EBR Motorcycles To Liquidate Product Equipment and Parts

Less than a year after an EBR Motorcycles Launch Party that featured the 2016 EBR 1190SX and 1190RX, and just months after the debut of the new Black Lightning (shown above), EBR will “begin a wind down of production operations commencing next week,” it announced.

The East Troy, Wis., motorcycle company has been plagued with problems since Buell separated from Harley-Davidson in 2009 and Erik Buell Racing was started.

Erik Buell Racing went into receivership in 2015 after a partnership with Hero MotoCorp of India failed. EBR was sold to Liquid Asset Partners in 2016, re-branded EBR Motorcycles, and Liquid Asset attempted to keep the brand going until a buyer could be found. That effort ended today.

“The decision was a tough one for EBR as it has been solely focused on the growth and building EBR for success,” a press release today said. “The team at EBR has worked tirelessly making every effort to build the company. There is no fault on any of the team at EBR for this decision. They and their families have our deepest gratitude for their efforts and dedication to EBR.

“This difficult decision was based primarily on EBR facing significant headwinds with signing new dealers, which is key to sales and growth for a new company. In addition, EBR has had limited production in 2016 and 2017 that was under goal. The combination of slow sales and industry announcements of other major OEM brands closing or cutting production only magnified the challenges faced by EBR.”

According to EBR, it “will continue to honor warranties and provide technical and parts support to current dealers and riders who bought motorcycles manufactured by EBR. EBR will continue to review strategic alternatives with interested investors regarding production operations.”

However, the EBR liquidation of production equipment and excess parts will occur in March, according to the company.

The saga began in 1983 when Erik Buell founded Buell Motorcycle Company. Harley-Davidson purchased a minority interest in Buell in 1993, and The Motor Company took full ownership in 2003. By the time Harley-Davidson dropped the Buell brand, it had sold over 135,000 motorcycles under the Buell name.