| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
>>>As you well know if you need anything from us we are right here. Go get'em Court. Hold that thought . . . . I may be coming to some of you in the next week and needing help. There are two things I could use now. ONE: We need to capture all the media stuff. I may need some for a presentation in a week or so. Can someone volunteer to scour BadWeB, find all those links to various industry articles and create .pdf files of them? Actually the other I'll have to do . . . . Frank . . I am sending you an assignment. Let's see what happens. By the way . . . I'm staying way clear of making any predictions about Harley-Davidson or badmouthing them. Part of me is unhappy with what they did but they made the decisions based on their business perceptions and needs. I can't recall the last time they did something simply to make me happy. In addition . . . and as I told a friend . . . try spinning this just a BIT differently . . . "Erik, we realize that over the many years we've been associated that the primary things we've brought to the table are an air cooled motor and a dealer network. . both of which nearly ruined Buell at one time or another. We've decided as of today to remove those shackles from you". It's all in how you see things. Here we go . . . | ||
| Moxnix |
In a former life, I enjoyed a stint as a consultant in the perception management trades. That stated, aside from a remark made much earlier regarding unrealistic expectations at the beginning of a business plan, the other factor critical in an economic environment such as we, and the world, now face is: Essential Businesses. While motorcycles are a hobby for most involved on the buying side, I herewith suggest shopping those collected articles in such a way as to underwrite the theme that Buell's 25 year's of efforts and existence created an essential factor in the domestic (and global) market. Listing the innovations from the mind of Erik Buell that are now filtering out amongst the competition, the professional and amateur racing victories, the factory "system" that would probably win a W. Edwards Deming award if Buell were a Japanese company, it all adds up to the unique activity of Buell. Translate it into the essential-ness of what BMC has done and will do even better without the shackles of The Motor Company. EB has already produced legends. Legends live on. Best of luck. Sell the "essential" factor. Bring us some good news . . . . | ||
| Court |
Perfect. You're assigned. Find someone to help you collect the material. Write up and index and a summary (something like you have there) and see if you can get it to me late this week. More damn talent here than a guy could imagine. | ||
| Moxnix |
Oh, crap . . . now I've done it. | ||
| Hex |
I volunteer my nights. PM me with specific assignments, this means you too Moxnix. I can do research... | ||
| Doerman |
Do it Karl. I'll keep on the campaign of awareness (investors, BOD, media) for HD Inc to release the critical assets to a 3rd party. Much work to be done. All good work for a good cause. I got a positive response from Wall Street Journal today! | ||
| Cyclonedon |
>>>Was the new Buell marketing and ad campaign with B.O.B. all done by Harley Davidson? 100% Thanks Court! that was kinda what I thought. Nobody runs a business by insulting their customers and crushing one of their most reliable motorcycles! as far as the extra merchandise they sell, I've seen the quality going South for some time now. Sure not as good as the older stuff they use to sell. I just don't think China's quality control is up to par. Right now I don't think Buell has as many problems as Harley Davidson does! Harley could use some new leadership starting at the top. Anytime I hear a CEO say that they are going to spend a 125 million to get rid of a brand, I just wonder why not try and sell the brand and make money? Sometimes CEO's are like politicians, they throw millions of dollars around like they are tossing nickels. | ||
| Elvis |
Unfortunately, it seems that none of these articles are available in the archives anymore, but it's a good list of good articles for anyone who knows how to track them down: http://web.archive.org/web/20071012183828/buell.co m/en_us/news_events/inthenews.asp | ||
| Geforce |
If you guys need me to write something up... or check over a power point presentation I know all the rules/regs/and winning approaches for power point crap. ***I've been through the Military Instructor Course*** So I may be able to help the format and presentation. Orrr.... I can sit back blow up some more tanks and cheer. Either works. | ||
| Elvis |
If video equipment is available (and, ideally higher resolution clips) I think these two videos could be very compelling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1pFLg3t5q4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9TvIMgdEl0 Also any available videos of Danny Eslick (such as his first win or the championship or the AMA highlight reel) would be very useful if anyone has some clean copies. | ||
| Discochris |
That actually sort of answers a question I was wondering about. I was talking to a co-worker who owns a Harley, and was very interested in trading it for an 1125 earlier this year. (I told him he should go get one quick now). I work in the marketing department for a division of one of the largest companies in the world, and we were discussing the logic of rolling out a new marketing campaign and new brand identity for a product they had decided to kill off. It makes very little sense - we would never invest that kind of time, effort and money like that in such an instance, and to me, it provides some insight into just how disfunctional the Motor Company must be at this point. | ||
| Zxzer04 |
I haven't commented here yet, as I watched the video of Erik Buell, I was getting dressed for my Grandmother's Funeral. My Mother even commented that I was more upset about Buell than my Grandmother. But as I read Courts last post, I needed to say something, "More damn talent here than a guy could imagine." I haven't had my bike in more than a year, and yet my friends are always willing to step forward. The camaraderie within the Buell group is second to none, and the thing that separates them from groups like HOG riders is that camaraderie extends to any motorcyclists. And then there are people like Court, whom has personally helped me and untold other Buell riders. Then you have Champions like Eslick, Bilansky, and Jordan(Those Championships that might have led to a Banner Year for Buell). You have multiple small businesses like Drummer, Special Ops, etc. The people here are some of the best in the world... Seems Erik attracts the best from the Elves down...including Court at the top of the list. | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
Court/Moxnix/Hex, If you need help collecting and converting articles to pdf, let me know. cheers, chili | ||
| Hex |
We need to capture all the media stuff. I may need some for a presentation in a week or so. Can someone volunteer to scour BadWeB, find all those links to various industry articles and create .pdf files of them? Now, I'm not sure exactly what Court is looking for, but here is a list of links that I have compiled. I'll put ALL the ones that I find here in this post, good, bad, ugly, and historic. Maybe Court can weed them out and revise the list so that Lemonchili_x1 can take it from there...I tried not to duplicate. http://www.mcnews.com.au/NewBikeCatalogue/2002/Bue ll/XB9R/Default.htm http://www.bikernet.com/buell/buellarch.asp?Articl e=072101 http://a1264.g.akamai.net/7/1264/1354/4544dfe23d0e 88/www.buell.com/en_us/_media/pdfs/experience/Fuel l-2008/Fuell-Summer-2008.pdf http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/What_Will_Happ en_To_Buell http://www.startribune.com/business/64460757.html? elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EARNS_HA RLEY_DAVIDSON?SITE=FLDAY&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEF AULT http://gazettextra.com/weblogs/latest-news/2009/oc t/17/walworth-county-officials-hope-retain-motorcy cle-c/ http://kiwiridermagazine.blogspot.com/2009/10/bd-a s-buell-owner.html http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2009/10/harley-d idnt-calculate-savings.html http://www.marketwatch.com/story/harley-posts-84-p rofit-drop-shuts-down-buell-2009-10-15 http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/6/333/4/Motorcycle-B log-Post/R-I-P--Buell-Motorcycles---Well-Miss-You. aspx http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Oct/091016expl deleted.htm http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-news-industry/ harley-davidson-chief-speaks-out-over-buell/8496.h tml http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/15/harley-davi dson-to-shut-down-buell-mv-augusta-brands-finally/ http://www.jsonline.com/business/64462187.html http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2009/10/whats-go ing-to-happen-to-erik.html http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/provider article.aspx?feed=PR&date=20091015&id=10494879 http://www.jsonline.com/business/64352232.html http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2009/10/buell-an -obituary.html http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2009/10/erik-bue ll-athletic-technology-1.html http://www.cyrilhuzeblog.com/2009/09/22/is-roger-p enske-the-new-owner-of-rossmeyers-harley-davidson- businesses/ http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/Oct/091015erikb12. htm http://www.jsonline.com/business/59803327.html http://seekingalpha.com/article/166808-harley-davi dson-inc-q3-2009-earnings-call-transcript http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/provider article.aspx?feed=PR&date=20091015&id=10494879 http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?artic le=38444 http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-6603221.html | ||
| Hex |
There may be more, and I didn't google yet, see you tomorrow. Y A W N! | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
Nice work Hex  If these are the right type of articles I should be able to convert each to a pdf and make up an index file of some sort. | ||
| Prior |
Court/Moxnix/Hex, I'll shoot you guys a PM later on this morning; I've written a few papers for grad school on Buell along the lines of what you are proposing and I can send those to you to help out and with anything else you may need that I can fit into non-work time. Suppose I could write another one on innovation and the seeming lack of it that is coming out of some industries in the US today and how Buell fits into the picture. Anyway, I'll be in touch. Alex | ||
| Jlnance |
Oddly enough, I was buying coffee this morning and paid for it with my HD Visa card. The guy ringing me up looks at the card, and says "I hear they just discontinued their Buell motorcycles." Then he wants to discuss it and know whether I think it's a good or bad thing. He doesn't ride or anything, just noticed it in the news. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
"We've decided as of today to remove those shackles from you". I can't wait to see what's around the next corner for Buell! Hope to see you on the 26Th BFFB | ||
| Randomchaos |
How about all the times Buells have been used in media marketing for other companies? Saw an 1125CR on CSI:Miami last monday, plain as day. Have seen a few commercials for other companies using them, and Buells being used in movies. Largest one notable was Star Trek. Was all of this marketing ploy by Harley? Did they twist the arms and throw money at these companies to use Buells? | ||
| Moxnix |
Yikes, I went to bed after my last post and awakened to find you truly diligent Buell folk have been walking on water, and it's not frozen. | ||
| Buellgrrrl |
The Buell bad news has travelled far beyond the motorcycle world- a non riding friend of mine that works for CP railroad told me that the Buell closure was the talk of the railroad all across Minnesota and Wisconsin. A lot of the old heads got screwed over in the Milwaukee Road bankruptcy and are quite sympathetic to the Buell workers plight. | ||
| Carbonbigfoot |
Wow. Thank you guys so much. All I have to contribute is good will. If there is anything I can do, let me know. R | ||
| Chadhargis |
I have a very diverse skill set. I'm an IT Manager in my primary role, but hold a degree in Marketing and Public Relations. I am a certified Six Sigma instructor and meeting facilitator. I've completed the Dale Carnegie course. Have a minor is Speech and have also had extensive speech and presentation training. I'm also a MSF RiderCoach, and have participated in several track days, Reg Pridmore's CLASS school, and Ed Bargy's Racing School. So I know a wee bit about riding too. If I can lend any of my talents, count me in! What I lack in talent, I can make up for in passion. | ||
| Davegess |
I have some media contact info so let me know when you are ready to go public. I'd like to be part of the group and have a tiny amount of MC marketing knowledge. We need to take this off line and set up a group to run this party. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I'm an average mechanical engineer but I'm a very good technical writer. If you need help translating finer technical points into English, I'm your guy. I'd be honored to contribute. | ||
| Moxnix |
Odd, what, that when I was out on the salt flats earlier this month typing into my netbook via mobile broadband to another forum, thoughts came up about how to get back into the motorcycle business after 30 years in this stagnant global world economy. Dealer, race sponsor, build some "special" kits, just something to take me from the dreary grind. Hello? What's this? A chance to convert my respect and high regard for something special into a movement. Hex gave the project a big leg up. Lemonchili the same. As for other contributions, just culling through Buell folk's testimonials over the last few days may allow the addition of an appendix of such support from real motorcyclists in support of formal presentation. Keep the ideas flowing. Congrats all on "big picture" thinking. | ||
| Hex |
I got all those links from the Quick Board and it's first archive. I didn't look anywhere else. I know that this is just the tip of the iceberg for news articles, but I have to go to my real job today. I think there are more media links even in this thread, and I know if I went to Google News and typed in Buell, I'd find a ton of stuff we haven't even read yet. I hope others add to this list. We can't waste a minute, time keeps running, I pass the baton for now. | ||
| Mndwgz |
There are some excellent posts in the archives on this forum that offer more than insight to the man, machine, BMC, and rest of the story. The anticipation of the “new” model thread (1125R) comes to mind, as the passion and loyalty of the general population on here were trying to garner any bread crumb of information out of the “anonymous” amongst us. If some quotes could be dug up like these… “Anonymous Posted on Friday, November 02, 2007 - 10:15 pm: Ok, enough fun and games...I want to thank each and every one of you Buell fans out there. You guys are what keep us going when we're staying late or coming in on the weekend, which happens a lot! So thank you VERY VERY VERY much for your support!!!!! And it's not bad to get to ride an 1125R now and then either! & “Court Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 03:08 pm: Erik's a funny guy . . . and until folks meet him it's tough to put into words. He's as genuine and passionate as he appears. He laughs, he cries, he loves his family and he absolutely loves life and doing what he does. He makes friends with about anyone easily and listens carefully when about anyone talks. He still sees Buell owners as friends rather than customers. It's been this way since I met him 20+ years ago. He came 600 miles to my house to do a Buell thing in 1990, the kids played together while he and I played bikes. . and he's no different now. Anybody who knows him understands that if suddenly he stopped getting paid to do what he does . . . he'd just keep doing it.” I wish I had time to read them all. (and find that thread) | ||
| Babired |
anything I can do to help ask okay guys K |
