| Author | Message | ||
     Brad_buell  |
Just received "Official" word that my local Buell Dealership will in fact stop selling Buell in June 2005. They will still service all Buell, but not under warranty. I sincerely hope that this "Re-organization" helps Buell. Currently, it doesn't look like it helps me at all. I just hope that I don't need warranty work, or it's a long drive to the nearest dealer. Man, you think that HD/Buell would be able to work out a Grandfather Clause for this situation? Anyway, something for me to think about this weekend. -Brad | ||
| Wyckedflesh  |
Would you really want a dealer to work on your Buell who no longer WANTS to carry the product? | ||
| Newxb9er  |
Is there a list of 2005 Authorized dealers? So I know if my dealer has been dumped. | ||
| Halffast |
There is a dealer in Houston who may not be a Buell dealer much longer. I was there last week and they have 3 or 4 "new" M2s and 2 or 3 "new" X1s in stock. By the prices that they're asking they must not be very interested in selling them. (Message edited by halffast on January 29, 2005) | ||
| M1combat  |
I think there's still a LOT more Buell dealers than Apprilia or Ducatti yes? | ||
| Daves  |
Go to www.Buell.com and look in the dealer locater. As soon as they are done with Buell they will be taken off the site. | ||
| Newxb9er |
Ok, I checked and my dealer is still there. They don't have any inventory of old bikes. They only had my '03 XB9R last year. They sold ALL of the '04 bikes and I didn't want to wait for the '05 bikes. I'm happy. They have a dyno as well, so it's a good thing they didn't get dumped. Plus, they are only 5 minutes away! | ||
| Jon |
Newxb9er, If your dealer is Vallejo Harley and Buell, you have nothing to worry about. They are one of the keepers. Just about every first Monday of every month, they come down to San Leandro and participate in American Sport BikeN (American Sport Bike Night), a Buell enthusiast group. You might want to try that some time, if you haven't already. | ||
| Jrh |
Hmmm,I haven't been to my dealer in months and Dave's link shows my dealer no longer sells Buell either. | ||
| Gentleman_jon  |
I hate to differ with our own great Dave Stueve, but the Buell list is not very up to date. Case in point, one of two of my local dealers, "Lighthouse Buell" no longer carries the brand. Thank God. Unfortunately, my other "local" dealer, Eastern HD is worse. Oh well. (Message edited by gentleman_jon on January 29, 2005) | ||
| Pcmodeler  |
I'm not sure that's necessarily true Dave. The closest Harley Service shop listed by my Zip code will not even touch them. Kind of upsets me that they are listed. | ||
| Mutt2jeff  |
Same with me. My dealer is supposed to have buells, but in the 10+ times i was in there last year, not once have I seen a buell. I would LOVE to get an XB this year, but if i dont have a good dealership that can continue to take care of me for several years, it simply is not practical for me to get another buell. | ||
| Brad_buell |
Just went to the Buell site. My Dealership status was changed from Bikes, Service, Apparel, and Parts to just Service! I guess that they do update that rather quickly, in most cases. Still wish that the dealership that you purchased the Buell from could still warranty the bike in a "Grandfather Clause" of some sort. They are very good Techs and I trust them fully with my Buell, even after this situation. | ||
| Daves |
I will try to get that fixed next week. Thank you for pointing this out to me so I can pass it along to people that can fix it. Dave | ||
| Cataract2 |
This cycle needs to end. It's starting to get a bit frightening. | ||
| Pcmodeler |
Dave, in case you're interested, the dealer I referenced is Richmond Harley-Davidson. They are listed as a service site but I contacted them twice and they said they will not perform service on Buells. | ||
| Davegess |
This cycle needs to end. It's starting to get a bit frightening. Not so grasshopper, it is out with the bad. Every Buell dealer needs to be an outstanding dealer. You may end up having to travel a bit but better than getting lousey service, poor parts support and disinterested salespeople. People used to joke that of all the dozens of Ducati dealers in the US perhaps 6 of them could actually adjust your valves correctly. Buell does not need dealers liek that. | ||
| Outrider  |
Thanks for the words of encouragement Dave. Now, why don't you get with BRAG and HOG to get them to send updates concerning who is and who is not a Buell Dealer for those of us that rely on those Atlas's both organizations send out each year with the membership renewal. Bottom line, it isn't our job to second "Gess" (bad joke) who is and who isn't still a Buell service dealer when we are stranded on the road. Don't mean to put you on the spot, but you do have some influence and might be able to get us updated info that could be coordinated with Blake so we don't end up getting towed to an Ex-Dealer. That would be like waking up to your Ex-Wife in the morning. Quite distasteful if you get my drift. | ||
| Court |
>>>Every Buell dealer needs to be an outstanding dealer. The current information should be communicated in the website. Like Dave said, it'll get fixed next week. Court | ||
| Jrh |
My dealer Was an outstanding dealer as far as i know,superb mechanics,very knowledgable parts people.They've been in business since 78 and expand their buildings,service area,equipment,etc. every few years.They're family owned and seem to do extremely well.I expect they'll be in business when i'm long gone.They still sell Harley Davidson, Yamaha,Honda,and Kawasaki. Let's see,a guy is interested in a sportbike,he goes to this dealer and they gladly let him take a test ride on what? an R1,a CBR 1000,a ZX10,and a Buell. | ||
| Clown  |
Once dealers have decided if they are going to continue to carry Buells or not, Buell customers should receive a letter from their selling dealership saying they will not be carrying Buells anymore. I have heard that once those dealers stop selling Buells, they will not be able to do anything to them. They might not even be able to get regular service parts. If I can find out anymore info I will post it hers. | ||
| Brad_buell |
Man, talk about really feeling like the unwanted "Stepchild". You get kicked out of the house and told never to come back again! Why the harsh feelings toward those Dealerships? Are we certain that it is strictly the Dealership decision to stop carrying the line? It just seems odd that some of the Dealerships have decided to stop carrying Buell near the same time. Something must have changed to instigate this decision? | ||
| Lightning_strikes_now |
I was told by the High Point, NC dealership that Buell is taking their inventory out of dealerships that are not selling Buells and putting them in dealerships that are saling. I also talked to the guys at Tilley's in Statesville, NC a few days ago, and they said that they haven't sold a Buell since October of 2004 and they have many 04's still on the floor unable to move them. They are trying to sale them at their cost. If anyone wants a new Buell, Tilley's will wheel and deal! I was told that the reason why Buells aren't selling is that the NC insurance has gone sky high for riders under 30 years old to the order of $1000+ per year. Tilley's will be forced to no longer carry Buells on the floor, but can order them if needed. | ||
| Tripper  |
Brad; It is a corporate decision to reduce the Buell outlets. It wasn't the dealers choice in all cases and some decent dealers lost out to other more enthusiastic dealers in a territory. I see it as a reversal of a decision a few years ago to force every HD outlet to carry Buell. It didn't work out. If you read every word on this BBS, and I am not among them but I do spend too much time reading all the input here, you might have read Buells position on the dealer changes. It is well thought out and precisely what Buell enthusiast boards have been asking for. If they don't care, they won't have access to the product. It's a good policy and will lead to an increase in consumer satisfaction overall. Some of us will be driving a few more miles to deal with the remaining quality Buell dealers. The website is slowly reducing the number of dealers but webmasters are usually the last to get the word. A search of Kansas City still shows one dealer that I believe has been canceled. | ||
| 2000m2 |
The Buell website has a dealer near me, Mike's Famous H-D in Groton, CT, listed as a dealer, and they most certainly are not. I went in there a few times for parts and the parts counter had no idea that a Buell 1200cc is similar to the sportster 1200cc. One of the knowledgeable mechanics was nice enough to help me out though. | ||
| 2000m2 |
Is there any chance of Buell only dealerships? Or maybe they should team up with other sport bike dealers? Has this ever been tried? | ||
| Pcmodeler |
The disadvantage is this, if I have to take my bike in for service and it takes more than one day, that means I have to drive back home, wait on the bike and then find another time that is convenient to pick up the bike. Luckily I have a truck that I can haul the bike with, but I'm sure not everyone is in that same position. Regardless, I don't want to have to keep making trips all of the time. | ||
| Court |
>>>>Is there any chance of Buell only dealerships? This has been kicked around for years. There are two considerations. First, the current HD dealer agreement would have to be changed. Changing it to allow for "off site" (the deal where you dealer has a t-shirt shop in the local mall under there name) secondary locations took lots of effort. Don't look for the majority (HD only) dealers to acquiesce gracefully. Secondly, how gutsy are you. If you sold the number of Buells as the best dealer in the US and multiplied the "profit" per bike, do you think you could support your overhead struture on the number? At this point, it's neither likely nor desirable. As a Buell customer, I like having my parts and stuff available through a dealer network that amortizes it's light bill, phone bill, and heat bills over all the profitable HD products they can shuffle through the place a year. Just thinking out loud. Court | ||
| Buellnuts  |
I have allway thought that Buells would best be sold in a SportBike environment or Sport Bike friendly place. Along with Ducati, Triumph, or any of the Big Four. I think that HD Dealerships on the whole don't really get or like the Sport end of the industry but take on the sales challenge only to give up later on. Deeley's House of Buell had to close there stand alone shop due to shallow sales that could not support the overhead of keeping the door open. There Buell inventory is in the main building where it started. Bob | ||
| Budo  |
Modesto Buell was very successfull as a stand alone shop. Tho they also sold GasGas and of course they were affliated with Modesto HD just down the street. Too bad they gave up on Buells. Now they are Modesto Ducati, GasGas and I think Aprilla. Lots of people intersted in Sport type bikes don't like to walk into a HD dealership. Not to menton the attitude of the sales staff is usually biased toward HD and against Buell. |
