A Legendary Motorcycle Brand Is Building the Best-Looking Cruiser I’ve Seen in Years

You can’t hope to write the history of motorcycles — and certainly not the history of Harley-Davidson — without including at least a chapter or two on Buell.

Founded by former Harley engineer/two-wheeled visionary Erik Buell in 1983, the innovative brand went on to spend nearly two decades at least partly under the Harley umbrella, ultimately producing 136,923 bikes for the mother ship.

Buell Motorcycle Co.

However, the last Harley-branded bike rolled out the door in 2009, and the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer has since saddled up on a number of side quests, include Erik Buell Racing and a now-bankrupt EV brand called Fuell.

Buell’s now in his mid-70s, but his eponymous brand is going for broke, and I for one could not be more stoked by its latest news: a beautifully beastly Buell bike called the Super Cruiser is in the midst of final testing and expected to go into production this fall.

Powering up

The irony here is hard to miss: Buell’s most notable models fall in the sport bike category that was his passion, and yet the most exciting thing the brand is doing now is coming for Harley’s cruiser lunch money.

That being said, one of his hallmarks is performance, and while many details about the Super Cruiser remain under wraps, the known specs and features are promising.

Buell Motorcycle Co.

Let’s start with the beating heart, a Buell 1,190cc liquid-cooled V-twin making 175 horsepower and 100 ft-lbs of torque.

Let’s compare those numbers to the closest thing price-wise in the Harley catalog: the chrome-dipped Fat Boy Gray Ghost, which starts at $25,399, just a bit less than the Super Cruiser’s $25,900.

That bike’s much larger 1,923cc Milwaukee-Eight 117 Custom V-Twin makes just 101 horsepower but 122 ft-lbs of torque. 

Buell Motorcycle Co.

Hard to say which is ultimately preferable, especially without knowing the Super Cruiser’s weight, but on horsepower alone I believe it’s safe to say this thing’s gonna rip.

Elsewhere I am encouraged to see a number of name components, including Fox front and rear suspension, a Brembo dual-disc braking system and Dunlop Sportmax Q5A tires.

Buell Motorcycle Co.

Interestingly, it appears Buell has opted for mid-controls, as opposed to the forward-positioned ones you typically see with cruisers.

But having recently strained my back riding an aggressively body-bending sport cruiser, I’m inclined to give ’em a shot.

Style for miles

While, as I said, Buell is most known for sport and race bikes, one quality that unites everything from the Buell Blast to the EBR 1190RS is the capacity to turn heads.

The Super Cruiser is no exception. 

Buell Motorcycle Co.

Thanks to the involvement of another renowned personality driven motorcycle brand, Roland Sands Design, the bike’s look is as painstakingly considered as its performance.

Highlights include a bold, aggressive stance, upside-down bar-end mirrors, a Memphis Shades cafe-style front fairing and stitched black Saddlemen seat. 

Lower down, the 17-inch wheels and trademark Buell swingarm team nicely with an exhaust system that showcases shiny chrome before transitioning to a matte blacked-out finish.

Buell Motorcycle Co.

The overall result is throwback style backed up by modern performance, promising you’ll look good stopped at a traffic light — and look great accelerating out of it.

Of course, only time will tell if Super Cruiser is more vintage Buell or more, cough cough, Fuell, but I’m betting on — and rooting for — the former. Aren’t you?

Buell Motorcycle Co.

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