His business is scheduled to be sold at public sale Tuesday, but that hasn't extinguished Erik Buell's enthusiasm for making yet another comeback in the motorbike industry.
Buell is the founder of Erik Buell Racing, an East Troy manufacturer of bicycles centered on performance and rate until it shut down instantly in Apr, leaving about 130 employees unemployed and the company seeking court safety from lenders.
It was the sequel to Buell Motorbike Co., which Harley-Davidson Inc. owned for greater than a 10 years before dropping the brand in 2009 2009 and leaving Erik Buell to start over on his own.
Now, the 65-year-old business owner is without a business again as he awaits the results of the public sale of the property of Erik Buell Racing, under circumstances statute that's similar to federal bankruptcy laws.
At his home in Mukwonago, Buell works on metal sculptures in his garage and answers questions from the court-appointed receiver who's handling the auction.
What he wants really, however, is to get back in to the motorbike business, where he's known for product innovation and a competitive spirit that has led to racetrack victories against some of the world's largest bicycle manufacturers.
If he previously his way, Buell said, his company would be building motorcycles and race on a world stage again tomorrow.
"We're able to literally be shipping motorcycles, within a few days probably, as soon as we cut back an assembly team. The bicycles are just seated there, covered in plastic, waiting around to be finished," he said.
In its six-year lifetime, Erik Buell Racing hand-built $40,000 motorcycles for racing enthusiasts, developed a mass-production version of these bikes that sold for approximately $18,000 each, and cultivated dealerships in the U.S. and European countries.
In 2014, Buell was worried about not having enough space in his small factory as he ramped up production and put his anatomist efforts into overdrive. He spent his own money into the opportunity and received help from Hero MotoCorp., a motorbike manufacturer in India that obtained a 49% stake in Erik Buell Race for $25 million.
The business hired dozens of people, including engineers, and was doing extensive product development work for Hero. Erik Buell Racing bikes were earning accolades from motorcyclist magazines and were successful in world-class races in america, Europe and Asia.
Just what exactly sent the ongoing company tumbling into virtual personal bankruptcy?
It grew too fast, Buell said, and the costs got before his financing.
"We thought that people could balance everything...but we just couldn't. That's what required us out," he said.
Court public records show that Erik Buell Racing has $20.8 million in possessions and $20.4 million in liabilities. Previous employees are owed $202,000 in paid time off, and some of the largest amounts owed to creditors include $733,000 to Mito Technology Co., a Japanese engine design company, and $390,000 to Porsche Anatomist Group.
Former employees will be at the head of the line as it pertains for you to get what they're owed, according to attorneys, while unsecured lenders could be forced to share what's still left after employees, secured creditors, the court-appointed receiver, consultants and attorneys are paid from the proceeds of the asset sale.
Buell expectations the continuing business will be sold without trouble, so the buyer could start producing motorcycles, and he hopes he would have a job in the new venture.
"Given the right situation, and the right people up to speed, it's what I'd like to do. I have lots of energy for it still," he said.
Some have said that Polaris Industries, the Medina, Minn., maker of Triumph and Indian motorcycles, could be a buyer. That would give Polaris a sport bicycle it doesn't have finally, along with usage of Buell's other product designs.
But the business also could be sold in pieces, with some buyers acquiring things like the factory machines, tooling, EBR-owned motorcycles, bike parts and office equipment, while others might acquire the company's intellectual property.
The assets owned by Hero are not contained in the auction, nor are other things such as leased equipment and employee-owned tools and personal property.
The auction shall be held at the Milwaukee Athletic Club in downtown Milwaukee, in support of qualified bidders shall be permitted to attend.
The court-appointed receiver, Milwaukee lawyer Michael Polsky, will review the bids and determine what's in the best interest of creditors. Thursday then, there will be a hearing in Walworth County Circuit Court to approve the full total results of the auction.
Within a court document, Polsky said he believes the "going-concern value of the assets" is greater than their liquidation value.
Buell hasn't said whether he will be among the bidders, but he said some social people have shown interest in buying all of the assets in one piece.
In hindsight, Buell said, it could have been better to run the business at a more measured pace.
"It demanded more money than we had access to. We thought that the money was had by us to pay the gap, but when it fell through at the last minute, there was nothing at all we're able to do," he said.
Contending in world-class racing was expensive, but Hero and other sponsors covered those costs, so they didn't cut deeply into Erik Buell Racing's revenues, relating to Buell.
"It was good promotion for all of us, but it wasn't whatever arrived of our marketing budget," he said.
If the business is restarted, Buell said he's sure some of the employees would come back.
"We had a bunch of fantastic products. We really proved that American executive is completely world course," he said.
Some dealerships, however, said they would watch out for carrying the brand again.
They spend a lot of their own money to market products and support them with customer support. If bicycles don't sell, or the manufacturer doesn't honor its commitments, a dealer could have no choice but out of business.
"There's lots of risk for the incentive," said Kirk Topel, chief executive of Hal's Harley-Davidson, in New Berlin, which carried Erik Buell Racing motorcycles.
Buell's most recent bicycle, the 1190RX, was gaining traction available on the market before the ongoing company closed.
Inside a 45-day period previous this year, Hal's sold more 1190RX bikes than it sold in every of 2014, according to Topel. The dealership experienced some customers to arrive looking designed for Buell motorcycles rather than Harleys, he said.
Dealers had hoped that a few of Buell's designs would surface in smaller, less-expensive motorcycles. They hoped to have the ability to carry the Hero brand also, but that never happened.
Some dealers said they greatly admired Buell for his design talents however, not his ability to perform a company.
"The guy has made some really cool bicycles. He's definitely got skill," said Joseph Tortora, a seller in St. James, N.Y.
Tortora said he was disappointed when Erik Buell Race closed, but he wasn't totally surprised because the business was struggling with retail bonuses and guarantee reimbursements at his dealership.
"I was very cautious in the number of bikes I took....I would like to consider myself a practiced veteran of the industry, and I have seen several brand walk out business," he said.
In racing circles, Buell has been an underdog focusing on a tight budget always.
In the 1970s, as a rider, he recorded the fastest qualifying time for a rookie in the past history of the Daytona 200. It had been significant for a guy who traveled from race to race in a truck with two motorcycles in the back, sleeping between the bikes while an intermittent hitchhiker shared the driving on his long-distance outings.
When a competition in California was canceled because of rain, Buell borrowed money from other racers to cover his trip home to Pennsylvania. He had counted on successful in the race, and his winnings could have covered his expenses.
Now he wants to remain in your competition as a bicycle designer.
"I am an engineer in mind," Buell said, "and I wish to show that technology from the U.S. can compete with the best stuff in the world."
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