Buell and Roland Sands Design’s Super Cruiser Concept

Erik Buell was not long for cruiser design. He was hired at Harley-Davidson directly from engineering school in 1979 and despite being heavily involved in both the FXR chassis design and H-D’s fabled Project Nova, would leave H-D only three years later to spend the rest of his career focusing almost entirely on V-twin racebikes and high-performance sport machines under the name Buell Motorcycles. But with Erik Buell now retired and the Buell Motorcycle name in new hands, the famed American sport manufacturer is returning to the cruiser world in a way that might just make Erik proud.

In February of 2023, Buell’s new owner, Bill Melvin, unveiled a 450-pound motorcycle concept built by Roland Sands Design, capable of delivering 175 horsepower in a cruiser stance with cruiser trim. Powered by an 1,190cc liquid-cooled V-twin, the Buell Super Cruiser sports tall risers, mid-mounted foot controls and a rounded gas tank with a centrally mounted gauge. A familiar rear fender shape and a triangle underneath the rider’s seat harken back to the iconic FXR, but with a new monoshock peaking through. It’s a balance of new-school chassis design, engine technology, and this newly revived brand paying homage to the iconic H-D model that its namesake helped create.

When Buell relaunched in 2020, the goal was to produce 10 new motorcycles by 2024. But since the announcement of the RSD-made Super Cruiser, demand for a production version has been incredible. In just 45 days since the announcement, Buell has seen nearly 2,000 deposits made by customers hoping to put a Super Cruiser in their garage. Melvin says the goal of producing

10 new models has not changed, but for now, it’s all hands on deck to get this single model into production. But it’s a lot easier to build one concept bike than it is to manufacture this level of high-performance machine for the masses.

“When you’re riding an FXR, you’re still riding a bike that feels a bit loose,” said Roland Sands, sitting in his Long Beach office, leaning back in his chair with his feet on his desk. “The Super Cruiser is rock solid. The bike doesn’t do anything strange. It’s not going to wobble on you coming off a corner. You can ride it extremely aggressively and it doesn’t give you any sketchy feedback, which is a new feeling for a bike that sits this way.”

OLIVER JONES The Cutrate

Let me start by saying I am currently, and have been a Buell fan for a long time. To be honest, when I had my rst couple of bikes (old Yamahas) I went into a Harley dealership and was one bad credit score away from buying a Buell XB12CG.

Fast forward a few years and I ended up with a XB12SS. Something about Buell spoke to me. I was getting into motorcycles and felt like an outsider. I felt like Buell was similar in that they were Harley engines but sport bikes by de nition. Compared to other mainstream sport bikes of that time they were not really in the same conversation performance-wise. However, they always got a pass because in the Harley market (where they lived) they were still way above the rest in terms of performance. Now I feel like the tables have ipped. This Super Cruiser is for all intents and purposes a sport bike, in a market of mostly outdated cruiser platforms. So again, I’m attracted to it. Obviously the numbers speak for themselves.

The real question to me going forward is how close to the bike we all saw will the production model be? Clearly the concept bike was built to be just that, conceptual. Some of the parts used were even actual modi ed FXR parts, and I get that. That market is the focus, I just hope this all morphs into something a bit more “stand-alone” and not just a hybrid child of motorcycle cousins. Only time will tell, but there has to be room in the cruiser market for something good other than H-D, without trying to look like H-D. Performance is the name of the game today, and I think this bike will deliver that.

But the bike that Sands rode is the bike that was built in his shop, not the production model that will eventually roll out of Grand Rapids, Michigan (Buell’s current home base). We were naturally skeptical, but Sands assured us that roughly 75-percent of the parts used on the Super Cruiser came from Buell’s existing lineup. From the fork to the swingarm, 17-inch wheels and braking system, even the buttons at the handlebars—these components from Buell’s supersport lineup mesh seamlessly with the RSD-built trellis frame. The new parts visible on the concept model, like that hand-built tubular steel frame, do still need to be made and manufacturing processes for those parts still need to be developed.

“We’re not going to rush it.” said Melvin. “We want to make sure that when it does come out that it’s right, it’s safe, it’s high-performance, and it has all the styling and coolness that everybody wants—that they saw in the concept bike.”

Experience has taught us that it’s a long road from concept motorcycle to a street legal and fully homologated bike for the masses. But Melvin assures us that his leadership team has what it takes to build the bike they need to, in the quantities that they need to. While certain adjustments will need to be made to deliver a 50-state legal motorcycle, Melvin says that there will be race-only options for the customer that wishes to take his or her Super Cruiser to the track, and deliver a machine as close to this RSD-built concept as possible.

But with so many deposits taken, and delivery dates initially set for 2025, price and availability are yet to be announced.

“When they do roll off, they’re going to roll off, you know, in the normal OEM roll out quantities,” said Melvin. “And then as we see that all of that quality is to the level that we want for all the customers, we’ll speed it up.” And for pricing? All Melvin can say for now is that “It’s gonna be in the twenties…”

What is for certain is that if Buell manages to make 2,000 2025 Super Cruisers priced in the $20,000’s, it will change the face of performance cruisers in America, which is just fine with us. HB

CHRIS STAAB FXR Division

As FXR a cionados, it is impossible to miss the heavy FXR styling queues incorporated into the soon-to-release Buell Super Cruiser. From the gas tank and dash assembly, to the triangulated frame, and even the the styling of the rear fender (however we question the overall aesthetic of that portion of the bike, as it looks like the rear fender is being held on by two toothpicks, and would like to see some changes in that regard). All in all, it appears to be the modern-day FXR that we have all been waiting for! Where the retro look stops, all of the performance upgrades take over.

From the inverted frontend, 17-inch sport bike style wheels, massive six-piston radial mount brake with a gigantic perimeter front rotor, to the 175 hp water-cooled engine and SC Project Performance exhaust, and onto the monoshock rear suspension and chain-driven maindrive, we can’t wait to see how this bike will perform.

We only hope that there is a little more to offer in the rear brake and rotor department, prior to release. In closing, we didn’t hesitate to drop $50 for a pre-order. We are looking forward to nal pricing and a release date!