| Author | Message | ||
     Woodreaux |
The lack of Buell dealerships is disappointing. It seems HD and BMC could figure something out. I am gaining confidence in taking my Uly on touring vacations but never thought twice about taking one of the Electra Glides I've owned as the thought has been if something happens get to a dealership. I was talking to the manager of one of the dealerships in Houston and he's frustrated that he can't sell (find buyers)or get HD's attention to support other marketing promotions. My friend is a Buell rider too. It probably is a niche market and probably a heart ache for EB who works hard to create amazingly fun mc's and continues to raise the bar with relibility. | ||
| Slinky |
Yamaha's price for the FJR lists 14,200. My local dealership has one for 13,500. It also has 35-40 more hp than a Uly XT. | ||
| Froggy |
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelsp ecs/501/0/specs.aspx Right from the specs. Lacks info on horsepower, also lacks info on lots of other useful tidbits. Holy 60.8" wheelbase, must turn like a cruise ship. No biggie, the 1125XT will be out eventually, and will eliminate this mysterious horsepower disadvantage. | ||
| Slinky |
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelsp ecs/180/0/specs.aspx Apples to apples. I don't know why anyone would look at an automatic shifting motorcycle, other than to try and find the highest price possible for the sake of argument. Simple research will get you some horsepower specs. I don't even know why I am comparing here. Point is this, I love my Uly, for what I want it to do it's great, but if sport touring was my thing, and I had a 10-15k budget. THE FJR is a better sport tourer for the money. And yes I've ridden both. Besides, this is getting way off topic. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
You can't ride specs, kids. Good motorcycles are a dime a dozen - great motorcycles provide their rider with a love-hate relationship. Just my 2cents. . | ||
| Froggy |
I didn't know there was a second one that was $1800 cheaper, the one I linked was my first result from searching for 2009 FJR specs. From what I have read, it looks like its just clutch-less, not fully automatic. Sounds like a cool feature to me. Its still a lot of coin, if I was spending that much I would be looking at a BMW. I need to look into the maintenance costs of the FJR, I bet they are a bit more than the XT. | ||
| Woodreaux |
I have ridden FJR, Concours, St-1300 and BMW model and prefer the versatility the Uly offers. We need Buell and HD to be successful in fixing solutions for a strong Buell dealership network. Folks want to ride other mc's-that's cool. I want and need Buell to be around for along time. Just a Buell fan/owner since 96. | ||
| Slinky |
Johnboy, I agree with you one hundred percent. On the flip-side I think it's hard to buy a "bad" bike these days. It's all personal preference. | ||
| Jammin_joules |
When people buy parts at steep discounts on the internet, haggle over price under MSRP, only use dealerships for warranty work and such, the business plans of Buell dealerships go amuck. In a sense, it is not all that different than GM having to shut down so many dealerships - they are competing with themselves and profits erode to the point of real cash flow issues. I like a bargain as much as the next guy, but everyone deserves to make a fair profit. When I can spend hours and hours teaching a new rider about Buell, getting him on demo rides of all the relative models, have a reputable service department with multiple expert trained & experienced technicians including supporting Buell racing, stock Buell and other sport bike parts & outer wear, and have the guy buy a Buell 35 miles away where they spent 0 time with him for the difference of $100 - well, this can not happen too many times and still stay in business. | ||
| Hangetsu |
On the other hand Dave, when talking about non HD or Buell parts - tires, oil, & miscellaneous accessories, the dealer is going to have to find a way to offer its customers a better deal than MSRP, especially when installation is part of the package. A while back your parts manager recommended a tire for me (Metzler Roadtech Z6), offered me a 10% discount and gave me a quote with tax & mounting. The total was more than $600.00. That's more than I pay for 4 32" All Terrain TAs for my truck. Out of curiosity I checked with a local tire dealer (not internet) on the same tire and got a quote for $400 & change for the whole package. I honestly felt bad about taking my business to this vendor, but I cannot afford to ignore a $200+ savings. Now, just yesterday, I had my second set of Z6s mounted by the same shop for $430. That's three sets of tires since I bought the bike at the end of November, 08. That's three sets of tires in less than a year. I (and I'm sure others) cannot afford $600 (dealer price) every 5 months to keep this bike on the road. I am a firm believer in dealer loyalty, especially for tings in which they are the experts, not only warranty work. But for these other parts and services, dealers are going to have to become more competitive with specialty shops, or they will lose the business. | ||
| Dcc46 |
i was at spitzies hd / buell today in albany NY and their dropping buell next month also. they said they will continue to service though. | ||
| Firstbatch |
Seems kind'a like a ..Why I ride Buell Thread".....it certainly was never about the dealer network. Most of us like the Buell because it is simple yet highly- engineered technology thrown at the lovable sporty power plant. Tuber, XB..."it don't matter",,,,it is a tractor torque monster that delivers a completely unique and awesome riding experience. I can, and have, bought BMW, HD, Harley, Yamaha and Honda over the years but the Buell is a just exciting to ride and delivers a ride that is much different then the others. It is a bonus that it is stone simple to work on as long as they keep making the parts. Buells biggest problem may be that like many HD's and BMW the product lasts a long time,....Unless you just have to have new model you could keep an original Buell in service for a loooooooong time with good routine service. I have a '68 BMW R69S that still runs like the day it came out the showroom....I expect the Uly will be the same   | ||
| Swampy |
You know there are fewer BMW dealers out there than Buell dealers. But look at all the BMWs out there, look at the name recognition, there are even BMW billboards along the highway advertising the BMW dealer 75 miles to the south on the northbound lanes of I-75 in Michigan. I understand Buell tried to garner success by placing Buell with the "Other" great American Motorcycle, but it simply did not work due to most dealers having an I don't care attitude about the make. The time has come, if something isn't changed Buell will continue on in its mediocraty as a great motorcycle that nobody cares about(except for us) The opportunity is slipping through your fingers, Buell has an absolutly great line up of wonderful motorcycles, is winning at the races and is recieving more print time than it has in 25 years. HD would be an utter failure also if the Harley Davidson customers were treated like Buell customers. Look at what is happening to Harley Davidson sales now that all the foreign manufacturers are hogging into the Harley Davidson "experience" I know I can walk into any Harley Davidson dealership and buy a wrist pin clip for my 91 Sportster, but to buy the exact same part, I would have to order it from a Buell dealership. It is simply time to grow up, and stop ignoring the fact that the Emperor Has No Clothes. At my age I have recently had to make the most difficult and costly decisions in my life that for my well being and future happiness I simply could not ignore any longer. It was time to grow up and move on. | ||
| Ulytide |
Like it or not, Buell dealers most likely can not survive on their own without the overhead covered by the supporting Harley dealer. BMW, although fewer dealers, have way higher margins, and sell more bikes out of fewer dealerships. That is logical. As for service, ever experience the lag between diagnosis and parts availability then repair in a BMW, Ducati or Aprilia dealership? | ||
| Johnboy777 |
""Like it or not, Buell dealers most likely can not survive on their own without the overhead covered by the supporting Harley dealer.""} ...or bunched w/ other brands like most BMW dealers. Not trying to bash HD here, but this whole Harley ‘lifestyle’ thing reminds me of everyone following each other off a cliff, one after the other – watching these Harley guys and wanna-be’s at HD stores is mind numbing. It appears both funny and sad to me, for some reason. A lot of guys buy into the whole fantasy thing of owning and farkling a Harley in chrome and other gadgets while the dealers are RAPING them throughout the entire process. The whole marketing thing about Harley’s is absurdly skewed - their business plan involves logo-ing anything that can be sold and charging three times what’s it’s worth in hopes that some schmuck caught up in the Harley lifestyle thing will come along and buy it…. I guess what gets me is that its all fantasy-based. Our job as consumers is NOT to try keep dealers in business - that is just absurd. Dealers come and go - survival of the fittest. And if the economic paradigm changes, so be it. Perhaps we will all shop for everything online at some point in the future. Frequenting those retailers that provide us with great service and products - that seems logical. But I shop knowing that THEY are trying to grab as much of my money as they can, and I am trying to keep as much of my money as I can - its the retail dance we all do. Let's not be naive here - for the most part, dealers are all self-serving. They could care less about any one of us. They're just trying to make money and pay their bills, much like the rest of us. It will be interesting to see what happens to HD sales once the baby boomers get too old to ride anymore. Just my 2cents, here. . | ||
| Blake |
>>>Now there isn't a Buell dealership within 600 miles of where I live. That is inaccurate. | ||
| Vwsinner |
Reno HD sells Buell, but try to get a part as simple as a turn signal relay and it will take you three to five days...no support, not w en a Buell ball cap. A bunch of freaking a holes who want to profit from a boutique bike but nit support it. A buddy of mine just took his 09 XB12R in for his 10k service and they charged him for a 1000 mile service and did the 1k service, not what he wanted or needed. So he bought the dealer service manual on lone and finished his 10k service hisself. We're treated like step children by HD. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Johnboy, Are you saying that a man in his mid-fifties, with a graying beard, doo rag, buttless chaps, sagging ranger tattoo, pumped up biceps, and a leather vest bearing the HD Eagle and MIA/POW patches, and riding a Harley that despite its many custom farkles doesn’t seem to look any different than anyone else’s, isn’t an image of raw & rugged American individuality? You must be a socialist! | ||
| Johnboy777 |
""You must be a socialist!"' In another 30 or so years, we'll all be socialists, or dead (apparently, it's our our destiny)... as for me, I can only hope for the latter.  . | ||
| Hangetsu |
I was being sarcastic. On the other hand, why is it that when a (our)government finally tries to do something that's actually good for the masses and no real threat to anyone, we react by buying more guns and ammo? I think the mind of the average American is still wired for the 19th century. A little off topic. Sorry for the hijack. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
""I was being sarcastic."" Me too. Liberal democrats are Socialists in denial. And come to think of it, liberal democrat is a redundant term – how can you be a liberal without being a democrat, and vice versa. Lastly, whoever came up with ‘less is more’, never had a whole 12-pack all to themselves. Cheers . | ||
| Jammin_joules |
Boy, such bitter attitudes towards people making free choices how to live & express their interests. I suppose the same is sad about NASCAR fans, NBA fans, NHL fans, golfers, boaters, yachtsmen, martial arts aficionados, NRA members, NFL fans, muscle car club members - after all, each has its uniform garb and official licensed products. Too bad those lemmings, millions of them, just don't get it; popularity is bad. Long live going your own way. No one is as individual as us Buellers. Even BMW owners and those pesky Ducati riders are conformists. Thank Dog we're cooler than them. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
""Boy, such bitter attitudes towards people making free choices how to live & express their interests. I suppose the same is sad about NASCAR fans, NBA fans, NHL fans, golfers, boaters, yachtsmen, martial arts aficionados, NRA members, NFL fans, muscle car club members - after all, each has its uniform garb and official licensed products. Too bad those lemmings, millions of them, just don't get it; popularity is bad. Long live going your own way. "" I agree with you, Jammin, freedom is a good thing (some guys like dressing up like women, too, good for them)- what gets me is that whole 'lifestyle' BS thing HD is selling that people buy into. In my case, seeing our county prosecutor, whom I know, riding into a bike night here, looking like a hard-arse pirate on Halloween ... well, that's both sad and funny...but hey, that's just me...YMMV Cheers . | ||
| Hangetsu |
Hey dave, I'm not bitter; just observant in a cynical, "Gary Larson" sort of way. Life is a stand-up comedy and no one escapes the spotlight. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
Hey Hangetsu, hell yeah you're bitter - it happens automatically when you hit Five-Ohhhhh! | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Firstbatch, That is one nice looking BMW. That beauty has timeless looks. | ||
| Swampy |
There isn't a Buell Dealer within 600 miles worth giving my business to.... That, is an accurate statement! | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Johnboy777, You can send your socialist security checks to me. Your mail is delivered by a government run mail system. Your state colleges are just that, State funded colleges. Your water, trash and sewer is probably all local government owne. I certainly can agree with you on many fronts but whether a politician is democrat or republican they are first of all egomaniacs one and all and no republican ever comes out for dismantling social security or the USPS, or Medicare. | ||
| Jlnance |
I understand Buell tried to garner success by placing Buell with the "Other" great American Motorcycle, but it simply did not work due to most dealers having an I don't care attitude about the make. The time has come, if something isn't changed Buell will continue on in its mediocraty as a great motorcycle that nobody cares about(except for us) I won't argue that the dealer situation couldn't be significantly improved. But I do think it's worth pondering where Buell would be today if it wasn't for HD. They needed to get cash from somewhere, and HD was willing to invest in them. No one gives you cash with out strings, and certainly the dealership situation is one of those strings. I can't really envision a better business partner for them than HD, particularly back in the 90s when they started that relationship. The opportunity is slipping through your fingers, Buell has an absolutly great line up of wonderful motorcycles, is winning at the races and is recieving more print time than it has in 25 years. Buell's racing success may be what fixes this problem. HD has made a lot of mileage out of pushing an us-versus-them idea, where sport bikes are a definite "them." It's a great business move for HD, and their dealers, but it is also responsible for Buells aren't worth my time attitudes you see at the dealerships. Of course the root of the reason people close to HD see sportbikes as some evil creation is HD doesn't make one. At least not a top of the line, competitive one. Now here comes Buell, and they have a sportbike that can go out and kick the ass of the Japaneese bikes. Well you know everyone loves a winner. If they keep winning, I think you'll see HD snuggling up a lot closer to Buell. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Don't forget that they now also own MV Agusta lock stock and barrel. Now those babies sing and I mean they really sing. The mufflers are tuned for length just like pipe organs. |
