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“Is the recession really over?”

The Chick looked up from her computer and asked me that from over on the sofa. I was working on my computer at the dining-room table.

Hmm…. I explained the rule of thumb about two consecutive quarters of decreasing GDP but had to admit that (whatever economists say and notwithstanding Ford’s surprisingly profitable quarter) it certainly doesn’t seem to have ended in the motorcycle business.

I was still thinking about Harley-Davidson’s shutdown of Buell, and there was other news that came on the heels of that, too. Yamaha just had its best weekend in the company’s racing history—Rossi clinched, Spies won the company’s first-ever World SBK championship, the manufacturer even won the World Supersport title—and still, Yamaha USA shut down its factory American Superbike team when it seemed poised to take the 2010 AMA Pro championship after closing out ’09 in great style. Then, American Suzuki flat shut down its press department.

I just have a feeling, too, that I’m about to hear news of changes at AMA Pro Racing. Recession over? From where I’m sitting, it feels as if the U.S. motorcycle market has been holding its breath for the last year and half, and has just passed out.

In the last few years, AMA Pro has made or interpreted rules that seemed to favor Buell. That favoritism may be rooted in the organization’s desire to lure Harley-Davidson fans back to road racing. It infuriated rivals, though AMA Pro might actually owe Erik a favor; he first incorporated to make 750cc two-stroke AMA Formula 1 race bikes, but the RW750 lost its raison d’être when the AMA changed its rules. Still, one thing’s not debatable: Buells excepted, modern sport bikes are (too) much of a muchness. Love him or hate him, we could really use Erik Buell.

There were lots of people in the motorcycle industry—in particular a few journalists I can think of—who were eager to see Erik get his comeuppance, but his emotional video farewell took even his critics aback. I was rocked by the news that Harley had shut its subsidiary down, though perhaps I should have seen it coming.

In a long, off-the-record conversation with Erik a couple of weeks earlier, he touched on—of all things—electric motorcycles. America, he told me, must take leadership in battery technology in order to keep jobs in the United States.

Erik’s ever passionate. To get a word in during conversation, you almost have to shout. He fiercely defends ideas like his ZTL rim-mounted brake and fuel-in-frame. The only things he hasn’t questioned are his own myth and his occasionally downright strange motorcycles. But he was particularly vehement on the subject of maintaining an American technological lead in the world of zero-emission vehicles.

I didn’t dare point out that the Chinese have already stolen that march (at least in the Lithium-ion battery area). But in hindsight, I guess he may have been distraught over the impending termination of his own employees.

The decision was out of his hands. For the last decade or so, Erik’s been the Chief Technology Officer of a wholly owned Harley-Davidson subsidiary. (Harley bought 49 percent of Buell’s stock in 1993 and virtually all the remainder in ’98.) Harley’s pushrod motors seemed out of place in Buell frames; so did Buell motorcycles in Harley dealerships.

Buell was no less a red-haired stepchild in Milwaukee. In the same press release, Harley-Davidson announced that it would sell MV Agusta, which it had acquired about a year earlier. Why not sell—or at least try to sell—Buell?

Within a week, some Harley dealers were advertising Buells at huge discounts and there were rumors that Harley was kicking $5,000 to dealers for each one sold. As an outsider looking in, it can seem that The Motor Company wants to erase any reminders of the brand (though H-D says it will honor Buell warranties and maintain good parts support).

This isn’t going to make me popular, but it must be said… Last year, the motorcycle business ended a run of about fifteen years of steady sales increases. Over that time, our industry ignored a demographic time bomb, as the average age of motorcycle buyers increased almost one year with each passing year. Until gas prices briefly spiked, our industry was happy to offer expensive, impractical toys while ignoring motorcycles’ potential as affordable traffic-busters. In general, our industry behaved like a California homebuyer at the height of the bubble, shopping for zero-down mortgages.

It’s a truism of entrepreneurship that the time to make money is when there’s blood in the streets. Although this might be a crappy time to build outright sales volume, it’s a great time to build mindshare.

When your rivals cut their marketing, advertising, and PR budgets, your profile is effectively raised by the same amount as long as you keep pushing bikes out to hacks like me, and maintain a racing team. When consumers stop buying, they also break old buying habits. When they start buying again—and they always do—they start fresh and remember what they’ve seen lately.

If you don’t believe me, wait about a year and chart Kia’s share of the U.S. car market from 2007 to 2011. The companies that currently dominate the American motorcycle market, shambles that it currently is, should be thankful that Kymco and Hyosung weren’t quite ready, as Kia was, with a couple of hip, interesting new models. Next time, look out.

As I write this, Harley says that Erik Buell will remain on staff as a technical advisor. Advising on what? Harley said in its Buell/MV Agusta release that it was refocusing on its traditional core strengths—i.e., very traditional motorcycles. No traditionalist will listen to anything Erik’s got to say. My last email from him was a couple of cryptic sentences, one of which was, “I can’t speak to the press,” so who knows exactly what he’s up to?

I do know two things: One, if I were the CEO of one of those upstart motorcycle companies from Korea or China (and yes, I’m aware they’re only upstarts to us, but in their domestic markets they’re already huge), I’d be calling Wisconsin directory assistance right now. And two, either way, we haven’t heard the last of Erik Buell.