It was Erik Buell's passion for racing that led to the development the first Buell motorcycle.

A successful privateer roadracer himself in the late 1970s to early '80s, Erik Buell built his own race bike to meet the rules for the AMA's premiere Formula 1 class. The RW750, a handbuilt and raw pure race bike, was the first official Buell motorcycle. It was a brutally fast a contender in the series, but one year later, the AMA changed the class rules leaving the RW750 without a home. Erik Buell regrouped and began to focus his efforts on building a premium street bike. He translated his trilogy of technology principles from that first race bike into the RR1000 street bike, and, as the saying goes, the rest is history. But Erik Buell has never forgotten his racing roots.

From 1996 through 2002 Buell sponsored the Buell Lightning Series, a spec class that pitted top Buell racers against each other to determine who was the best rider. Buell dealer-backed teams and racers participated in the AMA Pro Thunder Series when it was established in 1998 and Buell sponsored the competition, which featured epic battles between Buell, Triumph and Ducati racers, from 2000 through 2002. In 2003, Buell paid contingency to privateer racers in the Formula USA Thunderbike series, a championship that has been won by Buell racers each year since its inception in 2001.

Today, Buell Motorcycle Company continues to support motorcycle road racing and privateer racers. Buell and BRAG sponsor a lucrative $70,500 contingency program for Buell racers competing in the Formula USA Thunderbike Championship Series and Buell provides trackside parts support to racers at all Formula USA National events. And in the AMA, two dealer teams, Hal's Buell and Kosco Buell, are competing in the new Formula Xtreme series with technical support from Buell.