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In 1982, Erik Buell left the R&D job at Harley-Davidson to start a new brand of racing bike. Buell Motorcycle Company was introduced by him in 1983 and is located in the north-central United States. In 1993, 49% of Buell equity was bought by Harley-Davidson and wholly acquired by Harley-Davidson in 2003 as a subsidiary. Since then, they discontinued the production of Buell products to focus on their brand. The primary reason for shutting the Buell was the financial crises which cut the U.S. motorcycle sales into half.

In 1984, Buell introduced RW750(Road Warrior) that competed in the AMA Formula 1 road racing championship. Buell’s motor is a square-Four two-stroke that was designed in England. In 1984, Buell released the RR1000 (Battle Twin), which had a Harley-Davidson XR1000 engine. The weight of that bike was only 395 pounds, and half of that was its engine. Later on, RR1200 (Battle Twin), RS1200 (West Wind), and RS1200S. After that, S2 Thunderbolt was launched, and the market reception at that time was astonishing. In 1998, Harley-Davidson purchased the Buell Motorcycle Company, and subsequently, Buell introduced the S1W White Lightning in the same year. After a year X1 Lightning was introduced in the market.

In 2002, Buell introduced the XB9R Firebolt. This is first Buell with a modern aluminum beam frame and also features a perimeter brake rotor mounted to the rim of the front wheel rather than the hub. In 2003, Buell introduced the Lightning XB9s naked bike, and after a year, another bike was introduced, and it was known as “the world’s first adventure sport bike.” Almost every year, a motorcycle was launched by Buell.

In 2009, parent company Harley-Davidson decided to shut down Buell. Around the same time, Erik Buell also announced his new venture, Erik Buell Racing, which only focused on race-only versions of 1125R model and later on, they produced 1190RS and 1190RX model for the streets or the track.