBR 1190RS superbike, and the blessing of Erik Buell himself, the folks at Pegasus have put together one stunning 185hp bike.

With the idea that the EBR 1190 Typhon concept could pave the way to an EBR-made model down the road, Pegasus drew heavily from the Erik Buell Racing 1190RR’s design, as well as the general Buell ethos. “Our idea was with our years of experience in Buell racing to concept the ultimate Streetfighter with outstanding performance and a unique design,” said Team Manager Jens Krüper. “To combinate a cool minimized look with real good aerodynamics is a real challenge, especially if something is so powerful as that EBR Superbike,” said Heiko Jessat of Gruner Engineering, the company that technically assisted PRT with the design for the Typhon.

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News

Erik Buell Racing Eyes 450cc Off-Road Machine

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In an interview with Alan Cathcart, Erik Buell talks to the famed motorcycle journalist about his departure from Harley-Davidson, and what the future holds for Erik Buell and Erik Buell Racing. Perhaps one of the most interesting things to come out of the pair’s conversation (read a translated version at Motonline) is the fact that in late-2006/early-2007 Harley-Davidson killed off a project to build a 450cc Buell off-road machine. Still believing that there is a market for a Buell-branded dirt bike, Buell confessed to Cathcart that EBR is taking up the 450cc project again, which uses a special single-cylinder Rotax motor as its power plant.

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Buell Swingarm Exhaust: Still Owned by Harley-Davidson

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Math can be tough sometimes, especially when it comes to counting, so we can understand the confusion surrounding the news that Erik Buell has recently been awarded a patent for a design that incorporates a motorcycle exhaust system inside the swingarm of the bike (now that’s some engineering). However we have the unpleasant responsibility of saying that this patent is not in fact owned by Erik Buell and Erik Buell Racing, as the filing date and patent assignee information were clearly over-looked by early reports on Buell’s patent.

While the patent was published on October 28, 2010, its was filed by Buell last year (April 24, 2010), well before Harley-Davidson closed the company, and while Erik Buell still worked as a Harley-Davidson employee. As such, the patent is assigned to the Buell Motorcycle Company, whose intellectual property is still owned by Harley-Davidson.

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