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View Full Version : Interview with EBR VP Gary Pietruszewski from EICMA 2014



Hughlysses
11-10-2014, 10:08 PM
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/erik-buell-racin g-vp-exclusive-interview-ebr-plans-to-conquer-euro pe-with-lower-prices-88702.html (http://www.autoevolution.com/news/erik-buell-racing-vp-exclusive-interview-ebr-plans-to-conquer-europe-with-lower-prices-88702.html)

LOTS of info. A few highlights:

-2015 EBR models were not ready for the show; Hero wanted to focus on their bikes.

-HX250R may be marketed both as EBR and Hero brand models, and there may be street fighter and other derivative models.

-HX250R will be priced substantially lower than competition from Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha and will have better warranty.

-No 1290cc models any time soon; 1190 is enough.

-EBR 2015 models- option for a quick shifter in 2015, some engineering changes (clutch effort), otherwise, bold new colors.

-1190AX will not be ready in 2015. Gary makes some seemingly conflicting statements, as near the top of the article he says the middleweight ~600cc segment is fading, so EBR has no plans in that area. However, when asked about the 1190AX, he says it won't be ready in 2015 and they don't have an exact date as they are focusing on "middle weights and the low-cc" development. Maybe this was a clever way of dodging the question about the AX as a couple of people at Badweb claim that the AX will NOT be an 1190?

Good read!

Hughlysses
11-11-2014, 01:36 PM
Highly speculative follow-on article:

1190AX "confirmed" (http://www.autoevolution.com/news/exclusive-ebr-1190ax-confirmed-as-sport-adventure-bike-88770.html)

Scott
11-18-2014, 08:42 AM
Highly speculative follow-on article:

1190AX "confirmed" (http://www.autoevolution.com/news/exclusive-ebr-1190ax-confirmed-as-sport-adventure-bike-88770.html)

:lol:

I think 'highly speculative' is an understatement.

Here's my best guess on what we'll see in the coming years: I think we will see a 'EBR 250RX' that is very similar, if not identical, to the bike that's been making the show circuit. That bike will be sold in Europe and the rest of the world as a Hero, but in the US as an EBR. Over time, we may see the the EBR differentiate itself from the Hero version with higher performance components (perhaps an EBR 250RS or 300RS), but that will take a while. I think they'll keep it simple to start in the interest of getting a low price, high volume bike out to dealers sooner rather than later. I think we'll see an 'EBR 250SX' shortly behind (I wouldn't be surprised to see the RX here by spring and the SX here by fall).

I think the '1190AX' will come after they've focused on getting those higher volume bikes moving, and I think it will be a unique platform that is clearly distinguishable from the current bikes as a true adventure bike (unlike the Ulysses which made too many compromises in the opinions of many hard-core Adventure fans - I'm betting we'll see wire-spoke wheels for example).

I think some Hastur variations are coming, but that platform is more experimental and less developed at the moment. I think we'll have to wait a little longer for that.

Here's a very rough guess of what I think the future may look like:

2015 - 250RX, 250SX
2016 - 1290AX, 250AX
2017 - 650RX, 300RS

I think that may be at least close to what we'll see. If anything, there may be a broader spread and we might not see a Hastur-type bike until 2018 or 2019. I think the dismissal of the middleweights may have been because he knows they're not going to be here in the short term. I think there are a LOT of things on their plate over the next 10 years, but those things won't be coming out all at once.

Hughlysses
11-18-2014, 11:36 AM
^ That seems like a very reasonable prediction of where they will go. ~250, ~600, and ~1200 cc models as sport bikes, naked bikes, and adventure bikes.

If you recall from the "end of Buell" article in Cycle World back in ~2009, they mentioned that Buell had a line of middle-weight 3-cylinder bikes completely designed and ready for production at the time of the shutdown. If this 3-cylinder was another Rotax plant, I'd think EBR could easily acquire it from Rotax (either the plans or as complete engines) and have their own middle weight series ready to go fairly quickly, so an ~800cc series also seems like a real possibility.

Scott
11-18-2014, 02:07 PM
^ That seems like a very reasonable prediction of where they will go. ~250, ~600, and ~1200 cc models as sport bikes, naked bikes, and adventure bikes.

If you recall from the "end of Buell" article in Cycle World back in ~2009, they mentioned that Buell had a line of middle-weight 3-cylinder bikes completely designed and ready for production at the time of the shutdown. If this 3-cylinder was another Rotax plant, I'd think EBR could easily acquire it from Rotax (either the plans or as complete engines) and have their own middle weight series ready to go fairly quickly, so an ~800cc series also seems like a real possibility.

That would definitely be cool, but we haven't heard a hint or even whisper that anything like that is in the works.

I'm intrigued (and not saying this is likely, just something that interests me) by the idea of a Hastur bumped up to 750 cc that could go up against the 600 cc fours and 675 cc triples. From what I remember, a 750 cc twin would be allowed to race against the 600's and 675's in Supersport. It may be tough to make a 750 cc twin competitive, but I have to think it's possible if they really wanted to go that route (and could take advantage of the smaller, lighter packaging theoretically possible with a parallel twin). If you think about it, a 1200 cc twin has 20% more displacement than a 1000 cc four, but a 750 twin has 25% more displacement than a 600 cc four, so from a purely theoretical viewpoint, a 750 twin should be able to run with a 600 four.

And something like that would be truly unique. We can buy high-performance, middle-weight fours and triples, but high-performance parallel twins are basically non-existent these days. If they could make it smaller and lighter than the other middle-weights, it could be a really fun, unique bike.

I also think something like that could be a 'spiritual successor' to the XB's. Those bikes weren't crazy powerful like the current 1200's, but they were light and small and just a hell of a lot of fun to ride in the twisties.