Latest version of Erik Buell motorcycles is alive

EBR Motorcycles, a bike manufacturer with roots in East Troy, is back in limited production after earlier versions of the company came and went over a period of decades.

EBR is the sequel to Erik Buell Racing, which was a sequel to Buell Motorcycle Co., which Harley-Davidson owned for more than a decade before dropping the brand in 2008.

The East Troy plant once employed 170 people, building street bikes until it ceased operation in 2015. Bikes were left unfinished on the assembly line when the company filed for Chapter 128 receivership, a state court procedure similar to bankruptcy.

Erik Buell Racing was acquired by Liquid Asset Partners, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in a January 2016 liquidation auction. The goal was to produce motorcycles while, at the same time, find a new buyer or investors for the company.

Bill Melvin, an avid motorcyclist and CEO of Liquid Asset Partners, has led the company since he acquired it in 2016. He says production has been restarted, one bike at a time, of three EBRs.

Prices of the new bikes, being built in a warehouse in Grand Rapids, haven’t been set yet.

“The approach is to keep it boutique and high performance driven, a la Bugatti, Koenigsegg or Lotus,” Melvin said.

The company still has offices in East Troy.

Erik Buell, who founded the original company in a barn in Mukwonago about 35 years ago, isn’t part of the new operation but has kept a hand in motorcycle racing.

In racing circles, he’s been known as an underdog on a tight budget.

In the 1970s, as a rider, he recorded the fastest qualifying time for a rookie in the history of the Daytona 200. It was significant for a guy who traveled from race to race in a van with two motorcycles in the back, sleeping between the bikes while an occasional hitchhiker shared the driving on his long-distance trips.