| Author |
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Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 09:05 pm: | 
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last September i did 10,000 miles in 24 days. does that count for anything?  |
Crusty
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 09:25 pm: |
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In 36 years of riding motorcycles, I've never seen a Manufacturer go to the lengths that Buell Motor Co. has gone to for their customers (and I speak from personal experience). Unless the "stockholder satisfaction over customer satisfaction" idiots at the Mothership have their way, I think they'll do the Right Thing.
In any event, you have my full support. |
Charlieboy6649
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 10:32 pm: |
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Chapter after epic chapter unfolded through the ever eloquent wording of THE FB! I wan't to read that write-up! Oh, and I wan't one! Ulysses ROCKS!
If you come through AZ, I'd love to point the headlights toward the horizon with you for a while... |
Ezblast
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 11:05 pm: |
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A little trip to Alaska and back would be just the ticket - photo ops, Badwebbers meeting you along the way - perfect time of year weatherwise! Let the games begin! May such a great idea be taken and embraced! Jerry - your definately the man for the job!
Good Luck!
GT - JBOTD! EZ |
Tramp
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 11:13 pm: |
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I say that "Chuckles Bueller" should visit EVERY badwebber across the country, stopping by for Kool-aid and snappy patter.
'Course, letting his hosts take it for a spin at each stop wouldn't be a bad idea.
Buell could call it their "Adventure Demo Home Delivery" program. Somebody lend Chuckles a scoot, STAT! |
Awprior
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 11:21 pm: |
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Ferris,
Who's to say you'll even want to give that bike back after the trip? It's not a Blurr or a Thong, or whatever the hell that blue thing is named, but you'll have a new name for it, I'm sure. You need something to get up your gravel driveway. You could build some hella cool ramps for it out there too. Riding around Lake Isabella, check. Off roading at the Dome? Soon to come!!! If any other trips to Newfoundland happen, I'm in. Educational leave?
Corso,
Awesome photoshop. I think we need business cards with that...
Prior |
Jlnance
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 11:26 pm: |
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FB - I'd love to see you do this. Let me know if you're comming through NC. Of course it would burn up your 2500 miles to get here... |
Ebear
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 12:41 am: |
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Silly Wabbit..!!!..X's are for KIDS..!!
Could Ferris sit on THIS bike without motion??
 |
Rex
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 02:08 am: |
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Ferris would love to have you do this. Your writing is great, your photos are great, and you are a Buell Enthusiast. You could do the four corners of the country....something one of the new magazines for touring could feature......Jamie Elvridge (spelling) is the editor.....rex
maybe friction zone magazine could get you a demo bike? or city bike in northern cal? I think you and reg doing a joint ride would be cool too....maybe you could ride across the US, then Reg or Rocket could take it across europe, then someone else across russia, then........rex |
Gschuette
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 02:11 am: |
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Do it! |
Court
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 04:59 am: |
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>>>>Who's to say you'll even want to give that bike back after the trip?
Exactly my thinking......only way to do it is buy the bike and free yourself of the chains of the Mothership!
It'd be cool.
When I did this in 1995 I, and Buell owners on the internet, made the call as to where I went, who rode (I gave over 200 impromptu demo rides) and what I did.
If I wanted to go to a Honda event to showcase the Buell I didn't have to get "clearance".
I did the "on the rode aboard a Buell" radio call in program daily and could say anything I wanted.
In addition, by picking up all the costs and doing the logistical planning, it freed me to say whatever I wanted and made the endorsement REALLY meaningful as opposed to "this FREE motorcycle Buell loaned me is great" Of course, it is, you don't want to walk home ala' Mototcyclist.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to read the story....but I know the strings and caveats that could accompany a HD media bike and for the paltry monthly bike payment of $200 per month, it may be an idea to buy the bike (hell, even let Badwebbers foot the bill and REALLY put teeth in it) and sell it at the and.
However it plays out, it'll be a hell of a journey.
By the way, if you're headed to Alaska, should someone call ahead and warn the wildlife!
Go man go!
Court |
Mikej
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 08:38 am: |
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My first reaction to this is hearing someone in Marketing saying "now they just want to borrow the bike and give it back at the end instead of buying the darned thing".
Find a way to buy it basically per Court's reasoning. Then do the Al-Can highway. Or better yet, assuming you're up to the challenge, do the whole IronButt campaign and hit as many of the distant high points locations. If reliability is to be the future claim to fame, then this would set the bar. Why monkey around with a tour when you could instead make a statement.
"Just a thought".
Consider it the OctoberFast and SPLASH and BorderRaid combined and expansified. |
Jb2
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 08:59 am: |
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FB1 - Sorry so late to the game as I still have the Drive By Truckers and Widespread Panic ringing in my ears and didn't download your e-mail 'til this morning. I figgered by now it would be a signed deal but this thread is three pages into its life and you're still pleading your case so I'll make a direct appeal right here on the BWB.
Erik, I dig your ideas and for years I have enjoyed your machines. Your company went one direction and my riding needs went another. I am considering a new BMW RG1200S and now the XB12X brings another choice to the table. The RG is a tried and true platform with millions of miles under its belt and BWM reliability.
Convince me I should buy your bike instead of the RG and not because Cycle World wrote a ten page ad for it or because of the zealous enthusiasm that drips from this board. I want to know that a guy like me can count on it to perform and I want it tested by someone I believe will spank it to the limits and tell me the truth about how it performs.
Ball's in your court man and not even the likes of Canfield can twist my arm into buying one. Get ahold of me after Ferris has properly thrashed one and we'll talk.
JB2
(Message edited by jb2 on July 28, 2005) |
Lake_bueller
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 09:02 am: |
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Court...did you get my email?
Dennis |
Ebear
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 10:31 am: |
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Expansified...now THERE is a WORD!!!
That word could mean a lot of things!
EX...pants...afied..(ala Unibear)
EX...pansy...fied...(no longer pansy)
EXSPeNS..if..ide...(made more expensive)
Ain't inglish COOL?? |
Court
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 10:36 am: |
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>>>>Convince me I should buy your bike instead of the RG and not because Cycle World wrote a ten page ad
Watch for future articles coming from unexpected places. Some of these, I'm thinking, will help you decide that $12K gets you more than $17K.
Don't get me wrong, I totally dig the R1200GS (which Vickie calls "The Duck" due to it's "bill" ) but the ULYSSES does what the GS does AND what the CityX does.
Problem now is FINDING ONE. Bet I can do so far is November 19th...Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh.
I'm thinking it may ever be fun to have Ferris buy one in CA, I'll buy one in NY and we'll meet in the middle (we can program the Quest GPS units to find each other) and compare moto-notes.
About then, I'll be ready to pick up my S-2 from Aaron and I could leave the ULYSSES.
This is one cool bike! |
Jb2
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 10:54 am: |
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Court, I must say that I liked the idea of a BWB member funded bike that leaves all influence strings detached and then selling it later.
This is one cool bike!
That it may be but I still need convinced by people I know and trust before I shell out that kind of money for it. Why don't one of you guys do the ride two-up? That's a major consideration with my next purchase. |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 11:37 am: |
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Ferris... just buy the bike, ride it, then sell it used. I don't think these things are going to depreciate much in the first year, and it's not impossible that the opposite may be true. If Court, who at one time has personally met every Buell dealer on the planet, can't get one until Nov... then the writing is on the wall already. |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 12:04 pm: |
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exciting, this thread, at least for me, hopefully for some of you!
majorly positive, the posts, which is gratifying.
some brilliant ideas proffered, but most are challenging due to life's logistics. lest anyone think i'm independently wealthy, free to do what i want whenever i want, i'm not. i'm a working stiff, just like most of the rest of you.
i financed my "Out of Words" trip last September by selling the Thong, my beloved White Lightning, and most of the rest of the BLURR, my equally beloved S2. the cost of being on the road for 24 days, and the lost income preparing for the ride, doing the ride, and writing about it here AFTER the ride, wasn't cheap, and it had to come from SOMEwhere.
i mention most of this partly in response to the many (wonderful) suggestions to ride here, there and EVERYwhere (including Alaska -- cool!) to REALLY put the new Uly to the test.
trust me, i love to ride more than anyone i know, and i know a lot of people. tell me how to figure out how to take a month (or a year) off, how to pay my bills while i'm gone, and how NOT to leave my friend and partner Denise behind in the process, and i am SO there!!!
someone threw a dart at me for "only" wanting to average 250 miles a day. no worries, pretty sure your tongue was ensconced firmly in your cheek when you said that. that said, 250 miles a day is a GREAT pace for a tour, "adventure" or otherwise. especially if one is exploring, REALLY seeing the land, and ESPECIALLY if some of those miles are in the dirt, which would be the plan.
i can knock out high-mileage days with the best of them, but it proves little except ones tolerance to pain and boredom. my favorite rides seldom average more than three or four hundred miles a day, and my FAVORITE rides are often much, much less.
Iron Butt??? i am SO not worthy. these men and women are in a league of their own. may as well compare my abilities as a rider to those of Nicky or Colin or Valentino. can't get there from here.
Ten days/2500 miles has a nice ring to it, long enough to get to know the bike some, long enough to break it if it's gonna break, long enough to love it if i'm gonna love it, long enough to hate it if i'm gonna hate it, and SHORT enough i can figure out a way to take the time off from work and financially live to tell the tale.
Court, as always, i appreciate the wisdom of your ways. someone offered up that this deal has been done before. well, i'm not and never was trying to emulate your brilliant "Lap of America" -- see my "i'm SO not worthy" comments above for where i fit into THAT scheme of things.
was just trying to score a ride on a cool new bike, and by offering up an article and pix of the deal afterwards here on BADWEB i was making my scheme legitimate in the process.
i've done the "corporate" dance with BMC and H-D before, back in the days when i was "Ferris Bueller, Professional" and i'm aware, more than most, the "caveats" that can come from such an arrangement.
like i said, just trying to figure out how to get my grubby little paws on a Ulysses for a spell, not looking to climb in bed with anybody but Denise.
to all: the unrelenting truth of the matter is that the risks involved for someone to loan me a bike are HUGE (what if i wreck it? what if i steal it?? what if i HATE it??? what if use it commit a heinous crime that makes Geraldo Rivera????), and the rewards are potentially paltry. Buell, obviously, doesn't need me to help sell this bike.
that being the case, why loan me one and run the risk that Something Bad This Way Comes?
same applies to our wonderful sponsoring dealers. same risks, same potential reward. Dave S. doesn't need ANYBODY to help him sell bikes! he's a walking, talking textbook on the correct way to make fame and fortune selling motorcycles and creating intensely loyal friendships in the process.
i WILL say that it was exciting to finally see his name pop up on here, means he's thinking...
i appreciate EVERYONE who has taken the time to write. most of you really don't know me, and yet this deal means enough to YOU that you'd go to bat for ME (and for BADWEB), and i won't forget. thank you.
gotta tell you, the post i'm about to cut and paste REALLY made my day:
Ferris,
Excellent idea. You can tell whoever that "loans" you the bike that I would like to have that bike in my collection. My guess is that there would be lively bidding for such a piece of history.
Paul
wow, talk about getting my attention!!!
Paul, thank you for your words. i'm not sure where this is ultimately gonna go, but talk like yours SURELY must have gotten someone's attention, and it'll be interesting to see if your bait gets a bite.
anyway, gotta get back to earning my daily dough. again, thanks for all the enthusiasm and support, and i hope that y'all keep posting, and i hope that folks who haven't yet done so WILL.
this gig MAY happen, but it won't unless we want it to, and if we want it to we've got to say so loud enough (but please be polite -- the bean counters at Harley-Davidson are NOT "idiots"!) and long enough to be heard.
ride to lean,
Ferris |
Daves
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 12:10 pm: |
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Jerry,
I think you need to call me
1-866-757-1651
ask for Dave in the sales dept.
PS,
I I knew how to turn selling Buells into Fame and Fortune I could do the trip myself!
But alas, I need to stay at work. |
M1combat
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 12:16 pm: |
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Bomber
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 12:27 pm: |
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250 miles a day is ACES -- much more than that, and there will be no pics (except the blurry ones we all take at gas stops -- here's my bike next to a Chevron pump -- here's my bike and the helmet I dropped next to the Mobile pump, and so on), and the words part of the deal will be "I'm bushed -- rode 700 miles today -- gonna have a local mocrobrew, sleep, and do it again tomorrow"
most definately NOT to the level of work we've come to expect --
am I once again halucinating when I recollect that ATS got a scoot for evaluation a while ago? precedent, perhaps? |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 01:00 pm: |
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Jerry,
I think you need to call me...
Dave, enjoyed the visit, will be in touch.
FB |
Court
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 01:25 pm: |
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>>>am I once again halucinating when I recollect that ATS got a scoot for evaluation a while ago?
halucinating |
Blackbelt
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 01:39 pm: |
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Hay Ferris,
Honestly if i had the new bike, I would graciously hand it over to you. Just for the fact that it WILL be a very good story to tell and read. Then when you were done i could say that i own a little peice of history. I hope that somehow you do aquire one and do the journey. If you somehow journy into lower Michigan and need a place to bunk up, there are many people in the area that can offer shelter, or a great place to catch a cold brew and a good laugh.
Here is hopin that your dream/wish comes true... All us Badwebbers have high hopes/wanna kill you for taking our idea first.. LMAO!!
 Cheer to you and Good Luck. |
Jlnance
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 01:42 pm: |
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I had an idea over lunch:
What they don't say is they also rent Buells. 
Perhaps thats a middle ground between buying one and borrowing one?
I know other dealers rent them as well. I just picked Tilley's because they are enough into Buell that they might actually have the bike, and they are a Badweb sponsor. You could probably find a rental closer to you than North Carolina, but then again, wouldn't it be cool to pick up the bike 150 miles from Deals Gap.  |
Pdxs3t
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 04:45 pm: |
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Jerry,
I know some thought has been given to the route, could you share some details on where you could be heading on the 2500 mile adventure?
Jim |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 05:30 pm: |
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follow the front wheel has always worked well for me... |
Oldog
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 05:46 pm: |
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Jerry / Ferris :
As I sit here, and think about this. If you get the Uly, I would like to drop a "bennie" in your hat. While it would not take you too far it would help. I have enjoyed your posts via BadWeb come to admire your compassion and willingness to do for others so
From One Ol' Dog to another,
Go Ferris Go!
To the other "Riders of the Storm",
please don't take this the wrong way but!
Rather than palttitudes, pony up! We all offer best wishes Face it Talk is cheap so Back it up.
I wan't to see this happen, I can't afford to give it to him but I can help with it. Just think you would be contributing to something fun and interesting with out "morbidity"
Ferris When you get the bike PM me.
from the Yard Ol Dog |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 06:11 pm: |
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Ol Dog, your generosity is amazing, and greatly appreciated.
but PLEASE understand, we can't turn this into a fundraiser in any way, shape or form, nor do i want it to head that direction.
i took a gamble earlier by even mentioning that i'm just a mere "working stiff" but i was trying to make a point about my unfortunate inability to turn this concept into some grand "around the world in 80 days" type of ride, despite quite a few folks' wishes for me to do just that.
i was not looking for sympathy, or donations (altho the thought is HUGELY appreciated), just trying to make a point.
furthermore, Blake has some pretty strict moral beliefs as to what DOES and DOESN'T pass muster here on BADWEB when it comes to using the board to raise money, and i respect him for that, and gladly and willingly respect his wishes.
to repeat for anyone still gray on the matter: i'm NOT asking for donations, this is NOT a fundraiser, and i apologize profusely if i've sent that signal in any way, shape or form.
Ol Dog, thank you from the bottom of my heart. you are a good man. thank you, my friend.
ride to lean,
Ferris |
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