| Author | Message | ||
     Socalbuellriders |
He started it. http://bit.ly/1aLnmX (Too lengthy to post here) | ||
| Mortarmanmike120 |
Wonder if that guys a badwebber? I particularly liked: "So there we are. You set the standard, and we're going to hold you to it. Never again will I buy another Buell because of sentiment, or to support the struggling underdog. I'm not buying a Buell unless it's the absolute best sportbike I can get. I want the precision of a scalpel and the force of a sledgehammer." | ||
| Xb9er |
buell is the best sportbike | ||
| Doerman |
Wolf is a BadWeb-er Really well done, Wolf! Ozzie | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Workers of the Union Unite  We will tell you how to think, we will tell you what to ride. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
Obamicons !!! | ||
| Not_purple_s2 |
I can't read it.... damn internet filters. It's like my employer expects me to work.  | ||
| Teddagreek |
If you want Buell to be the Raiders of motorcycling, make sure it's the Raiders of the late 70's and early 80's, not the hapless collection of felons who now wear the silver and black. Just win, baby. On the road and on the racetrack.  | ||
| Fast1075 |
My ole Grandpappy always told me...if you gonna talk the talk...ya better walk the walk. Or as my Dad would say...S#it or get off the pot. I LIKE what he said.....build it, they will come. | ||
| Sayitaintso |
I had similar thoughts reading the BOB. It seems they have either given over completely to marketing BS, or have set a very high bar that will be next to impossible to meet. If they are being ruthless do they expect the same from their customers? Or do they expect to be given a free pass b/c they are made in America and are making really good bikes (but maybe not the best) | ||
| Mortarmanmike120 |
That would truly be the anti-harley mentality would it not? | ||
| Sayitaintso |
I never thought of it that way but yea I guess you could interpret it as such. Being ruthless and only accepting winning and the best is a very tall mountain when the best of the competition is considered. But then "best" is really a subjective term. | ||
| Doughnut |
So they are only interested in winning, and no longer in selling me a motocycle that I will enjoy riding on the street? | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
Even if Buell is constantly on the podium.. they're still just using an 1125cc gun to win a 600cc knife fight. And the Raiders? Really?!   | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
"So they are only interested in winning, and no longer in selling me a motocycle that I will enjoy riding on the street?" You got it, they don't want you to ride Buell if you're a social rider, don't wear a helmet, like to ride with a passenger or are one who just rides for fun, or as BOB puts it, "sit their asses off", "like most sportbike riders". | ||
| Mortarmanmike120 |
Doesn't matter what the BoB says. You show up at the dealer with a wad of money they'll sell you a bike. | ||
| Hexangler |
Don't forget to ride your Buell way beyond your abilities to the point of not being able to wave back. That's OK too! | ||
| Bcordb3 |
I don't get it, praise for the Buell's style and enginerring and then a rant, I guess about nothing. What does he want? How many bikes did anyone ever own where I rider could actually talk with the designer and CEO and be heard. Does want factory backing for his racing? That has to be earned. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
"So they are only interested in winning, and no longer in selling me a motocycle that I will enjoy riding on the street?" I thoroughly question the statement that Buell is only interested in winning (I assume you mean races.) As a matter of fact, I think that's a clear misintrepretation of the BOB. However, for the sake of argument, let's say that Buell is now obsessed with winning races. Why is winning and providing an enjoyable street bike mutually exclusive? | ||
| 86129squids |
Hey- I'm ashamed to have a super puny 'puter, can't get the text. Anyone help me and do a cut & paste of the text? Mebbe one day I'll step into the 21st century... :} | ||
| Ustorque |
skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal Buell Riders We're Buell riders and fans in Southern California. We'll post stories and photos from our rides and other events here. Tuesday, July 28, 2009 An Open Letter to Erik Buell I bought my first Buell in 1998. A beautiful pearl white S1W with the reactor purple frame and wheels. I loved how the wide gas tank tapered down to a narrow waist and a tiny saddle. It looked like a cobra, and handled like a mongoose on Red Bull. I loved the thundering sound, and how it vibrated at the stop lights. I learned to love its twitchy responsiveness. When my brand-new bike decided to blow the top off its oil reservoir and leak all over the place, I forgave it. Buell was the outsider, the underdog. I was a part of something that would be one of the greatest motorcycle companies ever. When the XB series came out, I sang its rapturous praises like a faithful acolyte. Fuel in the frame! Oil in the swingarm! Genius! Buell has to be the best-engineered bike ever! Nevermind that they still used the same basic motor as the old '98 S1W. Buell had to be on a roll, now. I remained one of the faithful. I got my current mount, a 2008 1125R, and felt that Buell had truly made it right. I've put up with the stumbling at low RPM, the occasionally balky ECM and air intake solenoid, the false neutral between fifth and sixth gear. It was still the best bike Buell ever built. I was envious to hear how the 2009 1125R's motor was smoother and more compliant. For 2010 Buell gave us an oil level sight glass and an optional fairing, and released the 1125RR race-only bike into the wilds of the AMA. Uhmm... Yay? And then there's BoB. The Book of Buell is the new Buell manifesto. The little red book for The Bueller Nation. Prepare for the cultural revolution. People are already quoting from the Book of Buell as if it were gospel. Allow me to appoint myself Grand Inquisitor of the Faith. The Book of Buell says "Sitting is not a sport. ... Before you buy a Buell, take a moment to think about what you really want to do on it." I'll tell you what we want to do on it. We want to win. We don't want to be competitive. We want to crush our enemies, see them flee before us and let the lamentation of their women be our lullabies. Be ruthless in your engineering, Buell. We want our weapons. The Book of Buell includes some heresy. Quoting "Our competition employes thousands, and that's not even counting the robots. Buell is 200 people building motorcycles by hand in East Troy, Wisconsin." Sorry. We're not going to buy that anymore. We don't care if there are bigger kids on the playground. If you want respect, hit harder than the bigger kids. I like the new logo. I see where you're going with that silver and black shield. The BoB says it's "shorthand for 'I don't care what you think.' " "A Buell won't make you any friends," and "we don't engineer motorcycles for acceptance. We engineer them for performance. And we engineer them without mercy." If you want Buell to be the Raiders of motorcycling, make sure it's the Raiders of the late 70's and early 80's, not the hapless collection of felons who now wear the silver and black. Just win, baby. On the road and on the racetrack. So there we are. You set the standard, and we're going to hold you to it. Never again will I buy another Buell because of sentiment, or to support the struggling underdog. I'm not buying a Buell unless it's the absolute best sportbike I can get. I want the precision of a scalpel and the force of a sledgehammer. I want to win. To quote from the Book of Buell, "And while racing and sportbikes have always been important at Buell, they are now officially the only thing that matters." We want to win. The Bueller Nation and our privateers want to win. It's the only thing that matters. Give us our weapons, Mr. Buell. And engineer them without mercy. Posted by SoCal Buell Riders at 9:04 AM 1 comments: ezblast said... Bravo! July 28, 2009 12:49 PM Post a Comment Older Post Home Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) Twitter Updates Twitter Updates An open letter to Erik Buell (He started it). http://bit.ly/1aLnmX about 2 hours ago @kathlene You were looking very stylish on that S1W about 7 hours ago Photos from the SoCal Buell Riders Club weekend ride to benefit Higbee Racing - http://bit.ly/76jfN Thank you to all who participated! 1 day ago follow me on Twitter Followers Blog Archive Бе 2009 (11) Бе July (3) An Open Letter to Erik Buell Bye, bye, Blast The Final Scramble Before our Higbee Benefit Ride... ► June (8) Dyno Day at Privateer's Garage Support Buell Racers Buell Patent Application Leaks Dirtbike Design? BBQ at SD Harley; Highland Valley Ride Two more Sponsors for SoCal Buell Riders San Diego Harley now a Sponsor Privateer's Garage signs up as a Sponsor. Members... 2 Days to Launch! About Me SoCal Buell Riders Southern California, United States We're a group of Southern California Buell riders and fans who get together for rides and socializing. View my complete profile | ||
| Mortarmanmike120 |
Fresno, I agree that I don't think winning races will be the ONLY thing on buell's plate. But to the hypothetical question you posed: Why is winning and providing an enjoyable street bike mutually exclusive? They're not. But race bikes and street bikes are not at all the same thing. Hell my street bike will never see 125mph again. (just once, curiosity ya know.) It's very rare that my streetbike does 90. The manners of a streetbike and a racebike are not equal. A race bike has to make some compromises to hit those top ends. A streetbike doesn't. A streetbike should be more reliable then a racebike that gets torn down all the time. I don't know any other way to describe it. Once again, I don't think buell is gonna be a race-only manufacturer. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Don't forget to ride your Buell way beyond your abilities to the point of not being able to wave back. That's OK too! Uh, no matter how many times I read the BOB i can't find the part that about riding "way beyond your abilities." I love it when people make stuff up. It really IS okay to not wave while attacking a corner. This is all the BOB says about not waving no matter how much people want to embellish. | ||
| Socalbuellriders |
Bcordb3 - Sorry if I was unclear. I'm not the best writer around. Not a rant. Rather, I think Buell has given us a promise, and I want to see them succeed by fulfilling that promise. Let's have that ruthless engineering. Give me a bike that's got the kind of style that will make the guys at Confederate gasp (http://www.confederate.com/wraith/). I'd rather have a bike with controversial styling than a bland Hondazukimaha. Give me a powerplant that'll have the Gixxer boys running back to the drawing board. I WANT my next bike to be a Buell. But I want that Buell to be a no-compromises world-beater. If any company can go out of the box and make THE best sportbike in the world, Buell can. I just want them to do it. Give me something really revolutionary. No more "bold new colors." | ||
| Mortarmanmike120 |
Look at the other manufacturers as an example. GSXR, CBRs, and the like are all trackbikes detuned for the street. IMO they suck as streetbikes. With the XB, Buell built what I thought of as a streetbike first. Remember 'built from the rider down?' Also IMO the XB destroys all the other manufacturer's 'streetbikes.' It seems purpose built as a streetbike. Not to speak for anybody else but some of the anxiety about the new marketing may be about the perceived shift from streetbikes to racing. If/when Buell only offers detuned racebikes as streetbike that'll be my que to leave. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Give me a powerplant that'll have the Gixxer boys running back to the drawing board. Impossible to with V-2 engine and be competitively priced. | ||
| Socalbuellriders |
Hey Frez - I'm not married to the idea of sticking to the V-twins. I think there will always be a V-twin Buell, but if we're crushing the past and going for ruthless engineering, then sure, give me an inline 4 Buell. Put it on the street and in the market. If it's a better bike than my 1125R, I'll be in line to put my money down. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
If/when Buell only offers detuned racebikes as streetbike that'll be my que to leave. That is some pretty extreme speculation--especially since it is based on a marketing piece that is interpreted differently by each person that reads it. Ergos are humane on the 1125r. I would be shocked is BMC went the repli-racer direction. BMC is the same company, people. No Blast. One new piece of marketing material. Still the same company. | ||
| Doughnut |
V4 | ||
| Danny_h__jesternut |
Hey didn't HD jest buy some old sport bike company from across the pond? Bad azz race bikes try that brand an street bikes tru Buell, every ones happy? |
