Erik Buell, founder of Buell Motorcycle Co., is making a comeback with a limited-production street bike that will be made in East Troy.

Tuesday, Buell said he would have the motorcycle ready this spring, for sale in small numbers.

"The first round of bikes are going to be collectibles, exotic, special-edition," he said.

Motorcycle industry journalists have speculated that a sequel was in the works for Buell after the company he founded 28 years ago in a Mukwonago barn was shut down in 2009 by its owner, Harley-Davidson Inc.

"This is true Americana. Here's a guy who goes down and comes back fighting," said Laurence Richardson, editor of Clutch & Chrome, an online motorcycle magazine.

Buell has always been an underdog working on a tight budget.

His company won accolades on the racetrack but struggled in the marketplace, where it competed against much larger Japanese motorcycle manufacturers.

After the shutdown, blamed partly on the recession, Harley-Davidson granted Buell a license to continue building racing motorcycles but not bikes for the street. Harley has since released him from that agreement, Buell said.

"Harley-Davidson is coming back, which is great news. And I hope that we can come back in our own, much smaller way," he said.

The first EBR 1190RS bikes will be sold directly from Buell's race shop in East Troy. They will be expensive, Buell said, although he has not set a specific price yet.

The company also wants to set up a dealer network.

"We are going to a motorcycle show in Indianapolis this weekend to start talking with people about this," Buell said.

If anyone introducing a new motorcycle has an advantage, it's Erik Buell, Richardson said.

"The biggest hurdle is always brand recognition, and Buell has that in spades," he said.

S&S Cycles of Viola is working with Buell to develop the new street bike.

"We definitely want to support him any way we can," said Scott Sjovall, S&S vice president of product development.

Motorcycle dealers say they aren't surprised that Buell would return to the street-bike scene where he had a loyal following in the United States, Europe and Australia.

"He is one of those iconic figures who just keeps pounding away, making himself known in the industry," said Rob Strauss, owner of Rob's Performance Motorsports, a Honda motorcycle dealership in Johnson Creek.

"That part I applaud. But it's a tough market now. We have watched our sport-bike business decline dramatically," Strauss said.

Buell says he wants to rebuild his company, which once employed about 200 people, to produce motorcycles in bigger numbers than just collectibles or track bikes.

"Over time, the price can come down if we get everything in place," he said.

Sport bikes, akin to sports cars for their speed and handling, are popular with younger riders.

"There are a lot of sport bikes sold in the world, and we would like some of them to be American. We would not need a very large percentage of the marketplace to be pretty big again," Buell said.