| Author | Message | ||
     Super_single |
http://forum.svrider.com/index.php?topic=71589.0 for those of you that may read the Sv forums... I would post this in the links, but the links page doesnt have much traffic. Hope I'm not breaking any rules by doing this... | ||
| Grimel |
nothing unusual about that H-D dealers are the worst thing about Buell. | ||
| Seattlexb |
Not saying it's right, but I kind of understand why the salesman would go for the $20,000 bike as opposed the the $10,000 one (more commission.) First HD dealer I went to up here was the same thing, but the the next two were actually pretty good with their stock and knowledge and enthusiasm of Buells. Now if we can just get them to stock parts instead of ordering everything... | ||
| Buelleghoulie |
Its funny. but up here in 'The Great White North' Theres a HD/Buell Dealership, and yea, sure they may only have 2 Buells, and it may be there demo 05 XB9R, and an 04 Uly..but the Sales dude was there, wearing a Blue Buell T-shirt.. all Excited about Buell's Trilogy of Tech...come to think about it..he sounded just like Eric...word for word.. .NVM.. fact is yea, Hd + Buell = Douche bags.. | ||
| Tank_bueller |
Someone tried to sell you an 04' Uly??? | ||
| Eboos |
Walk in traffic is not reliable enough to pay the bills. BE A SALESMEN, NOT AN ORDER TAKER! Develope leads, work them. Show your customers why Buells are the right bikes for them. Volume will make up for that random big score. I doubt that Daves has had a lean month lately. He is a salesmen. Passion and customer service will earn your pay checks. | ||
| Fx1200 |
A well known dealer in the San Gabriel Valley (SoCal) put it this way: "I sell a Harley several times over in the course of it's life with custom accessories and engine mods or paint jobs. I only sell a Buell once and I never see the owner again" This dealer no longer sells Buells. | ||
| Aldaytona |
And rightfully so.................... | ||
| Xbeau12s |
You never see a Buell purchaser come back because they never break down if taken care of! Mot owner's of Buell's that I have meet treat them like gold (as I do). I hope that one day Buell will have it's own stores, shops. I just meet a HD Engineer from Washington here in Sturgis while riding my XB. He enlightened me on how the Buell went through the most rigorous tests before it was actually put on the street, kind of like the V-rod was put through many tests before it was left out. He said Buell did not make any money for 7 years or so before the XB line came out and they started making money. Sad that the advertising is so crappy. My 04 XB12S is the best damn bike I have ever owned. I have owned a few japanese bikes and I will never go back. Buell for life! Can't wait until I can afford another one! | ||
| Espcustoms |
There are 2 HD dealers near where I live. Neither of them sell Buells. So, I have to go about 50 miles to the nearest dealer that sells Buells. I went in for a part and told the guy at the counter I needed a Buell part. He and the other parts guy had a nice little laugh at mine and Buell's expense. I think it's pretty damn bad when even people that work for a Buell dealer are talking down the bikes. Of course, they didn't have the part I needed either and out of probably 50 bikes in the showroom, the only Buells were 2 ULYs. I bet Erik knows full well that his bikes would sell better at a big 4 dealer, but his hands must be tied. Like it or not, Buell is a child of HD and we all know how HD likes to do business. It's really quite sad. | ||
| Onemanclan |
Buelleghoulie wrote: "Theres a HD/Buell Dealership, and yea, sure they may only have 2 Buells, and it may be there demo 05 XB9R, and an 04 Uly" Umm, Ulys are new in '06, there isn't an '04 Uly on the planet... | ||
| Gearhead998 |
A while back, I walked into HALS to get my free hat. They gave some crap hat from last year, but they gave my 2 year old son one too. Anyway, I was looking at their inventory (Buells), they were fairly busy, a sales guy was talking to 2 guys about a black 12R. When he was done with them, I had to flag him down as he was ignoring me, I'm sure the 2 guys had to do teh same. But I was talkng to the guy about maybe trading my S for an R and he said "they do not make a commision on the price difference of the bikes, only on the number of bikes they sell". As he then TRIED to direct me in the direction of the chrome pool. Now don't get me wrong, I like HD, but I was there to talk about Buell, and even at a dealer that has a Buell race team, they aren't concerned about selling them. I would love to see a Buell indy dealer, but until then, I guess the HD dealers are still going to get my money. I will never let them service any bike I own though. | ||
| Whodom |
The dealership deal gets beat to death here, but it's understandable. Most of us that actually own Buells aren't surprised buy it and chose to own Buells anyway, but we hate to see potential new Buell owners write off the bikes because of incidents like this. I think the most frustrating thing is that we don't know what (if anything) Buell is doing about it. Court has given us repeated assurance that Buell, Inc. is fully aware of the problem and is taking steps to deal with it, the recent "culling" of many deadwood dealers being the first step. I think that the introduction of the Ulysses, which brought a whole new group of motorcycle riders into Buell dealerships, was pretty much the second step. The response to the Uly HAD to have caught the attention of at least some non-enthusiastic Buell dealers. Maybe some other new model is in store for 2008 that will bring another whole new group of riders into Buell dealerships. The big question is "what's the next step?". HD already tried the heavy handed route years ago by requiring HD dealers to handle Buells in order to have access to more hot-selling Harleys. I don't think they'll try that again, so what can they do? The other thing to bear in mind is that the "cruiser boom" is going to top out eventually and Buells will by default become a higher percentage of HD sales. If there was a big economic downturn next week, don't you think it would hurt HD sales more than Buell? Random thoughts for consideration.... | ||
| Pwnzor |
When I was shopping for this bike, I had no idea what I was getting into with regards to service and support. If I had known ahead of time, there is no way in hell I'd have bought this bike. But now I have it, and I love it, and I'll never let it go. I'll never buy another one from a dealer, thats a fact. I was really looking hard at the Kawasaki ZRX1200R. I always got great service on my Ninja when I took it to the dealer. But here I am, and here I will stay. I do not regret for one second that I own this bike it is infinitely more fun than that Kawi. HD definitely needs to work on some things, I have not ever recommended to anyone that they buy one of these bikes and I won't unless there are drastic changes.  | ||
| Chainsaw |
...If there was a big economic downturn next week, don't you think it would hurt HD sales more than Buell? Harley still makes more than 2 1/2 times more money selling t-shirts than Buells. FWIW, according to S&P: In 2005, $4.3 billion (80%) of the company's net revenue came from motorcycles, including $4.18 billion from Harley-Davidson brand bikes and $93 million from Buell motorcycles. Another $816 million came from parts and accessories, and $248 million was from general merchandise. FYI: Also reported that 11% of new HD bikes sales are to women. | ||
| Kootenay |
I've read similar threads on a couple of other, non brand-specific sites--guys are interested in Buells, but they're treated so poorly at the dealerships (or end up looking in vain for a dealer with current Buells actually in stock, other than a Uly or two) that they end up just buying something else out of frustration. I think one reason Buell riders are so brand-loyal is, we gotta be to put up with the dealership attitudes. | ||
| Xring |
I couldn't recommend a Buell to anyone that isn't their own mechanic; nor would I have considered buying one if I had to depend on a dealer to service it. It is a sad state of affairs, but I feel the same way about the auto dealerships around here, too. I hope things get better for Buell. Bill | ||
| Skyguy |
I f'ing hate HD. Just got screwed over needing a simple wheel bearing replacment. Called me after I drove 25 miles home and said "Sorry but we can't find our Buell wheel bearing tool". This was after they denied that my bike was part of the performance upgrade. IDIOTS!!!! HD is why I will NEVER buy a new Buell. It is weird to have a guy like Erik Buell mixed up with the scum sucking poser company that HD has become. BTW the Dealer is Quaid of Loma Linda. Stupid f'ing me I should have known better after one of their salesmen told me my bike was "not a real Harley". I want to kick the owner square in the nads and rip the freaking Buell sign off the wall. They have never had a SINGLE freaking part in stock that I needed. What really blows my mind is the elitist attitude. They ride 800 pund chrome pieces of shiot for gods sake. | ||
| Rhun |
I trust my local dealer for repairs, but the parts department is 'catalog sales'! The parts guys are nice people but don't control the stocking level. I recently ordered a part from Dave on a Monday, while he was on the road on vacation and had it Wednesday or Thursday and cheaper than my local dealer. I imagine my local dealer would have taken a week longer. Maybe if we all start buying from a dealer who actually stocks parts the other dealers who don't want to stock even common parts will see how much revenue they are losing. And change their 'evil ways'. Why drive 50 miles to order a part? | ||
| Punkid8888 |
This is a funny point because I would probably already own a buell right now if it were not for the poor sales staff. I went with a friend to a HD/buell Dealer (70 miles away, closest one we knew of) and rode a 12s and a 12r (even know we requested to test ride a city, and my friend wanted to test a uly) but we were not gonna complain because they are only a few brands that will let you test ride. So I fell in love with the lighting, and asked to get pre approved, being saturday he told me they would call me on monday to let me know. so monday came and went and then I called Tuesday, salesman was not their, and basically kept calling all week and left a few messages, either out with a customer or not in, and he did call once, but it was to my house and not my cell like I asked, and he did not even leave any information on the message. Finally friday showed up and I called and got a hold of the sales manger, and he found out that yes I was approved, so I said great and asked what needed to be done to get me on this bike and riding home tomorrow, and man this guy was giving more problems then answers. saying stuff like out of state will be difficult, have to get a hold of your ins company, blah blah blah, I dont like sales people but if a customer is approved and wants the bike, you should probably provide some solutions preferably with the customer doing the least work. He ended the conversation with well if you come down tomorrow you can fill out the rest of the paper work then on monday go again finish the registration so you can ride it home(mind you this was friday at noon, still had time to set up faxes with registry and ins and save me some 70 mile trip) and his final words were, well we are having a big sale tomorrow so dont get mad if you are waiting around for 2 hours or so. hahaha, I could not believe that he would put people that have come in for sale, in front of someone who has test rode and been pre approved for the financing. needless to say I did not show up that saturday and I have not heard back from the sales man, so i guess they dont miss me. heck when I bought my truck the registry was closed when I got their to pick it up, they sent me home on dealer plates for the night so I could at least drive it for the night and the next day so now I wait till the end of the month, hopefully with a bigger down payment, and another dealership to get my business. Pretty disappointing Good thing the bike sells it self haha | ||
| Buckstar |
punkid8888, Don't go back to that dealer! However, when you do buy a Buell from somewhere (Try daves at Appleton, he will maybe make it worth the trip) send some sort of feedback to that dealer and let them know they missed a sale. Use the name of the dealer who avoided you and send the feedback to his boss/owner. It sounds like a lot of effort but this is what must be done to let these people know that we won't take their sh*t. I would also forward a copy to Buell. Grassroots, one at a time if need be!!! | ||
| Snackbar64 |
I was reading an article posted here about one of Buell's designers and he stated that he was happy about the Firebolt, Lightning and Uly, but was more proud of the up and coming new line of Buell Motorcycles. What Does this mean? Could this also be what HD/-B has in store for 08 or maybe later on in 07? Also, here at Flint River H/D-B they don't sale bikes for commission. I found that odd in such a business. Could other dealers be based on that same philosophy? This could be why the service is so poor. No incentive for providing good customer service. | ||
| Diablobrian |
It's not magic that makes Appleton Buell one of if not the top selling Buell dealerships in the US. It's good old fashioned customer service. Thanks Dave! I'm pretty sure before DaveS got there "Buells just didn't sell" there. There are good dealerships out there. Take the time, make the effort, and vote with your wallet. Buell I'm sure has been studying what it takes to sell their product, and what does not work. I'm curious about how they will implement the changes they need to make on the sales floor to realize the tremendous potential that they have. At active, Buell friendly dealerships these bikes sell. I believe that the ultimate answer would be stand alone dealerships. H-D and Buell products are very different, and they need to be marketed very differently for their target demographics. There is a huge potential for customers that are not cross-over H-D customers. | ||
| Grimel |
If there was a big economic downturn next week, don't you think it would hurt HD sales more than Buell? Nope, the Sportsters are all at or below the 12XB prices. The basic big twin is around the Uly price. The chrome HOG crowd will just down size to the chrome piglets and Sportsters. I think what ticks me off the most is these morons selling H-D don't realize the Buells are the modern Sportsters. The Uly IS the modern original Sportster. Somedays I want to take a clue X 4 to the nearest dealers .... even about the H-D line up. | ||
| Whodom |
I was reading an article posted here about one of Buell's designers and he stated that he was happy about the Firebolt, Lightning and Uly, but was more proud of the up and coming new line of Buell Motorcycles. What Does this mean? Could this also be what HD/-B has in store for 08 or maybe later on in 07? Snackbar- good catch, I posted the link, but I didn't catch that comment: (interview with Mike Samarzja, Industrial Design Manager @ Buell Motorcycle Company) I have been fortunate enough to be a key part of the teams that created Buell motorcycles from the 1995 S2-Thunderbolt through the present day XB series bikes such as XB9 and 12s Lightnings, XB9SX City-X, XB9 and 12R Firebolts and XB12X Ulysses. Of course there are many more Buell bikes to come and those are the ones I’m most excited about now! Link to complete interview: http://www.miad.edu/content/view/173/121/1/9/ | ||
| Davegess |
I wouldn't make too much out of Mike's comment. He is ALWAYS more excited about next years models, it's his job! This years models are old news. How many of you go to work thinking boy last week I did some good stuff but what I have to work on now sucks? Can't have too many weeks like that I would think. | ||
| Jlnance |
I have to go about 50 miles ... for a part and told the guy at the counter I needed a Buell part. ... Of course, they didn't have the part I needed. I think you'll be much happier if you order your parts from Dave S. The 50 miles of gas will pay the shipping if the 10% discount doesn't. And the reduction in frustration will make the whole experience so much better. When I have service done at the dealership, I preorder any parts I know will be needed from Dave and take them in. It keeps me from having to wait for them to order them. And it never hurts for them to know they have some competition. | ||
| Xb9ser |
I happen to live 15 miles from a fairly Buell friendly dealer Tilleys (a sponcer)Most of the time they have what I need but if I have to order it I just go home and order from Daves to save an extra trip.I needed a clutch cable last week and they had it in stock!I called first to be sure and when I got there it was laying out for me.But a friend broke a belt on a 03 fire bolt and they had to order one. It seams they would stock something like a belt for someone traveling and needed one. When bubba worked there they did stock more parts!! | ||
| Whodom |
How many of you go to work thinking boy last week I did some good stuff but what I have to work on now sucks?  Of course, working for Uncle Sam, I forget sometimes that the "real world" is not usually like this. | ||
| Southern Marine |
My Dad walked into a HD store in Memphis. He walked around for over a half hour looking at bikes, sitting on them, checking them out. Not ONE salesman approached him. He started to walk out of the store and one finally approached him. Their "EXCUSE" was we like to let people look around. HE WAS THE ONLY CUSTOMER IN THE STORE. He told them too bad they waited too long, that they just lost a "money in hand" sale. He went to the Kawasaki dealer and got him a Vulcan Nomad. | ||
| Bigdaddy |
Xb9ser, I'm about 20 miles from Tilley -- southwest. Where do you ride? When? We should ride :-) We got a few Buelligans in/around Lincolnton/Denver area (unfortunately most of them are on my insurance policy :-) .) Advise, G2 |
