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Choice of 25 Buell Blasts


Josh1234

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I don't see how the fact that one CAN spend a bunch of money making a Blast powerful is relevant.

The allure of bikes is that they go fast for cheap. Blast + turbo is likely more expensive and slower than an FZ6, so it makes more sense to just buy the FZ6, no?

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I don't see how the fact that one CAN spend a bunch of money making a Blast powerful is relevant.

The allure of bikes is that they go fast for cheap. Blast + turbo is likely more expensive and slower than an FZ6, so it makes more sense to just buy the FZ6, no?

Likely :). But sometimes people just want to... no good reason. Sometimes people want to paint their used rusted honda civic black with paint they stole from their high school art class... sometimes it just doesn't make sense.

 

Also, some of the people I know that do this have the parts hanging around. So, it is fun for them to play without all the pay.

Edited by just_some_dude
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I can appreciate ridiculous projects, just not ones that seem to take themselves seriously.

One of the greatest things I've ever seen was a Mazda miata powered by a 2-stroke snowmobile engine. It had a portion of the good cut away for the pull-start.

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I don't see how the fact that one CAN spend a bunch of money making a Blast powerful is relevant.

The allure of bikes is that they go fast for cheap. Blast + turbo is likely more expensive and slower than an FZ6, so it makes more sense to just buy the FZ6, no?

You just bashed the whole concept behind the Screaming Eagle Catalog :)

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I've owned both the Ninja 250 and a Blast.

I honestly like the Blast a lot more than the Ninja.

It handles good,decent HD power for a beginner and is low for vertically challenged riders.

Very easy to work on.

Try getting the carbs on the Ninja out in 5 minutes !

 

Whats a carb?

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Erik wasn't a huge fan of the Blast either  http://www.gizmag.com/2010-buell-blast-crushed/12389/

 

I'm unable to find the video :(

The real reason that Erik wasn't a fan of the Blast isn't listed in that article.

 

Buell had no choice but to purchase the motor from HD.  When your company is owned by the supplier, you get very little say in the matter.  After the the Blast had the green light for production and all the parts and processes had been costed, HD roughly tripled the price of the 492cc single that they were supplying.  I don't recall the exact numbers but it jumped from $7-800 to around $2k.  Again, as a subsidiary you get very little say in the matter.

 

Now, Blast MSRP was only around $4,400 and dealer got them for less than that.  So, $2k for the motor meant that every Blast was sold at a loss for Buell, but HD was making $$ on every Blast due to the inflated markup on the motor.  It made it appear that Buell was poorly manged financially.  I understand that such grab ass-ery was common in HD's dealings with Buell.     

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The Blast much have filled a need at the time, for

beginner's bikes. Now, there are more attractive

choices for those learning to ride.

.

Evidence points to hd buttfucking Buell and using their previously good rep as a sport bike manufacturer to get away with it.

Leave it to the t shirt company to design and market a dog of a motor and high tail it with the cash....only this time they stomped Erik and beginner riders in the yam bags instead of the leather vest crowd.

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To play devil's advocate for a minute here, should Erik Buell not be held accountable for entering into a 'partnership' with Harley Davidson that put him in that position?

 

From a motorcycle technology perspective, I'm not a huge fan of HD.  From a business and marketing perspective, I think they have some seriously admirable characteristics.  I would own HD stock before any of their motorcycles ...or t-shirts.

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At one point, there were some in HD mgmt had a genuine interest is using Buell to expand into other markets and to bring younger buyers into show rooms.  Buell had a dirtbike that was 99% production ready at the time of closure.

 

However, there were plenty within HD that wanted nothing more than to cleanse the chrome genepool of sportbike contaminants.  Some of their decsions could only be called childish.  It was never a great fit. 

 

I wish EBR the best of luck, but they have yet to prove to me that their models represent a sustainable business model.

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