40 years after its inception, Buell has finally announced its first cruiser motorcycle. The American company has joined hands with fellow American bike maker Roland Sands to reveal the Super Cruiser. It will birth a Buell production motorcycle in 2025 intending to set a new benchmark by showing that American cruisers can be fast, light, and modern. More importantly, Buell wants to take on “American manufacturers known mostly for big, heavy bikes” with the cruiser, as quoted by its CEO Bill Melvin.
Now, we don’t know about you, but we think this subtly hints at Buell’s ambition to beat Harley-Davidson at its very own game. Bring in the history between these two giants, and this makes even more sense. But does the motorcycle manage that? Well, we think so, and here are three reasons the Buell Super Cruiser concept feels like a gut punch to Harley-Davidson.
The Super Cruiser Is More Powerful Than Any Harley
In its 120-year-long history, Harley-Davidson has barely breached the 150 horsepower mark. But Buell has hit it out of the park in its first attempt, as the Super Cruiser is claimed to gush out 175 ponies from its staple 1190cc, V-twin engine. The mill has likely come straight from Buell’s flagship sport bike, the Hammerhead 1190, and re-tuned to produce 10-HP less. Though the company hasn’t revealed the torque figures, we believe it’ll be more than the Hammerhead’s 101 pound-feet, so the cruiser feels more punchy like its rivals. Even if we’re wrong, this torque figure is still going to be more than Harley-Davidson’s flagship Sportster S.
It Is Sportier Than Harley-Davidson’s Sportiest Motorcycle
Sportiness and cruisers are two terms we rarely use together, yet the Super Cruiser has sporty written all over it. Right from its adjustable suspension - upside-down forks and monoshock - to its 17-inch alloy wheels, all point at a smooth handling machine. In the meantime, the Cruiser borrows its swingarm and Buell’s special ‘Zero Torsional Load’ perimeter disc brake from the Hammerhead, albeit with a few tweaks. Topping this is a focused (somewhat) rider triangle that includes a flat handlebar, mid-set tall footrests, and a scooped seat. In contrast, the Sportster S - Harley’s sportiest motorcycle right now - offers a foot-forward riding posture, 17/16-inch wheels, and a curved handlebar. So it’s safe to say the Super Cruiser will probably handle better than the aforementioned HD, at least judging from the specs.
The Buell Is Considerably Lighter Than The Average Harley
Weight has always been an Achilles heel for Harley-Davidson. Even the company’s smallest motorcycle (right now), the 975cc Nightster, breaches the 460-pound mark, while its bigger cruisers like the Fat Boy weigh in at over 660 pounds. But this isn’t the case with Buell’s Super Cruiser. It is claimed to weigh just 445 pounds, and even if you add a few extra pounds (factoring in the road-legal bits), it should still be a bit lighter. Couple this with its 175-HP output, and the Super Cruiser concept has a promising power-to-weight ratio.
Buell vs Harley-Davidson - The Rivalry
Now that you know all this, allow us to explain why Buell wants to lock horns with Harley-Davidson. It all dates back to the 1980s when Erik Buell started the Buell Motorcycle Company, which produced race-inspired, street motorcycles powered by Harley-Davidson engines. Nearly a decade later, Harley-Davidson showed interest in the company and bought a 49 percent stake in Buell via a $500,000 investment. This ultimately resulted in Harley buying a majority stake in the company and making it a subsidiary. All sounds hunky-dory so far, right? Well, things changed soon.
Fast-forward to 2008, Harley-Davidson struggled with finances and Buell had barely any sales. As a result, Harley’s top honchos (at the time) all questioned why they owned Erik's brand in the first place with claims that the sportbike segment had tonnes of competition and made no sense against the then-unrivaled cruiser space. Owing to all this, Harley-Davidson discontinued the Buell brand in 2009 to focus on taking HD to new heights.
The news came as a shock to everyone, including the company founder Erik Buell, who was obviously hurt by Harley’s decision. And we believe Buell (the company, not the man) still wants revenge, or at least wants to show what they would’ve done had Harley trusted them a little more. This could very well be the driving emotion for the Super Cruiser project, which rains on Harley-Davidson’s parade. After all, Buell just got back to the market two years ago (in 2021), over a decade after Harley’s announcement.
So, judging from all this, we think Buell finally has a fighting chance against America’s favorite cruiser brand. We know it doesn’t have the strong lineage like Harley, but Buell sure knows how to make a cracking motorcycle.