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WOW!!! EBR closes shop and files for bankruptcy


Bubba

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I am very involved in the Buell boards, let me just say that there is a lot of false information and speculation being regurgitated around the internet.

The auctiin isnt even until another 5 days or so and no decision about ANYTHING regarding EBR can be made until then. Until the auction actually happens, I would/will keep an open but level mind about all stpries popung up on the internet.

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"Hero MotoCorp’s US subsidiaries HMCL NA and HMCL Americas have signed a settlement in this regard with the receiver appointed by the Circuit Court, Wisconsin, US."

 

Companies I've worked for that went into Receivership didn't give us sh!t for insider information.

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EBR worked on multiple Engineering projects for Hero.  Some completed, some still in process.  There have been multiple reports that Hero bought the intellectual property associated with that engineering work.  

 

I don't believe that Hero bought or will buy any part of the business related to EBR motorcycles. 

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I don't believe that Hero bought or will buy any part of the business related to EBR motorcycles. 

 

Probably correct.

 

I posted something similar on the WERA board, but I think Erik's "business model" is impatient at best.  He's trying to build a "world-class American Superbike" that will win on the world-stage.  The problem is that you need to develop a viable business infrastructure to financially support that kind of racing effort first.  Cart before the horse?

 

Ford survived for longer than they'd like to admit on taxi cabs, police cruisers, and F150's.  My humble opinion is that every motorcycle company needs to find that kind of "fleet volume" product to support their more exciting (but lower-volume) models.  I don't know precisely what that looks like, to be honest, but it is the opposite of what EBR was doing...

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Probably correct.

 

I posted something similar on the WERA board, but I think Erik's "business model" is impatient at best.  He's trying to build a "world-class American Superbike" that will win on the world-stage.  The problem is that you need to develop a viable business infrastructure to financially support that kind of racing effort first.  Cart before the horse?

 

Ford survived for longer than they'd like to admit on taxi cabs, police cruisers, and F150's.  My humble opinion is that every motorcycle company needs to find that kind of "fleet volume" product to support their more exciting (but lower-volume) models.  I don't know precisely what that looks like, to be honest, but it is the opposite of what EBR was doing...

 

EB is an accomplished engineer, but I don't think he is a wise businessman.   Ducati would also be out of business if they only sold Panigale's.

 

I don't think EBR could stand on their own even if they had a commercially viable beginner bike, middleweight, scooter, etc.  The brand name is damn near toxic at this point.  He needs a partner with deep pockets and an established dealer network.  Polaris seems like an ideal fit, but I seriously doubt they will purchase the rights to the EBR motorcycles.  

 

I think "someone" will buy EBR and attempt to make them successful.  And, I think they will fail.  The way to make a "small" fortune by investing in EB would be to start out with a "large" fortune.

 

I hope I am wrong.  I would love to see a successful American motorcycle that isn't of the chrome and leather variety.

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http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/oped/erik-buell-racing-receivership-explained/

 

Should a buyer not arise, the receiver will begin selling EBR assets. This means liquidating any bikes that remain, selling whatever real property the company owns, and beginning to look for buyers to Buell’s IP — for all the talk of how innovative Erik Buell is (a premise I reject, outright), this would be the ultimate quantification of that genius.

The IP is perhaps the hardest part of EBR to sell, as the list of potential buyers are limited in number, and as one astute observer once wrote, “[buell] wasted all his energy developing alternative solutions to mundane technical problems that yielded no appreciable benefit in performance over traditional bike systems.”

How much is the ZTL braking system worth? The free market is about to decide.

 

For all the engineering effort that went into the ZTL brakes and the fuel in frame, they have yet to prove they are any better than more conventional approaches.  Moto2 would have been a far better choice than WSBK if EB really wanted to prove his designs had an advantage on the racetrack.

 

In Moto2, everyone uses the same engine and ECM, no mods allowed.  If EB chassis and brakes had any real advantage this is an apples-to-apples way to prove it.

In WSBK and AMA Superbike the EBR machines were so far down on power that is tough to draw the same conclusions.

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