| Author | Message | ||
     Bking |
I worked Montana last week and stopped into the Buell dealers in Missoula and Great Falls. Just wanted a T-shirt. I don't know what I expected, since the 4 Buell dealers here in the Colorado Front Range all suck as well as far as availability on parts, accessories and goodies go. Great Falls had 2 Buells on the floor and a small gondola with what looked like left-over Buell hats and shirts no one would really buy. The counter person blamed the lack of anything Buell on Buell themselves, stating that Buell did not offer anything for them to buy. The Missoula dealer is also a Ducati Dealer. They had 11 Duc's and two sections of Ducati clothing, boots, etc. available. They had 4 Buells and nothing else. We asked where the Buell shirts were and the store employee looked at us as we were from Mars. I really don't think she was familiar with the word "Buell". After some coaxing, she finally pointed toward the Ducati section and said there might be something there. You would think I would be used to this by now. End of rant. -----Bob | ||
| Court |
>>>>The counter person blamed the lack of anything Buell on Buell themselves, stating that Buell did not offer anything for them to buy. This will be useful and actionable if you can supply the name of the dealership (I can find that if you don't have it) and the name of the counter person. I am eager to see if they claim to have not received the HUGE Buell catalog of parts and accessories. If you have the info, please send it to me. I'm eager to chat with them and get their side. Thanks, Court | ||
| Cityxslicker |
I dont know how many times I have sold a Buell just because we had the bikes, and the T-shirts (and helmets, and rain gear, jackets, boots, gloves, frame pucks,) Come see a rider that just happens to sell them too. We have a wonderful fly and ride program. We will even UPS ship your luggage home so you can really enjoy the twisties. Welcome the the Twisted Edge, waaaaay out west | ||
| Court |
The good news is that the General Manager of the Missoula store has his e-mail address on their website. I've cut and pasted the post and asked him to respond. If (and you can learn a powerful lesson about the internet and why some folks pretty well write it off here) about 100 folks of the 12,000 registerd badweb folks would do the same. . . I'll be he'd listen. But, and this is the part about the internet, I'd be surprised if he gets 5 e-mails. Court | ||
| 65460 |
Im wondering whats going to happen once the 1125R is going to hit the showroom. I know a few Honda and Yamaha riders that are interested but if they go into a HD dealership and get blown off by the sales staff,or dont have the clothing/trinkets that this type of bike rider is looking for, it would be a shame. Buell deserves more market share, too bad, it "seems" most of the dealers arent interested in selling them. I actually had to go to two different dealers before someone would give me the time of day. Racine HD acted like I wasnt even there, however Bads (Dana) says their good people. Ukes was fantastic! Salesman (Collin) was a Buell rider, had answers to all the questions and then some. Sorry to get so far off topic. Ukes did have what I would consider a decent amount of Buell clothing on hand. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
I was interested to see that he also has a Ducati dealership. When the 1125R shows up, he will probably have more potential customers than most Harley Dealers. I bet he will have a lot more Buell stuff in the very near future.  | ||
| Court |
That store has been a HD/Buell and Ducati dealer for years. I've been there several times.  I'd love to see folks put these concerns in writing and get them to the folks at Buell. They listen and they at least need to hear your thoughts. We're all in this together. There is no substitute for a handwritten letter with a stamp on it. The internet frequently screams but seldom acts. Help change that. Court | ||
| 65460 |
Thanks for the info Court. He now should have two in his inbox. Two down, 98 to go. | ||
| Bigdaddy |
3 | ||
| Doncasto |
I actually bought my S3T (Roz) from this dealership in a past lifetime. Even back then they were very "hot and cold" and hit or miss with their Buell business. Although their service department did correctly predict that I would be purchasing an aftermarket exhaust system shortly after my purchase . . .they neglected to pay attention to the prep on the bike. I had to have a drive belt guard/rear fender assembly replaced in Colorado after they "forgot" to set-up the suspension preload. I visited their Kallispell store about a month ago . . .no Buell accessories, clothing or items were displayed. There were several sales people there that were Buell enthused . . .and they had a Uly reconfigured with a TT tail section on the floor that they were very proud of. I visited there hoping to find some touring boots . . .but found only HD Cruiser clunkers available. I expect to be back in Kallispell in the next month . . .and hope that there will be more of a Buell presence then. Update to follow. Don Casto Boulder, Colorado PS. email sent | ||
| Fez |
i bought my bike from the Big Sky Buell/H-D Great Falls dealership this spring. they gave me a free t-shirt and although there weren't many to choose from i did get one i like and is now my favorite t-shirt. the woman working the counter also went through the buell catalog with me showing me the jackets and rain suits. she said she could order anything i wanted. at the time they had a half dozen buells (three uly's, a bolt, a tt and the xb12s i bought) and everyone seemed into the bikes. i did have a pretty odd experience with the service department though. i crashed my bike in early june, dented the frame. after a couple weeks of fighting my insurance company they finally approved my claim. the dealership ordered the parts, but they have taken forever to come in. i think ordering them around the 4th of july and just before homecoming and the new model announcements didnt help any. so last monday i talked to the service manager. he told me the frame should be in that afternoon. the next afternoon i called up and talked to one of the guys working in the service department. told him who i was, and he said my bike was done. now i was pretty surprised at the turn around, so i asked again 'done? completely done?' kid says 'yes, all done' i asked him if i could come pick it up. he says any time. so i drive the 180 miles up to Great Falls from Bozeman to get the bike with my wife. we get up there, the bike is parked right in front of the service desk. and it hasnt been touched. i see the service manager at the service desk and tell him his employee told me the bike was done and i should come get it. and that i had driven up from bozeman to get it. the service manager looks shocked. tells me the frame still isnt in yet. he yells for someone to get the kid who lied to me. says one more thing to add to the list of reasons he wanted to kill the kid. the kid gets up to the desk, the service manager asks him why he told me the bike was done. of course the kid denies it, says he just told me the parts were in. the manager points out that the parts werent in either. so we were no longer discussing whether or not he lied to me but just how badly. the manager tells me he wants to do something for me to make up for this. im still shocked, not sure why the kid would have lied to me. i didnt see an upside for him, im a very reasonable person. its not like i was mad because it was taking weeks to get the frame. the manager asks to buy me a tank of gas to make up for the gas at least. we had just filled up. so pretty bummed, we stopped at a chinese restaurant and drove home. next day i talked to the manager again, the frame had just arrived. and they are going to deliver my bike to me when they are done with it. while much of this experience has sucked. crashing sucked. my ins company really sucked. three weeks to get a frame from buell sucked. and driving up to great falls to pick up my bike only to find it hasnt been touched sucked. i think the service manager is doing a great job and has not sucked. | ||
| Wile_ecoyote |
Did junior confuse your bike with another? I cant see why he would lie about it when he gained nothing but heartache. I have encountered the t-shirt problem alot. It seems all of us Buell riders dont wear 2x size shirts. I can find them but always large or medium. The days of those sizes have long past for me. Not gonna kid myself that I'll ever fit in em again. | ||
| Gbr |
Unfortunately, the Buell experiences posted above are pretty common here in Montana. I've been in the Great Falls dealership a couple of times, and both times nobody wanted to talk to me about Buell. Right after the Uly's were introduced, I went in with a friend. He went to a Road King, and had a salesman there right away. I went to the Uly, looked at it, got on it, and never did see anyone take interest. I've only been in the Missoula dealership once, and didn't have too bad of luck there. The salesman was polite and prompt, but I told him I was just looking (at the time), so he left me alone. Didn't leave there with a bad feel. Billings also has a dealership, but I had the same type of experience there as I did with Great Falls. One of the frustrating things is just trying to get parts. When my clutch cable broke, none of the 3 stores had one in stock! Seems to me that someone should have at least one on the shelf. Had to wait for it to be ordered. By the way Court, the dealership moved to new digs about 2 years ago. I don't think the old sign is still up. gbr (Message edited by gbr on July 22, 2007) | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
Soooo Court......Speaking of Tshirts. Did you ever contact the good folks at AD Farrow Buell/HD about the tshirt situation. | ||
| Rasmonis |
I want to sell & service Buells so bad. Buelltopia I'm telling you. Who else is in? | ||
| Wile_ecoyote |
I've been thinking I need a new job! I'm in. Probably have to live in the back room though. The old lady aint gonna like it. | ||
| Hdbobwithabuell |
I've got one Buell shirt from Tilly's in Statesville NC! Have asked in every other Buell "dealership" with no luck. | ||
| Toona |
It seems all of us Buell riders dont wear 2x size shirts. I attended the Carlisle Bikefest this past weekend. Out of the 3 HD dealers there, only White's HD/B had any swag. I scored a Buell Racing ball cap to match my BR t-shirt and Pit shirt. XB9er scored the same hat and 3 or 4 more Buell shirts. Alchemy scored their last BR ball cap. I did have to chuckle out loud when I saw a XXL Blast long sleeve shirt. If ya wear a XXL, what in the world are you doing on a Blast???? They had a 4-5 Blast ball caps as well. The clearance rack had an XL shirt that still had the glossy cardboard item tag with a picture of an S2 or S3 on it, talk about old school....oh yeah, $11.95 for the shirt! | ||
| Wile_ecoyote |
I rode a Blast once! Can you say slight horsepower to weight problem? | ||
| Tripp |
my brothers ex and daughter live in great falls, he went out there in the spring (he is also a buell enthusiast) and picked me up a sweet buell t, it has a cool big sky montana logo on the back, a badge on each arm (buell and pegasus) and bold lettering in the front. he said they had a few buells and they seemed excited about it, he said he had a long conversation, with a service guy who was testing out a micron exhaust on an xb, he had a good buell experience there at any rate. i have also been trying to get a job i'd love, recently i applied at precision hd in pawtucket r.i., this would be a 45min. commute each way but i don't care as long as can work with buells. they probably have a half a dozen on the floor and a few different t's and hats, i bought a bomb xb t, amber lightning breaking from a chain with lightning coming off the wheels, it's badass! i think i could probably make a difference at this dealership unfortunately they have'nt responded to my inquiries. i wish we had a super buell dealer around like one of the sponsors here, maybe someday. | ||
| Fez |
Did junior confuse your bike with another? I cant see why he would lie about it when he gained nothing but heartache. that's what confused me too. i didnt see an upside for him lying about it. as for confusing the bike, i doubt it. i dont think they have another buell in service, plus i spent a couple hours with this kid replacing the battery and setting up my suspension when i bought the bike in the first place. and he was in the service shop when i brought it in after i crashed. the kid knows who i am as well as what bike is mine. oh well, hopefully be back on the bike sometime this week.} | ||
| Rainman |
I guess I'm lucky. Recently my dealer had a Uly, CityX, Ss, TT, S and XB9R on the floor with a gazillion H-Ds. Now they have the S and TT so they're selling them. As far as goodies go, they've got the mechanic short sleeve gray shirts, the brown long sleeve button up and a few T-shirts. I bought the lone rainsuit they had -- two small to cover my jacket but big enough for teaching MSF courses in the rain. They told me they don't sell much so they probably won't order much more "stuff." They offered to special order. The sales folks aren't overly excited about Buell -- they can sell 12 H-Ds to one Buell -- but they like it and appreciate it. I get very little ribbing from my Blast and I gave them all my card in case they have someone ask about Buells. | ||
| Sanchez |
> There is no substitute for a handwritten letter with a stamp on it. What's an appropriate mailing address? | ||
| Daves |
their Buell wall didn't look like this?   | ||
| Ulywife |
their Buell wall didn't look like this? Unfortunately, most don't look like that. They told me they don't sell much so they probably won't order much more "stuff." I just love this one - it's what I've heard at most "Buell" dealerships. My point is, I can't buy it if you don't have it! Guess that's why most of our Buell shirts, etc. has come from BadWeB sponsors. | ||
| Daves |
Ulywife It probably will come as no surprise to you but I now have the largest inventory of archery stuff in my area People can't buy it, if you don't have it! | ||
| Ulywife |
I now have the largest inventory of archery stuff in my area No surprise at all! The other archery businesses have no idea who they are up against! The small things can make the biggest difference. | ||
| Mikej |
I'll never forget the small shop owner north of Sacramento who told me one day while I was looking at all the stuff he had in his version of a gas station and convenience/grocery store: "I can't sell it if I don't have it". | ||
| Fez |
i was looking for some riding boots. not necessarily full race boots, but similar. i went to the two shops around here that sell tons of ricer crotch rockets. both had pretty good selections of off-road boots, but neither had any street boots. both places said they could order whatever i wanted. i asked why bother? i want to buy local so i can try them on first and get them now. if we are going to order them and take a chance on fit, i may as well order off the internet where i can get them faster and cheaper. | ||
| Xb12mel |
I too have looked for HD/Buell Dealerships here on the east coast "looking for a Tee Shirt" and they all say the same thing... "We don't sell them so we don't stock them." I continually say, "well, you don't stock them so I can't buy them..." The exception to this rule has been South-side HB / Buell in VA Beach, VA. However, their stock looks more like a discontinued rack then a Buell Apparel section. What I love is when they tell me that I can order the stuff on-line. Has anyone ever successfully ordered a Buell T-Shirt from the Buell.com website? All I have ever been able to do is link to my local dealership, which unfortunately, does not sell Buell stuff on-line!!! Ironic isn't it? And...(and this is the last of my rant) Would I get into trouble transferring downloads of wall papers onto Iron-on's and providing them to my friends and fellow Buell riders, for a small enough fee to recover my cost? I mean lets face it...there is a market, just not enough outlets. | ||
| Diablobrian |
When my local dealership finally did get some Buell stuff in it was/is primarilly female oriented stuff, I gues that pretty well tells me what they think of Buell riders in general. That and I have it from reliable sources that the manager hates Buells and only grudgingly orders more for the floor. They currently have a Uly, and an orange/white TT (ewwww) on the floor which is about average unless they have one or two blasts out. | ||
| Tranvk |
That's it... I am making my own t-shirts! |
