What should Harley-Davidson do with Buell?

Task Erik Buell with designing a lighter weight (less than 600lbs.)  bagger/sport touring bike (BXTR?). Harley-Davidson does not have a true sport touring bike or a light weight bagger to market to people not interested or ready for a full-sized touring bike. It would bring more people into the Harley-Davidson fold and provide a step between the Sportster and the Touring Line. It should also be more than just a Sportster with bags as that can be created with the parts catalog (and would be similar to my Sportster).

            The Buell Thunderstorm twin 1200 or XR1200 generates (103 hp), more power than the Evolution V-twin used in the touring line from 1984 to 2000.  A Thunderstorm 883 (70 hp?) could be developed for an entry level/export model. Combine it with a light aluminum (fuel in the) frame chassis and oil in the swing arm from Buell’s to keep weight low and center of gravity low (if costs allow).  A traditional frame could use the oil in swing arm to allow gas storage in the place of oil.  Add traditional looking features and place radio in the “gas tank” to keep the fairing small.

            Design a fairing based on the shark nosed Road Glide but using the smaller twin round headlights (from the Buell line) to scale it down. A batwing fairing would not appeal to Sport touring riders and would compete more directly with big twins. Add cruise and ABS as options.

Make two models to start. The first would have traditional Harley-Davidson styling features. The second would include more modern features to compete with styling features from BMW/Honda/Yamaha. Both would build the Harley-Davidson brand and would give Erik Buell an outlet for his creative genius. A new line of Harley-Davidson bikes would also allow a place for technological innovations to bring in new buyers. Buyers whose upgrade path would to the big twin line.