| Author | Message | ||
     Xbrad9r |
thought this would be better posted again in another area...so read when/if you have time and again i apologize for being lengthy but feel like it is something that needed to be said and heard...here is my post. I am overwhelmingly disappointed that Buells will not be running in the FX series...I clicked on this thread because I knew we were closing in on Daytona and wanted to see which guys would be running this time and if more teams were on board this year. But, to find out that not one will be there is sad. Buell went Racing IMHO to promote their bikes, boost sales, etc. Let me ask each of you a question and I am pointing a big finger at myself also...how many of us called or emailed any of the sponsoring dealers (Hal's, Warr's, etc) and thanked them for what they were doing and possibly purchasing a "Buell racing" shirt or anything else Buell (parts, accessories, bikes) to show them that we were backing them up for the time and money they spent to fund and staff the race effort. I think each one of us should call each of these dealers and spend some $$$ with them and let them know we would like to see them racing again... and as for your local dealers...the dealership i purchased my firebolt at had no shirts when i bought my bike because they said they didn't sell enough to justify having them...well i talked to the management and let them know that i would love to be able to buy some Buell merchandise...the next time i stopped they had a full display of parts and several styles of shirts ( i bought a shirt for myself, my wife and my son) to thank them for having them available and to encourage them to keep stocking more. we (myself included)complain about this and that, but when we don't spend any money to support things we like, they have every reason in the world to stop because they are getting no return on their investment. if you want Harley to get excited about the Buell brand then the cash register receipts at the dealerships need to have the word "Buell" written on the product description area of the receipt more often. Harley looks at the company with a set of profit-n-loss glasses on. I love the 3%ers use of the fact that Buells account for 3% of total Harley Co. bike sales and I would have to say that they themselves promote the brand as well as anyone/thing that I have seen and i will do my best to be a MBIV to thank as many of them as i can. I would love for them to have to change their name to the 6%ers and throw up double "shockers" and then the 10%ers and so on. let's all make a new years resolution to take more pride in our bikes,wear something with the Buell name or logo on it each time you go to any bike outting or event (bike night, race, poker run, etc). put a Buell sticker on the back window of your car or truck (how many H/D stickers do you see everyday)...support this site and especially the sponsors and thank them for spending their advertising dollars to keep this site going. And tell everyone you know what an awesome bike you have and encourage others to discover what you have and purchase one for themselves. ok...man that was a huge soap box, i almost got hurt jumping off of it. sorry to be so long winded. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
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| New12r |
Well I shaved my legs to be a Cheerleader for Buell!  I try to promote Buell at every turn, I have Stickers on my vehicles, wear the clothes, etc.... I dont support many of our sponsors but I do support Stone Mountain HD/Buell!! I cannot tell you how much I have spent there! By the way, even if Buell is more than 3% of sales we will always be the 3%ers!! | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
I got a free harley shirt when I bought my Buell too.... Really disappointing. We need to give more business to the local dealers to make them more interested in stocking buell parts and accessorys. Again no slam against Dave he does a fantastic job and makes it way to easy for us. I know it is a pain in the butt and a large number don't want to be bothered but I ask......go and order your parts from your local dealer. Wolf and I use the same dealer and their accessory selection is one side of one 3 x 5 peg board. Last I checked they had one polished sprocket, black passenger heal guards, polished dash cover, a lighted license plate frame, a rocket tail bag and three medium womens t shirts. Weak really weak. By the way....I wear buell shirts almost every day, I have a pretty decent collection from my travels. It is ashame they are almost all Identical with the buell oval fire logo on front or the swirlly motorcycle thing. At least the backs are all different. | ||
| Doerman |
The point is well made and taken, Brad. Vote with the $ is the bottom line here, our $ that is. I did not know and I am very sad that XBRR is a no show in FX. Having pretty near agreed with you, I'd like to pull back a little. Buell motorcycles, parts, accessories, and clothing are after all merchandise offered in the competitive leisure dollar market. None of our livelihoods depend on owning a Buell (ok, there might be exceptions). We go and buy a motorcycle and the sundry parts and apparel, because we want to. It is fun. Keeping that in mind, it is not fair to blame the few customers Buell has for a lackluster performance at the dealer's till. I thought it was up to Buell to entice new customers in the door, not me. And BMC could put money into FX and not have to rely on Hal's, Warr's,..etc to pull the national racing effort off. I have been loyal to Buell for 10 years now since my first 95 S2. Six bikes and lots of part, service and T-Shirts later I am not sure that I want to "donate" more to BMC. Don't get me wrong, I have gotten a lot of pleasure out of Buells over time and my next bike is also going to be a Buell. But I don't want to be blamed as a consumer when BMC should shoulder the burden. Asbjorn | ||
| Doerman |
Lost_in_Ohio says: I know it is a pain in the butt and a large number don't want to be bothered but I ask......go and order your parts from your local dealer. The sales and support apparatus for BMC could be a ground breaker. Instead they follow the HD way of selling parts and accessories. Can you truly say that you enjoy standing in line waiting for the guy to thumb through the Custom Chrome catalog to order some sort of doodad for his HD. It seems to take forever. And when it is your turn the part has to be ordered. Wait 10 days, come back, to find out they 'forgot' to place the order. Buell has the opportunity to embrace new sales paradigms. And this involves buying over the internet. I think that http://www.americansportbike.com has it right. The orders are more accurate. You know it has been ordered and it comes directly to your home. Asbjorn | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Lost, they have some new Buell stuff in at Farrow's. See Cindy in Motorclothes. If she doesn't have it she will get it quick. | ||
| Xbrad9r |
good points Doerman and Lost and well spoken, thanks for expressing in a way that i could agree with instead of flaming me  ...and new12r, thanks for wearing long pants when you ride, the thoughts of your clean shaven legs well, uhh... | ||
| Glitch |
I love the 3%ers use of the fact that Buells account for 3% of total Harley Co. bike sales and I would have to say that they themselves promote the brand as well as anyone/thing that I have seen and i will do my best to be a MBIV to thank as many of them as i can. I would love for them to have to change their name to the 6%ers and throw up double "shockers" and then the 10%ers and so on. Thanks for the kind words! Looking forward to MB-IV, and meeting as many of y'all as possible, I really hope you get to make it. I feel the same as you about Buell Racing. But, as long as there are Buells, there will be Racing Buells, and who knows what the future might bring. | ||
| Xbrad9r |
we should bring along name tags with our "Badweb" names on them...though mine really should be Xbrad12r. I just never changed it. Brad | ||
| Steve_mackay |
I thought it was up to Buell to entice new customers in the door, not me. And BMC could put money into FX and not have to rely on Hal's, Warr's,..etc to pull the national racing effort off. It's AMAZINGLY expensive to do the FX thing for the dealers. With very little return on that investment. I mean, how many of you have purchased things from Hals, just because they support Buell racing more than just about any dealer on earth? Heck, just look at the pictures of the development of the XBRR. Terry G for Hals is in a bunch of those pics. Hals isn't doing FX this year at all that I know of. But, by what I've heard, they are giving more support to Bilansky in ASRA Thunderbike. I'm doing what I can for Danny to help out next season's effort by offering my machining expertise for whatever he needs for custom parts! | ||
| Doerman |
Steve_mackay says: It's AMAZINGLY expensive to do the FX thing for the dealers. With very little return on that investment. I do not think that local dealers should shoulder the responsibility to field national teams. It is is expensive! Their natural niche is local club racing. I presume that BMC is not cash rich enough to throw around huge sums on racing either. But they have already contributed a lot with the XBRR. However, racing success (with publicity) brings new sales. The big 4's sales live by it. Success at MotoGP, SBK, AMA brings a significant % increase in sales of performance bikes. BMC is a performance bike company as opposed to HD which is a lifestyle bike company (I do not mean that in a derogatory way. HD's success speaks for itself!). Since BMC did the XBRR investment (I'd guess it to be in excess of $1M), why not do the next logical thing and throw in some cash to have a presence in FX? XBRR had wild success in their first season. Placing in the top 10 a couple of times is spectacular for a first season. Placing 1st in Bol D'or was just fantastic!. Seems like season 1 warranted a few sequels and would have paid off as publicity and netted additional sales. MV Augusta is to Piaggo as Buell is to HD. A struggling division of the big mothership. They are fielding two entries in AMA superbike. It seems to me that fielding an XBRR or two in FX should not be such a stretch for BMC. Yeah, I know.. I am thinking wishfully here.. Asbjorn (Message edited by doerman on December 28, 2006) | ||
| Barker |
***This post has been edited. It needed some clarification. Sorry, Blake I need to proofread more often.*** No more Buell's in FX. Not a surprise to me. I hoped the XBRR would follow in the foot step's of the VR1000, but sadly I havent seen the same program support. All I have seen so far is alot of $$$ spent by dealers and troubled start and now a quick withdrawl from AMA. This is really sad. I never purchased any of my 3 Buells because it's fast or wins races. I'm not sure that building race bikes and supporting racing teams is the best way to sell buells. I willing to bet that Badweb has sold more bikes/parts than all of buell's racing efforts. Don't get me wrong I really like watching/helping the bikes and racers run and win! P.S. I like the idea of badweb name tags @ MB-IV. Hi, my username is ______________ Me like Buell, lets ride! (Message edited by barker on December 29, 2006) | ||
| Blake |
Some folks including me would like very much to see a full-blown honest to goodness factory Buell Racing team effort with four bikes and two top notch riders and all the money they can spend for practice, preparation, test and tuning. Some folks were apparently expecting to see that in 2006. Not sure where they got that idea. "I knew the XBRR would follow in the foot step's of the VR1000." So you knew that the XBRR would enjoy a full factory backed and funded effort for some five or so full seasons with both an AMA Superbike and World Superbike champion at the helm during its tenure and other privateer teams as well? I cannot WAIT to see that! First we'll need to see the full factory team appear, then we'll see about the rest. So far the XBRR has seen only dealer teams and no full factory effort/team, no full season effort at all, just a few races and little to no preparation/testing prior. Equating that to the support and effort donated to the VR1000 just isn't fair. | ||
| Blake |
I do wish Buell would make a serious effort to run at least one bike at Daytona this year. | ||
| Eboos |
Brand excitement and perception of quality sells bikes. A successful race program would build brand excitement and give the perception of quality especially for a performance bike company. That is part of a successful marketing campain. DNF's and then not following through the next year works against that. | ||
| Cringblast |
New Buell rider here. Actually bike rider. Was on they way to Ninja then went by HD dealer and saw the Blast. First bike for me. Went home with it. AT 1000 mile service saw the XB12R. Fell in love traded the Blast. Love the XB12R. Gonna try to ride to Jennings, Fl saturday and see whats up there. I advertise the Buell everywhere I go. Went to the the new HD in Jacksonville they had 6 Buells for sale and the only merchandise they had was a Buell hat. SO i bought the hat. No other Buell stuff there. Support from me so far !!! | ||
| Cringblast |
A race program would be nice. Thats one reason going to Jennings, see whats there. A Buell representation to show also. | ||
| Blake |
There will reportedly be two XBRRs racing in CMRA this coming year. One from our own Cycle-Connection and one reportedly from a guy in the DFW area. Stay tuned! As far as racing success, the XBRR has achieved some success. Two top ten finishes in AMA Formula Xtreme are nothing to sneeze at, plus there was Rico Penzkofer's victory over the full on Ducati Superbike at Daytona in a Supertwins race. Then there was the overall win in the CCS national endurance race at Road America, and finally the win against a field full of liter class superbikes in the Pro-Twins race in France at Magny-Cours. The XBRR is obviously a very capable racing machine. To compete at the top level in AMA FX it will require development, support, funding, and talent equivalent to what the top Japan Inc teams enjoy. It will happen someday, but to this point Buell has made it very clear that they are aiming at supporting privateers in racing and that is what they have done. Would they like to do more? Darn right you betcha! Stay tuned.  | ||
| Danny_h__jesternut |
Dealer/Priveteere Buell American Motorcycles XBRR teams would need some major corprate sponsership $$$$'s jest to feild a team in a National Pro level race searies, let alone be competive. M/C racing does not have a large enough fan base, nor does M/C racing draw enough media coverage to warent major American corprate sponsership $$$ to fund a team. The $$$'s jest not there. See, AMA pro racing has been with out a head line sponser now for a few years. Advertizing $$$'s vs potencial sales/gains? Not a good investment. Grass roots, back yard, garage bikes,with a few dealer teams thrown in are the racers carring the Buell banner all across the race tracks of this great nation. Club level racing is where these priveteer & dealer teams belong and should carry the Buell tourch. These teams get little or no funding, owning and running an XBRR is way behond their financial meens. To carry Buell M/C brand excitement to the masses, give the true priveteers and small dealer teams a bike they can afford to own and maintain. Like maby a striped down lean mean XB9RR track machine? I wonder jest how many Buellers, realy go out to the local race tracks and support and cheer for the few club teams working hard carring the Buell flag. Yea though so. | ||
| Doerman |
Blake says: It will happen someday, but to this point Buell has made it very clear that they are aiming at supporting privateers in racing and that is what they have done. I know that. But we were slightly teased with the on/off entry in FX. I also know that the message regarding the XBRR from BMC was clear: " To provide an affordable platform and program for privateers to compete on". That said, the XBRR exceeded BMC's expectation. So either the full on racing program is too rich for BMC's blood (very possible), or there's something better in development. Waiting in anticipation. Asbjorn | ||
| Teddagreek |
So that's it? Seems like it was over before it started.. What now? Rumors I've heard..  XB line will remain with a new air-cooled motor based from the XR1200.. Also a new water cooled bike will emerge.. Supply and demand.. I can see maybe buell being stretched too thin putting racing on the back burner come out with a new line that will able to compete and sell. Ducati's going to make a dent at our niche market with the 07 SR4@130hp and not even start about 1098..Maintaince cost on all 2007 ducatis has been cut 50% Victory well you bet they have something up their sleeve as well.. Is there going to be buell at daytona this year. I was planning on going.. | ||
| Blake |
Danny, What makes you think it costs so much to run an XBRR in club racing?  If the myriad of privateers can get sponsors for their AMA efforts and if Corona and Hooters among others are willing to sponsor AMA teams, well, I'm not sure your sweeping characterization of the non-viability of AMA race team sponsorship is totally valid. Buell just need to find one willing to sponsor them is all. If the folks at AMA Superbike would take the lead of the France family and NASCAR, maybe they could get the sport elevated to a more prominent level where more sponsors would be attracted to it. We need a great movie about American Motorcycle Road Racing. Someone make one. That then begs the really tough question, who would we cast in the role of Court? | ||
| Jon |
All of the events around the racing and what Buell does or doesn't do is drama instead of news because we care more than most. I supposed every manufacturer produces some drama for their faithful depending the intensity of the fan base. I personally like the whole Buell concept and culture. It is well pleasing to me. However, when I have to buy a t-shirt or do a phone call campaign to motivate my marquee or it's dealers....well then it's time to set my bike affections elsewhere. What should I do, have a bake sale to raise awareness at BMC of my appreciation or dissappointment? Naaahh! | ||
| Danny_h__jesternut |
If the Buell factory can't afford to race their own bike in FX? How is a club racer going to pay 30k for an XBRR & jest how much $$$ to actualy run and maintain this beast? I've seen a few well funded locals at the club seen but I seariously doubt they could afford an "A" bike and a "B" backup along with spare partz, ectra, ectra. I don't see that much moola floating around the club paddock. Be nice if there truly was. Outside of a very few major sponsers that have long term relationships with established M/C racing and teams? It's jest the same old sponsers that have been around the M/C race paddodk long term. Very little new $$$. Corpriate America is not lined up at the gates with fists full a dough to throw around two wheel racing. An American motorcycle manufactor racing in an American national race searies and there is no Big time American compenies willing to foot the race tab,Buell factory can't find one, tells me there is no intreast.period When NASCAR lost its title sponser(Winston) how long did it take for them to find a new one? NEX-TEL. AMA can't find one,third year now I beleave? Corp America must not be intrested in bikes, not enough returnes for the investment I guess? | ||
| Chainsaw |
I guess I'm not concerned whether or not some highly modified version of my bike ever makes a podium finish, so I'll ask the rest of you race fans: If Buell put forth a 'real' Factory Racing Effort would ya'll be willing to pay $500 more for your street bike? How 'bout $1000? The money to race has to come from somewhere. Buell made 7857 651+cc bikes in 2006. Assuming all the bike made are actually sold, raise the price by $500 a bike, and they could raise nearly $4,000,000 for a race effort. Raise the price by $1000 and get nearly $8,000,000 for the effort. I'm guessing Honda spends that much annually on T-Shirts and key chains.  "What about sponsorships?" you say. If you owned a big company like Coca-Cola or Red Bull, would you spend millions of dollars each year to reach 10,000 hard core Buell fans? I would call that unrealistic. Bottom line is Buell needs to sell more bikes to raise Racing Capital. How many more bikes could BMC sell with a podium finish? I don't believe the "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" adage. Toyota sells a crapload of Camry's without a race effort. IMHO it's the product that matters. All of us Buell riders have had run ins with folks that have no freakin' clue as to what a Buell is or who makes it. If I were BMC, I'd buy an ad during the Super Bowl. Raise brand awareness to millions of buyers in my target sales demographic. FWIW: I would prefer less expensive bikes, parts, & accessories over a Factory Racing Effort. | ||
| Steve_mackay |
Blake, no offense, but don't you think that Hals would continue with FX racing if it really was that easy to get the major sponsors? If the folks at AMA Superbike would take the lead of the France family and NASCAR, maybe they could get the sport elevated to a more prominent level where more sponsors would be attracted to it. Nascar has always had the 'doublewide' fan fare... AMA Superbike will never get that kind of following. That then begs the really tough question, who would we cast in the role of Court? Put some grey hair on Tommy Lee Jones, and he could be cast as Court | ||
| Danny_h__jesternut |
Playboy!!! Thats the big time sponser Buell needs on board for the factory FX team. The umbrella Bunnies/girls alone would be worth the price of addmition,no? Talk of media exposure, sex sells. I bet the intrest in FX bike racing would double overnite? I'd also bet that the lines at the souviner truck would be a mile long,jest to see the sales Bunnies. Quick somebody get Hef at the manshion on the line. | ||
| Blake |
Danny, The committment and funding necessary to run up front in AMA FX is a UNIVERSE apart from what is required to campaign a bike regionally in WERA or CCS. We're talking MILLIONS versus tens of thousands of dollars. Folks have been taking Buell motorcycles racing since Buell motorcycles were offered for sale. Most XBRR racers are riding for their dealership who takes care of the bike and other ancillary expenses. Liberty and Cycle Connection two of our sponsors will be campaigning their XBRRs in regional and hopefully even a few national events. Daytona baybee! Maybe not the 200, but who knows? The cost of the XBRR is a real bargain. The upkeep ain't anything a committed racer or especially a dealership cannot afford. You are arguing against reality amigo. The XBRR's will be hitting the regional racing scenes in 2007 with vigor. We have two fixin' to run in the CMRA. | ||
| Daves |
"Rumors I've heard.. XB line will remain with a new air-cooled motor based from the XR1200.." Bahahahahahahahahahahahaha I think you have that a little backwards there. More accurate would be, The new XR1200 uses a Buell based motor. | ||
| Danny_h__jesternut |
Costs me pearsonaly about $200 per race weekend, once a month. Entrance fees,camp fees,fuell,food,ect. Thats to run in the back with an old tuber thats long since paid for. Oil and filter before each weekend = 20 bucks,countless hours in the garage, cheching, adjusting,tightning, thats all there is to my maintainance routeen. Can I run an XBRR this cheeply? If so then all I need is the bike. Ya wouldn't happen to know someone/sponser willing to put one in my garage(free) would ya? | ||
| Aeholton |
Toyota sells a crapload of Camry's without a race effort. Um...Toyota has been running in the NASCAR Truck series for a couple of years. They will be running in the Busch and NEXTEL cup series in 2007. It's fairly old news: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11010003/ | ||
| Blake |
Toyota also races F1 and Touring car and Offroad, and Rally... no? Danny, Durn! That is cheap! You're obviously getting multiple weekends from your tires. All in the name of fun! Perfect!  It wouldn't be fair to the XBRR to run an XBRR on such a shoestring budget, but sure, if you wanted to, why not? The thing was built to be a reliable full-season with no teardowns machine, yes? | ||
| Chainsaw |
Um...Toyota has been running in the NASCAR Truck series for a couple of years Toyota also races F1 and Touring car and Offroad, and Rally... no? Toyota Camry boys, CAMRY! | ||
| Davegess |
Toyotas sucess selling cars predates it's raicng by several decades. They are now trying to get the next bit of market share and racing is part of that. They got to be as big as they are mostly by ignoring racing. The vast majority of car and bike buyers don't give a rat's ass about racing. Honda races mores becasue the company feels that racing is important for trianing enginneers, Yamaha races because they want to beat Honda at anything. I really doubt that you can make a real strong business case that racing is the key to any bike makers success except for Ducati. I konw the ideqas for spnsers are appredciated but it is not as easy as it looks. Rumour has it that the Yamaha MotoGP team is having a hard time finding a sponser. If you cant sell Rossi I don't know what you could sell. Buell really went all out in the sponser hunt. Favors called in, contacts exploited, friends challanged and they coul dnot get one. | ||
| Rex |
too bad, I know we would all like to see Buell out there on the track. merchandise. you can get a really good deal on buell merchandise vrs. harley davidson. there is a really cool black long sleeve buell shirt out there. button up collar, buell insignia on the collar, buell embroidery logo on the back, zipper on the cuff, zipper on the front with a hidden pocket, all for around 28 dollars. a shirt similar with hd on it, is over 50-60 dollars. Other items are cheaper too. there is not a lot of buell products in the stores....doesn't really sell. I noticed at the chandler hd dealer today, that they are running sportsters for 99 and 125 per month payments, and buells for 59 dollars a month payments. pretty cheap. the local dealers really cannot justify the racing, unless it is in their blood and do it for their own hobby. Vallejo Buell loves to race,and always have, so they race buells when they can. road race, and bonneville. maybe things will change. I am sure having willy davidson at daytona last year, and the four bikes not finishing, put the finish on the racing. still love the looks of the motor though. for a twin, we can always root on ducati in the races. Moto Gp and FX. rex |
