Harley Davidson's have always had amazing engines but the company has never put one in a frame designed to handle like a sportsbike. Several small companies have produced bikes to exploit this opportunity but one has been particularly successful.

Erik Buell, ex racer and Harley engineer founded the company in the late 1980s. Early models such as the RR1000 and RS1200 were engineering successes but did not sell well due to their high prices.

In 1993 things improved for Buell when Harley Davidson, realising the earning potential of the kind of bikes Buell produced, bought a large stake in the firm. The company reloacted to larger facilities and began to produce it's first bike of this new era.

The S2 Thunderbolt, using the Harley Sportster engine was a sales success and with it's large benefactor's experience in large volume production the model was also profitable.

In the 1990s Buell produced the SB9R. This is arguably the model that really established their reputation in Europe as a real sportsbike manufacturer. The SB9R handles sharply thanks to a short wheelbase enabled by some clever engineering solutions such as holding oil in it's frame. Rim mounted brakes were another eye catching and effective feature unseen on comparable Japanese competitors.