| Author | Message | ||
     Josh_ |
Who all is going? | ||
| Buelliedan |
I am going  | ||
| BadS1 |
NN and I are already here.LOL | ||
| Al_lighton |
Ebear and I are booked into the Clairmont Inn. OR at least I think we are, it was kinda bizarre that they couldn't give me a reservation confirmation number.... Al | ||
| Lastcyclone |
Everyone should get a confirmation number from the Clairemont. I know they gave me one. I called there direct, not thru BRAG or Omega travel. Same rate. | ||
| Gusmyster |
My wife and I are going. Think we may try to stay at the KOA campground in Fond Du Lac.. not sure yet. Were planning on being up there Tuesday evening. Hope to meet up with some Buellers somewhere... g u s | ||
| Coolice |
Gus are you tenting or r/ving? I have a r/v and would like to be with Buellers and not just be in a campsite. Anything closer? I have stayed at a place across from the track its nice, we have to reserve now tho. | ||
| Mikej |
West Bend area campgrounds: http://www.lakelenwood.com/ http://www.wisvacations.com/LazyDays/ http://www.google.com/local?hl=en&lr=&q=campground&near=West+Bend,+WI&sa=X&oi=lo calr I have no direct experience with any of these, use your own best judgement, and verify access times and noise limits on vehicles. | ||
| Gusmyster |
Mike (Coolice) Were tenting it unless I can talk my wife into the hotel. Don't know if we can really spring for 6 days of hotels. The one across from track? Don't know about that one. The KOA is about 35 miles from West Bend... The other campgrounds that MikeJ listed look alright also. g u s | ||
| Outrider |
Gus...It's all beautiful country, so a 35 mile commute won't be that bad. The primary caution is to watch out for the deer and all the other little four legged critters at night. Second to that will be the long arm of the law. Tourism is down and tickets are up to compensate for the lost revenue. | ||
| Mikej |
I actually end up watching out more for little two-legged critters than deer and other four-leggers. Lots of kids out on rural farm roads that barely watch out for tractors and Amish buggies, let alone bikes zipping along. Also got to watch out for bicyclists who often ride two and three abreast on the back roads around here, believe it or not Wisconsin is a major cycling state. Heads up and aware. | ||
| Coolice |
Plymouth Rock Campground across from Road America. I've stayed there several years when I do the track days Very nice. | ||
| Outrider |
MikeJ is absolutely correct about the kids and bicyclists especially in the Kettle Moraine area around Holy Hill. Might as well add hikers, environmental groups on a walking tour and equestrians to that list as well. Incidentally, these activities are present throughout the week as well as on weekends. Trust me (yeah, sure), I am retired and ride the area during the week when traffic is supposed to be minimal. Best suggestion is a preliminary cruise through the area before you run it. That will also provide a clue as to where the sand, gravel, pot holes and other road peculiarities are. My favorite is getting air on Hogsback Road. You hit that right and you will have a nice thrill. You hit it wrong and you are in for a very messy landing. That's about the only real hazard that folks may not be used to. Enjoy!!! | ||
| Mikej |
If anyone does Hogsback I hope they have a camera running, from both directions. Ya gotta love how deep some of them asphalt bumper gouges are on that hill. | ||
| Outrider |
Yeah, and you have to love the homemade "Slow Down" signs nailed to the trees. Lots of rich folk live out there to get away from it all and they really hate having the 'hood tore up. Is a good example of a neighborhood where stealth pipes work in a motorcyclist's favor. Loud Pipes = Calls to the LEO's and nobody needs that kind of attention. Especially, when the LEO's can hear where you have been, where you are going and judge by the volume how you are riding. LOL To be honest with you, I really don't see any bikers hauling tush through that part of the Kettle. Most ride it conservatively due to the prevailing conditions and do their high speed stuff on the County roads leading to and from the area. Oh heck, just go enjoy yourselves but ride with your wits about you. | ||
| Outrider |
My Second Annual Homecoming Rant Like last year, I'll just be sitting back reading about the event as Buell/BRAG won't bend and make a Thursday or Friday single day pass (with or without the care package) available to the locals with work or family related scheduling problems. Does anyone remember all those nice folks from Brew City BRAG that coordinated and served the Homecoming riders breakfast at Hal's last year, but couldn't/didn't attend any of the closed events? They were good enough to feed you, but not good enough to buy a one day pass for the dinner that evening at the Factory with Erik and Company. It was nice of Buell to make a "Race Only" weekend package available this year. That was a really nice move on their part. I assume Friday's events at West Bend HD/BMC will be open as they were at Uke's last year, but it sure would be nice to be able to meet all of you and attend a dinner and some of that days closed events. Considering attending any closed event on Thursday or Friday would cost $100 per person, there is no way I can justify that for myself, much less $200 if I bring my wife. One would think that BRAG could figure out how to implement different colored wrist bands as I am confident that between BRAG and HOG they have a plethora of colors just laying around. If I had the time for the full event or just the weekend, the price is more than reasonable. However, I and probably quite a few other locals like last year don't have the time but would like to pay our fair share for a special event on a weekday rather than crash the gate or look over the fence and feel like second class citizens. I know this sounds like a meaningless rant. However, I freely admit it wouldn't matter if Buell/BRAG didn't put on such a grand affair that was attended by a lot of fine folks from across the County and beyond. Touche | ||
| Oz666 |
Outrider, Danger! Rant! DO NOT READ! I tend to agree. I'm not much of a "joiner". I'm much more likely to be in a group that resembles Cheers than one that resembles the US Army. (Besides, I look more like Norm than Rambo). The event seem to me to be an effort to get Buell owners/riders to behave like good little H.O.G.(R) members by capitalizing on their desire to meet and socialize with other Buell owners/riders (including BadWeB members) in general and Erik Buell in particular. This is good marketing from the companies standpoint and, since they are sponsering/running it, completely within their rights. It does not, however, take into account that Buell owners/riders ARE NOT (usually) H-D owners/riders, and are (once again, usually) a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT type of person with a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT point of view. Failure to notice this tends to have tragic marketing consequences. The people who are responsible for these decisions would benefit from some sort of eyewear that would cause them to see "Different in Every Sense" in large friendly letters hovering over every Buell owner/rider instead of the ones that they currently use that causes motorcyclists and potential motorcyclists to appear to be covered with one hundred dollar bills. This is an OPINION ONLY! (And you KNOW about opinions, right?) (I am currently waffling about attending this event.)   Oz | ||
| Mikej |
What would the cost be if the RoadAmerica race wasn't in the package? I like watching racing, but I'm not a big fan of races where you can only see a small portion of the action. FlatTrack events are nice because you can see the whole track. B'Trax events are nice for the same reason. At large track events I tend to wander around the track a lot, don't know if that's possible at RA. Haven't decided yet if I'm signing up, or if I'm in the outfield with Outrider. | ||
| Oz666 |
Mikej, Thats MY problem, I would really enjoy the package WITHOUT the race(s). Especially since that would cost (by the website math) and affordable $25. BUT THAT IS NOT AN OPTION! And the cause of my wafflement. Oz | ||
| Lake_bueller |
I think I had the same rant last year. Only I got blasted for being a cheapass. My main problem is that I have a few connections that get me free admission with pit (over the wall) access. So for me, the RA addmission is useless. I'd rather just pay for the meals and be done with it. I'll probably suck up the $100 and sell my race tickets on the side. Anyone looking for admission to the races only? RA price is $30 per day. I'll sell mine from the homecoming packet for $20. MikeJ...hope to see you on a joint club ride sometime soon. Oz...see you at the Gap in May. | ||
| Oz666 |
Lake - Can't wait!!! Too bad Newfie won't be there, no Screeech. Oh, wait, that might be safer.  Oz | ||
| Mikej |
Soon, hopefully soon. | ||
| Buelliedan |
It all boils down to logistics. They at least are offering 2 packages this week because last year the big beef was that many could only do the weekend due to work concerns. So this year they offer a weekend package and you guys are still comlaining? It seems unreasonable to feel that they should have to offer that many different choices. Especially the first 2 days. Battletrax is open to anyone not just people registered for Homecoming. So the only thing you really can't do is attend the dinner at the factory. | ||
| Mikej |
"So the only thing you really can't do is attend the dinner at the factory." Yeah, but the dinner is one of the nice things it'd be nice to be able to do. And I'm not complaining, just stating what I'd like to see is all. Oh well, c'est la vie. | ||
| Outrider |
Interesting comments. FYI, mine was the same rant as last years. However, last year more folks voiced their opinions. It is not a matter of being cheap. It is a matter of making the closed events available to those who can't attend the entire event. We would like to be able to attend the dinner and evening with Erik and his band on Friday, June 3rd, but you can rest assured that one evening won't be worth $200 to us. Not to mention, that is the only evening we have open to attend any of the events compliments of my wife's work schedule and a trade show in Chicago that weekend. The upside is that I will be able to meet a lot of folks at the open events during the day on Friday and not have to spend a dime. I guess you really can refer to that as "Priceless." LOL In all fairness, I am pleased to see BRAG make a special race only package available this year. Perhaps next year they will make a one day, weekday pass available for the locals that want to attend. Just don't ask me what the definition of a local is as that could be the dilemma BRAG is faced with concerning this matter. Then, that could be terribly myopic as how far would a person or couple ride/drive for one evening? | ||
| Outrider |
Dan...Just because we aren't all 9 to 5, Monday thru Friday folks that can get vacation time that week doesn't mean we don't want to attend if and when we can. Heck, we are Bueller's too and would like to share some quality time with our friends from BRAG and the BWB. Especially, without feeling like gate crashers or freeloaders. As mentioned in an earlier post, Buell/BRAG hosts some fantastic closed events at the Homecomings. All we would like to do is have a mechanism available to us to attend them legitimately and pay our fair share. | ||
| Lake_bueller |
Bill.....did I miss something?????? I keep seeing "wife" references  | ||
| Buelliedan |
Bill, My point is that except for the factory the Thursday and Friday events are open to anyone for free. So I don't understand your complaint?? Just show up at West Bend and hang with us!! | ||
| Outrider |
Lake...Yep, I finally gave in to some form of primal instinct and did it for the third time a few weeks ago. The difference is I did it for all the right reasons this time. LOL | ||
| Buelliedan |
BTW, I'm not trying to bash you guys. I was in the same position last year for the Texas twisted adventure. this event was being held literally in my home town but due to work I couldn't attend most of the events. So the days I could i rode out there and just hung out after the dinner was over. I'm even in the official brag pics for the event! |
