The United States doesn’t have much of a domestic
sportsbike industry. European and Japanese sportsbikes and superbikes are
popular in the US, but American manufacturers like Harley-Davidson and Indian stick
to making cruisers and touring bikes. For the last four decades, however, one American
has been trying his damnedest to change that. He has taken some pretty hard knocks along the way and his company has gone bust more than once. But like an
extra-resilient phoenix, he rises from the ashes again, again and again. Most
would have given up a long time ago. Not Erik Buell though. The man is
indomitable.