Erik Buell’s cheeky take on the electric motorbike

Buell motorcycles has the interesting honour of being a cult favourite that came and went within one generation of ownership.

It was popular enough (especially in its home American market) to have its own fanbase, but doomed to play slave to its Harley-Davidson master, until the latter swallowed the former.

It was the brainchild of privateer motorcycle racer and businessman, Erik Buell, who developed his own bikes using Harley-Davidson running gear. The result was a series of motorcycles, sold between 1983 and 2009, that looked like

Europeaninspired street racers but with the familiar thumpata-thumpata soundtrack of a Harley.

After Harley-Davison took a 49 per cent stake in Buell in the early 1990s, things got tough for the smaller firm.

Buell saw the investment as proof positive of the bigger brand’s keenness for him to expand. Harley-Davidson saw Buell as a “gateway” marque, designed to lead would-be owners to actual HarleyDavidsons. Sixteen years after it took over, and in the midst of the late-2000s recession, Harley closed Buell.

But Buell is back, baby. He has embraced electric motorcycle technology and has launched his new company, Fuell.

Here’s his first bike, the Fuell Flow. He developed it with the help of Alfa Romeo principal engineer, Frederic Vasseur. The electric motorcycle will be available in 11kW and 35kW variants. The Fuell Flow has a claimed battery range of 200km and features a connected dashboard and the ability to switch out motors, batteries and chargers for full customisation. And there is room for on-board

luggage.