Notable engineer countdown - 10 who left their mark on motorcycling

Before the modern motorcycle could take shape, it first took shape in the minds of engineers and designers. Picking the ten most deserving for this list is a task guaranteed to infuriate some readers, but these guys championed ideas and influenced whole categories and markets.

In position #10, Erik Buell – engineering iconoclast

"More cheese, Gromit?" Wisconson's Erik Buell does his best imitation of another noted cheesehead. This was at Daytona in 2006, when the star-crossed XBRR took 'modifying the cases' to extremes. Rules are made for stretching.

Although Harley-Davidson’s air-cooled, pushrod V-twin motors are not an obvious choice as powerplants, Erik Buell’s determination to produce a mass-market American sport bike was admirable and he’s proven to be an extremely creative engineer. His use of shock absorber springs that operate in tension, frames that carry fuel and swingarms that carry oil, and rim-mounted brake discs are just a few of the inventions that may, some day, be found on other brands of motorcycle. 


After Buell was, almost literally, thrown out into the cold by Harley-Davidson, he set up a small shop and went back to his roots, selling and servicing production race bikes. He plans to release a new streetbike, the EBR 1190RS, soon.