[1] Buell was raised on a farm in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, and learned to maintain machinery at a young age.
During this period, Buell was employed as a motorcycle mechanic during the day and engineering student taking night classes at the University of Pittsburgh.
While at Harley-Davidson, he was involved with concept motorcycles, Porsche-designed "Nova" V-four program, and was responsible for stability and refinements to the chassis design of the FXR series of cruisers, noted for their rubber-mounted engines.
[2] Buell learned of the small, privately held general-purpose engine maker Barton (based in Great Britain) in 1981.
Buell first raced a prototype of his bike, using the mostly stock Barton engine, in the summer of 1982 at the AMA National on the Pocono Speedway.
Buell did so, but the shipment was delayed, and he missed the opportunity to make use of this new equipment and knowledge for the 1983 racing season.
Around this powerhouse, he designed a stiff, extremely light chassis that incorporated the unconventional rubber-mounting system known as "the Uniplanar" that became a patented engineering trademark of Buell sport bikes.
Buell saw the newly developed 1203 cc Harley-Davidson Evolution engine being used in their 'Sportster' model line as solid base platform to further tune the performance and handling qualities of his bikes.
In 1989, Buell introduced the RS1200 model, a two-seat version of the RR1200 marketed to riders who demanded both world-class performance and desired passenger capacity.
Buell responded to Harley's revised engine mounting points by further improving an already innovative design: the RS chassis.
In 1987, Devin Battley smuggled Erik Buell onto a cruise ship for the Harley-Davidson annual dealer's meeting.
Battley told Harley-Davidson then-CEO, Vaughn Beals, that Buell could give the company a performance image with no risk to Harley.
They set up a table for Buell to speak with dealers; by the end of the cruise he had deposits and orders for 25 motorcycles.
Attendees such as Bill Bartels, Don Tilley, Devin Battley and Frank Ulicki later become some of Buells most successful dealers.
It was announced in 2019 that Buell has partnered with French financiers via an Indiegogo campaign to form an Electric Vehicle company called "Fuell".
The Fllow is touted to have an urban ride range up to 150 miles, fast charge time under 30 minutes, and the acceleration of a superbike with a curb weight of only 400 lbs.
[8] The very first (prototype) RW750 eventually found its fate as pieces in Erik's barn workshop, as is common for development machines.