| Author |
Message |
    
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 10:52 pm: | 
|
the Buell RW 750.
would YOU ride this bike at 176 mph???
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 10:53 pm: |
|
another one of my favorite pix from this trip, as Erik reflects upon Buell #1.
original photo by Mr. Dave Gess.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 10:55 pm: |
|
i do believe Mr. Buell is ready for lunch...
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 10:56 pm: |
|
on display in the lobby at BMC.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 10:56 pm: |
|
 |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 10:57 pm: |
|
 |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 10:58 pm: |
|
yer basic mug shot, v.1.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 10:58 pm: |
|
yer basic mug shot, v.2.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 10:59 pm: |
|
Erik had to take one of his daughters to school this morning, so was in four wheels instead of on two.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 11:00 pm: |
|
Tish, do you have any idea how your husband treats your car when you're not looking?
yeah, i bet you do. 
folks, it ain't easy to get a shot like this on a camera with a lot of digital lag. yes, that IS Mr. Buell behind the wheel, and that IS smoke coming off the front tire.
he made our Hooligan hearts proud.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 11:01 pm: |
|
lunch at Gus's Drive-In in East Troy with Alex, Bruce Champion from Buell, Erik, and the Wizard.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 11:03 pm: |
|
Erik's on the phone with Alex's best friend, Brian Cessna (Stingaroo here on BADWEB), who i'd invited to this little get-together, and who had ridden his Buell clear to Chicago before the National Guard called him to duty to help with Hurricane Katrina relief in the south.
the words that Erik said to Stingaroo were VERY cool, and proved, yet again, the stuff that Mr. Buell is made of.
Brian, when you get a chance to read this: thank you for who you are, and thank you for what you do. you weren't with us in person, but you were with us in spirit, and it is SO very cool that you got to spend some time on the phone with Erik.
i am proud to have been a part of it all.
ps: Alex, does that mean you're #1??? 
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 11:04 pm: |
|
my buddy Jim Corso (Pdxs3t here on BADWEB) was also with me in spirit on this trip.
Jim and i go way back, back to the many halcyon days we spent on the side of Mount St. Helens doing recon for Blue Groove/Northwest.
Jim's had some trials and tribulations over the years, including losing his badass black S1 in a nasty custody battle many years ago.
he was sans Buell for several long, difficult years, but never lost his sense of humor or his positive outlook on life.
these days he's with a very good woman (hi Shel!), and his son Kyle, just a little tike when i first met him, has grown to be a bright young man.
and, Jim is in the wind once more, on another Buell, natch, and is one of Erik's most loyal fans.
in over a dozen pages of notes that i generated leading up to FBRAT, there was one notation that was circled and underlined many times, a request that i heard repeatedly from Jim: "Please get me a Buell hat autographed by The Man!"
if nothing else came off successfully on this trip, the hat was a MUST!
in the pic above Mr. Buell has just autographed Mr. Corso's brand-new Buell hat.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 17, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 11:05 pm: |
|
 |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 11:06 pm: |
|
Jim, your new hat is sitting here next to the computer, safely ensconced in a plastic bag.
i'll present it to you in two weeks at Oktoberfast, k?
if you don't show up, it's mine.
fair enough?
ps: Erik, THANK YOU!!!
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 17, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 11:06 pm: |
|
well, in a (successful) effort to TOTALLY destroy what was left of Erik's work day, we had him scribble all over Madduck's Uly, as well.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 17, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 11:07 pm: |
|
wonder how many autographs Erik has been asked to sign over the years?
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 17, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 11:08 pm: |
|
Erik tagged the right saddlebag, and didn't need a prompt from me when he wrote "FBRAT 2005," which means he had been paying attention.
Erik and his merry Elves treated us like royalty for the several hours we hung out in East Troy, in spite of the fact we CONSUMED at least half of his work day and made countless requests of his time and patience and overall good nature.
it'd been awhile since i'd hung with The Man, and almost every time previous had been in conjunction with a BRAG event, meaning Erik was almost always "on."
this visit was the most special of all, just five guys being guys, laughing and scratching, no concern over what was said, knowing that everything was held in trust and confidence.
we got to hear some absolutely FRIGHTFUL details of EB's recent snowmobile get-off ("Hey, watch THIS! ) and discovered how he creatively glued two houses together to make one.
most of all, we got to see Erik just being Erik, and for this opportunity i'm eternally grateful.
btw, Mr. Bruce Champion from Buell MoCo, a super nice guy, really came thru for me in the clutch. a week or so before i headed for Appleton i got a phone call from Al Lighton at American Sport Bike.
"Hey Ferris, Denise called me the other day and told me how concerned you were about the seat height on the new Uly."
news of this was news to me.
"Er, Al, couldya hang on a sec? Sweety, couldya come in the office for a minute???"
seems D was a mite concerned whether my stubby little lower extremities would be up to the task of muscling Madduck's Uly around the country, and had surreptitiously called Al asking if he, in his capacity as Guru of All Things Buell, might be able to help.
turns out he could, it seemed, as he explained that he was on good terms with a Mr. Bruce Champion at Buell, who had said he MIGHT be able to set me up with a pre-production low seat during our visit to East Troy, if i felt it was necessary.
well, at this point in the gig i had about 150 miles on the stock seat, and altho the comfort was superb (SUPERB!), it was all i could do to reach the side stand with my left toe, all the while precariously balancing the bike on my right toenail, and i WAS concerned about the problems this might pose when i picked up Denise in Colorado Springs several days hence.
Bruce, gentleman that he is, saved the day by offering up a prototype pre-production low seat for me to use on the trip, and the approximate 1-1/2" reduction in altitude made all the difference in the world.
thank you Bruce! (and Al!) (and Denise!)
now then, if you're quick on the draw you'll realize that over 4500 miles of the subsequent FBRAT ride were done on a seat that YOU can't get. i'm told the pre-production seat i rode is CLOSE to the production version, but any comments i or Denise make about seat comfort regarding the "low" version (which will come at the end of this daily journal) have to be taken in that context.
as we were saying our final good-byes in the parking lot there was a mighty roar and an A-10 Thunderbolt (affectionately known as the Warthog) flew over the factory, low and fast, cranking and banking, looking (and sounding) all the world like a high-performance Buell motorcycle ripping up a twisty mountain road.
i hooped and hollered and pumped my arms in the air, elated at this unexpected send-off.
and if i seemed excited, my exuberance was outdone by that of Mr. Buell, who was doing his own version of the Happy Dance.
before we even had a chance to exclaim, "How cool was THAT?!?" another Thunderbolt flew past, also on the pipe, also turning and burning and following a writhing canyon road that only the pilot could see.
and then another, and then another, four T-bolts in all, all on the boil, all loud and proud, all carving their own adventures in the clear Wisconsin sky.
when the A-10's mighty roar had faded on the cool afternoon air, we all looked at each other with wide, wild childlike eyes and knew this day was meant to be.
Erik & Co., thank you ain't enough, but it's all i've got. it's been a long time, and i hope the show just keeps getting bigger and better, for you, for us, for everyone who believes in the Buell dream.
to say it was a grand ride back to Appleton that evening is putting it very, very mildly.
mileage today: 30.9 start, 301.4 end, 270.5 total
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 17, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Saturday, September 17, 2005 - 11:02 pm: |
|
ps: this post, penned by the Wizard the following morning, is too good not to repeat:
Our morning yesterday started on a high note. We went to Walmart to try to find a baseball for Ferris to have Erik sign so he could play catch with it Sunday at the Field of Dreams. We looked and found the isle marked baseball but it was filled with hunting clothes. Normally that would be fine with me but we needed a baseball. The employee looked but no baseballs to be found.
We tried going out the door we came in(I had to pull it open, I thought it was just broken) the alarm sounded and people come running telling us we have to go out the door about a block away.
As we are making our way to the "approved" door we catch the attention of the Walmart resident Broomhilda employee. She doesn't like the looks of us two at all! As we get closer and closer she is checking us out more and more and then she makes her move to intercept us.
She then asks to search Ferris' tank bag.
First time I've been detained at Walmart, you just can't take Ferris with you anywhere I guess.
Of course Ferris was blaming it on me and my ponytail.
We then had to stop at Starbuck's but from my extensive training by Kandie, I know where all of them are, at least in most of the US.
The ride to the factory was a good one and we made good time. We made one stop for gas and pulled into East Troy right on time, a first for me!
The factory visit was great!
Our tour guide Kenny was just finishing up with a tour for a young man named Ben as we waited for Alex to finally show up.
Ben was interested in a Uly and after talking for a few minutes he mentioned he had not been able to find one to demo. Of course I quickly asked him if he wanted to ride the one I had. He looked at me kind of funny but excited all the same. Up to that point I had not told him that I sell them(he had no idea the trouble he was in ) He grabbed his helmet and took off on my demo with a big grin on his face. The grin was even bigger when he got back! I'm thinking I will be getting a call from Ben real soon, maybe today.
I gave him one of my cards of course and Ferris wrote down the web address for Badweb and the FBRAT thread for him, no easy task if you've seen one of my cards.
About that time Erik and John Flickinger walk out. Ferris kind of grabbed all of Erik's attention while John and I talked. I introduced Ben to John telling Ben that he was kind of in charge of the place, as in the president of the company. I'm thinking Ben was impressed that he was talking to the pres!
The introduced him to Erik, he called him Mr Buell!
That had to hurt huh Erik?
We then,finally started our tour with a couple other guys from Il. They were on a road trip and stopped by the factory for a tour. Nice guys and both interested in a Uly! Yes, they now have my card.
The tour was looooooong due to Ferris talking about 1000 pictures, in approved areas only of course!
We then headed out to Gus's drive in for lunch with Erik and Bruce. The food was great and really hit the spot since it was about 2:00 by then.
We talked about getting a lower seat for Madduck's Uly for Ferris to use so after lunch it was back to the factory and Bruce rounded one up for us to borrow. How cool is that? Now Ferris can actually touch the ground!
About 3 pm, after preventing a lot of important people from getting any work done we took off for Appleton.
The route back to Appleton goes thru a small section of the Kettle with some great roads. We 3 of course got caught behind a slow moving truck so it was slow going
We pulled into the dealership to find Spiderman and Juggaloo waiting for us.
Didn't think they were coming to town til today so it was a good surprise.
The 5 of us went to Chili's and had some dinner. I'm pretty sure we scared the other customers a little. |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Sunday, September 18, 2005 - 10:55 am: |
|
ps: as the Wizard mentioned above, we ran into Spiderman and Jugallo back in Appleton, and had an "entertaining" dining experience at a local Chili's restaurant.
some quotes from the evening:
"Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we ride!" (Spiderman)
"That's an obnoxious SOB...and the bike's pretty loud, too." (FB, re: Spiderman)
"The Black Hole of Dave." (Spiderman)
"I feel so much better when you're quiet." (our waitress at Chili's, to Spiderman) |
|
