5 ms·

Buell is Dead

jasongullickson 17y ago
A great (and now tragic) story of one man's vision to take on the world, create a great product, become absorbed into a gigantic corporation and then cast aside when times get tough.
jws 17y ago
The brand, not the man.
- dotcoma 17y ago
  even though it certainly looks like he has taken a hard hit.
fishercs 17y ago
Buell has always made amazing bikes, pretty hard to compete with the cheaper japanese bikes though but they always seemed to offer something a little more unique and different than their japanese counterparts. I'm sad to see them go.
mikeryan 17y ago
With this comes opportunity. I hope he goes on to create a new motorcycle brand.
swombat 17y ago
I hate to be the one to say it, I know I'm not supposed to, but... How is this Hacker News? I didn't even know what "Buell" was until I clicked on the link. Are most american hackers motorcycle afficionados? Is Buell a super-important brand in the US, like Michael Jackson? Does this have an impact on start-ups? Was this Buell company a haven for hacker minds? Is this intellectually gratifying? I can't quite fathom why this got posted here. Edit: instead of downvoting, please do explain. I'm clearly missing some essential bit of hacker culture here.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- pclark 17y ago
  I think the bit where he said "we proved that a small team of determined passionate engineers could take on industry titans" probably resonated with most startups. Startups aren't limited to the web. Buell was a startup at one stage, then they got acquired, now they're dead.
  - jasongullickson 17y ago
    Right. I suppose most folks here are not as familiar with the Buell story as I thought, but this is exactly why I posted this.
- gdp 17y ago
  I'm with you on this one. It doesn't even seem to have even passing interest to the general HN audience as I understand it.
- pxlpshr 17y ago
  Well, I think it's more related to HN from an engineering/innovation standpoint than the Tiger Woods earns $1B article that circulated here last week. I was downvoted and told to see the "rules" to a site I've been visiting for ~2 years. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=862601 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=862601 I think it's just a matter of growth and therefore dilution.
  - allenbrunson 17y ago
    it looks to me like news.yc doesn't ever suffer from "dilution." the editors are very active, they'd kill this in a heartbeat if they thought it was off-topic. it could still happen.
- acangiano 17y ago
  > How is this Hacker News? He is a hacker who accomplished what most of us would love to accomplish. Yes, it's a different field, but it's still a story of entrepreneurship and hacking at its finest.
MikeRB23 17y ago
This is especially surprising given the new high production value ads they've been rotating on TV and online. Sad to see them go as well, I hope Erik continues to innovate.

A great (and now tragic) story of one man's vision to take on the world, create a great product, become absorbed into a gigantic corporation and then cast aside when times get tough.

jws 17y ago

The brand, not the man.

dotcoma 17y ago
even though it certainly looks like he has taken a hard hit.

fishercs 17y ago

Buell has always made amazing bikes, pretty hard to compete with the cheaper japanese bikes though but they always seemed to offer something a little more unique and different than their japanese counterparts. I'm sad to see them go.

mikeryan 17y ago

With this comes opportunity. I hope he goes on to create a new motorcycle brand.

swombat 17y ago

I hate to be the one to say it, I know I'm not supposed to, but... How is this Hacker News? I didn't even know what "Buell" was until I clicked on the link. Are most american hackers motorcycle afficionados? Is Buell a super-important brand in the US, like Michael Jackson? Does this have an impact on start-ups? Was this Buell company a haven for hacker minds? Is this intellectually gratifying? I can't quite fathom why this got posted here. Edit: instead of downvoting, please do explain. I'm clearly missing some essential bit of hacker culture here.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
pclark 17y ago
I think the bit where he said "we proved that a small team of determined passionate engineers could take on industry titans" probably resonated with most startups. Startups aren't limited to the web. Buell was a startup at one stage, then they got acquired, now they're dead.
- jasongullickson 17y ago
  Right. I suppose most folks here are not as familiar with the Buell story as I thought, but this is exactly why I posted this.
gdp 17y ago
I'm with you on this one. It doesn't even seem to have even passing interest to the general HN audience as I understand it.
pxlpshr 17y ago
Well, I think it's more related to HN from an engineering/innovation standpoint than the Tiger Woods earns $1B article that circulated here last week. I was downvoted and told to see the "rules" to a site I've been visiting for ~2 years. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=862601 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=862601 I think it's just a matter of growth and therefore dilution.
- allenbrunson 17y ago
  it looks to me like news.yc doesn't ever suffer from "dilution." the editors are very active, they'd kill this in a heartbeat if they thought it was off-topic. it could still happen.
acangiano 17y ago
> How is this Hacker News? He is a hacker who accomplished what most of us would love to accomplish. Yes, it's a different field, but it's still a story of entrepreneurship and hacking at its finest.

MikeRB23 17y ago

This is especially surprising given the new high production value ads they've been rotating on TV and online. Sad to see them go as well, I hope Erik continues to innovate.