Very sad to crush good bikes like that.

Reminds me of a story a old WWII vet told me about. When he was on his way home after the war he said they were dumping new jeeps still in crates into the Pacific. What a waste, no wonder the US is in debt up to its eyeballs.

I read a bio of Soichiro Honda that said he started with surplus engines left over from the war put on bicycles before moving on to make crap piston rings that Toyota would use.

I heard it vibrates more than and S40.

I know it's a publicity gimick to crush those remaining Buell Blasts, but IMHO it just a sad waste of some perfectly good motorcycles ... I agree that they should've been donated to some Rider Training Programs ... or sold on the cheap ... crushing 'em was nothing more than pure waste ...

And that it's a publicity stunt, probably as Lancer indicates.  

I guess my daughter's going to have to take really good care of hers!



I had one buddy explain that Harley is pushing the 883 Sportster as the entry level bike, all the Sportys as women's bikes and trying to move all their male customers to their larger machinery.

As for the Blast, why would Harley want to promote a bike that brings new riders into their dealerships?  And all the responsibility of running MSF courses (didn't they call them "Rider's Edge") only to contradict the instructors and sell beanie helmets and do-rags?

Look, Honda has the Rebel, Yamaha the 250 Virago, Kawasaki has the Ninja 250 and Suzuki has a nice 250 as well as the Savage/S-40.  And the Japanese have some darned good small dirt bikes, scooters and maxi-scooters.  Guess where the next generation of riders will be getting their start?

So, the big question is, how soon will Harley start crying for a government bail-out because there's no new crop of gay pirates coming through their dealer's doors??

The Buell Blast was a competent, basic bike.  It did what it was designed to do.  When I watched the video on the Buell site, all that I could think of was what a pathetic individual Erik Buell was.  He did nothing but disparage his own creation.  If he was unhappy with the Blast, then he should have improved it.  His wanton destruction of the bikes, but more importantly, his manner of talking about them, caused me to lose any regard that I had for the man and his company.

I can see a couple of reasons.

First, it's not really a ground-up design.  Vibration and other problems seem to pop up in fora all the time.  Really needed to do something other than cut a Harley in half.  

Second, each Blast uses up floor space that could be occupied by a higher-profit bike.

On the other hand, I highly agree with getting people into the dealerships early in their riding career.  The usual gimics for getting people to buy Harleys aren't really going to get a first time buyer popping for a heavy bike with a heavy price.  

I'd probably investigate several avenues.  Based on the basic "Harley" look.  A 450 to 650 cc displacement, classically styled semi-cruiser, either joined or separate trans.  Engine built to spec overseas, probably Europe, but the orient would do.  Final assembly here.  One or two cylinders, easy to ride, pretty light.  Either Buell or Harley tag.

Observation:  the final entry product might well look identical to a 650 Suzuki, the 650 V star  . . . .   Hmmm.  

An alternative, if the floor space occupied by big twins is becoming excessive, would be to have mostly US made utility bikes.  I tend to think of the British bikes as highly utilitarian, nimble machines.  The Japanese produced similar bikes.  Relatively small and compact twins with easy nimble handling, good carrying capacity, good quality stock bags & racks.  Probably would do very well the next time gas bumps.  Something like a Royal Enfield Bullet EFI version.  Light, nimble, capable.  With proper styling, it might condition people to look to Harleys for the weekend bike, too.  

Personally, I thought the Blast felt good to sit on.  I didn't drive one.  Seemed to have been made for a 5'6" ro 5'8" person.