| Author | Message | ||
     Anonymous |
Chadh, If you are looking for a name to have them call, here are some, all of whom are absolutely dedicated to providing top service to Buell customers: Alan Ball - Buell Customer Service Representative, Roger Roeszler - Manager Customer Service, Steve Phillips - VP of Quality. That's in order up the food chain, and all are at H-D Juneau offices. It sucks to have Buell blamed for this when we have done absolutely everything to get the parts out as fast as possible and the parts are there. The good news is that there is a big push to make Buell customer service better. Put pressure on the dealer from the mothership side, and things will happen. The dealers who aren't delivering are going to be forced to step up, or forced out and replaced. It is getting better every day. And, for anyone who has issues with a dealer, call Customer Service directly. Be honest and provide as accurate information as possible. They record every call, and build a data base around each issue to make sure they get it fixed as well as learn and get better. Bugging the dealer won't do it, because what happens there is not traceable. | ||
| Lorazepam |
If Buell wants better dealers, replacing them with someone who understands Buell riders would be a plus. The service manager at Lake Erie HD was happy to see someone who actually rode his motorcycle. It normally seems that if you arent in to see the latest shiny bit, and have it installed on your bike, you arent worth their time. Put them in a dealership where I dont have to wade past 40 racks of t-shirts, and a half acre of chrome crap to find one lame little rack of Buell stuff. HD dealers dont make jack off of Buell owners, and treat them that way. It is difficult to get any dealer excited about stocking Buell parts and accessories when folks on this site buy from sponsors, and then bitch because their local dealer doesnt have anything. No offense to you guys, but if you want a good dealer, you have to develop a relationship. I hope the time comes when Buell has enough sales to open stand alone dealerships. I hope it is soon, because I know a lot of sales are lost due to dealer attitude. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Anonymous, thanks for that last post where (after some consultation with the individuals?) you posted some go-to guys' names. That takes some guts and dedication on their part, IMO. While I empathize with those whose dealers are dragging their feet and/or clueless re the sidestand problem (believe me I'm learning more and more about Buell/HD dealer complacency...) this thread in particular has had pointed out several times the path to take. If the dealer ain't listening then get specific with Buell C/S! And IMO let the dealer know you are doing so! I didn't wait for the recall, I installed the factory replacement kit. When the recall came I reminded the Service Dept that this was a safety issue and when fix time arrived they bent over backwards to get it done for me immediately. And I didn't have to be a jerk about it. Yes the wrench did a less than good job (posted elsewhere) but I was out of there in less than two hours. They kept the POS original stand/bolt and I left with my new recall assembly on the bike and my L1167.1AK factory replacement in my sidecase. Win/win for me and I didn't hurt anybody's feelings in the Svc Dept. Lorazepam's right guys, you can't come out of the fog and expect the same attention as the HD guys with their bling-it-up obsessions, after all they ARE HD dealers. My HD dealer who happens to sell Buells knows me as the guy in there all the time picking their brains, buying Buell stuff, admiring some HD's and even the friggin Schwinns, and holds the service dept to their responsibilities. I like them! Stand-alone Buell dealers will only happen when Buell builds a standard (12X/Low or 12Ss/Sport Tour or Blast/DualSport). We've bought into niche bikes folks, state of the art chassis powered by tweaked and somewhat modernized DinoEngines. Time to work with the factory and the dealer to achieve your goals.  | ||
| Windrider |
Badwebbers, After reading last night that parts for the recalls were in plentiful supply (thanks Anon) and becoming weary of my weekly chat with the dealer who assures me that parts are completely impossible to get, today I called Buell Customer Service for the first time. After 15 minutes of transfer/transfer/hold I was talking to a nice Lady who assured me that absolutely no discussion was going to take place between us until I supplied a VIN. I gave her the VIN of my Ulysses and suddenly the doors of CS were open. She assured me that the parts for both the tall windshield and sidestand recall were in plentiful supply. She checked and saw that my bike did NOT have an order placed against the recall. She then called my local dealer and explained to them how to order the recall parts. Supposedly, it is a done deal and in days my local dealer will call me with the parts in hand and schedule an appointment for installation. We shall see. Here is what I would suggest you do if you are not getting the recall wheels in motion at the local level: 1. Get your VIN # 2. Call Buell Customer Service. 3. Have them call your local dealer and get the correct paperwork FAXED to Buell HQ for the recall parts. It seems that my dealer was ordering the parts through the computer system. Since these are RECALL parts they can NOT be ordered through the HD computer system. The only way that these recall parts can be ordered is via FAX with your affected bikes VIN #. This was the story today. I will post again if anything comes of the magical fax. Happy Trails, WindRider | ||
| Court |
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| Electraglider_1997 |
I have very little to complain about with my Buell dealer except that they didn't give the bike to me for free. Dillon Brothers HD/Buell has been nothing but pretty darn great with me when it comes to customer service. The other Harley dealer here in Omaha doesn't deal in Buells but that is where I bought my glide in 97' and they have been very good to me also. I'm certain there are crappy Buell dealers out there from what I have read here. ANONYMOUS needs to find out why timing on new bikes is being set to the advance side and should be forthcoming with a service bulletin about it. A great amount of grief because of Pinging would not have occurred except for this error at the factory. I checked my timing and it appears to be advanced and now I have to call the dealer about it. Nothing is perfect but this should of been avoided or the dealers should have been asked by Buell to check and fix where necessary. Growing pains of a new bike for sure, but instead of letting a lot of loyal Buellest fret over this, Buell should acknowledge and fix. Sure it cost money but Buell's long term reputation surely would gain with this kind of action. Look how BMW's reputation was hammered over their denial of fuel injection surging on their bikes. Must be that master race mentality. I'm not even a BMW owner and yet having read about that over and over surely has stuck in my mind for instant recall. | ||
| Teeps |
Xbimmer Posted on Thursday, September 28 Stand-alone Buell dealers will only happen when Buell builds a standard (12X/Low or 12Ss/Sport Tour or Blast/DualSport). We've bought into niche bikes folks, state of the art chassis powered by tweaked and somewhat modernized DinoEngines. As good as stand alone Buell franchise sounds; it's doubtful that it will ever happen. I don't think the numbers support a stand alone unit; at lease one that expects to turn a profit. Xbimmer, maybe we can convince Jay Leno to open one, he could do it and not care if it made money... (Message edited by teeps on September 29, 2006) | ||
| Davo |
Electroglider 1997, I think they are aware of the problem but are unable to make corrections without changing emission requirements. The base map for the new bikes are very similar if not identical to the older ones. The cruise 3K, at temperature, timing readings are on the EDGE! By retarding the timing the only number that got my attention was zero advance at idle. Any other place in the RPM spectrum have more than enough spark timing. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I like lots of folks at my Buell Dealer, both Harley and Buell types. Their primary Buell tech is the best (we were discussing the ramifications of jumping an S1 over train tracks and what it means to an original carbon fiber inner rear fender). But I have had great chats with some of the Harley guys as well, even the ones not particularly interested in kind of bikes Buell builds. The bigger distinction to me is this: Riders: People who are interested in the ride and in motorcycles in general, and the other people that ride them. They know what bikes they like and tend to be very selective, but know and respect the strengths of other bikes and the interesting aspects of their history as well. They would be far more interested in poking around at an old bonneville or 60's sportster then a brand new stock V-Rod. These people respect Harley, both the incredible history and the past and present fantastic bikes. Anyone thinking otherwise needs to try to follow Ferris on his Road King across Deals Gap in the rain. Or even dry. Posers: I tried to find a nice word for this, but none fit as well. I don't really mean posers in a bad way. These are just people for whom the joy of owning a motorcycle is more about other people knowing they own a motorcycle. It's more social then mechanical. They are interested in seeing and being seen, not so much as riding. They would rather be sitting on their bike in a crowd stationary outside a bar or Hog event then alone on a bike in the mountians. I know what group I am in, but I judge neither. You bought a bike to enjoy it, and how you derive that joy is none of my business. If adding chrome brings you joy, God bless you. But I see members of both those camps on all makes an models. And in fact, I have probably seen as many R1 and Busa owners in the Poser category as I have seen Harley owners. And some of the most serious and talented riders I have seen (three different people on three different times) were either Road King or Electra Glide tail lights rapidly disapearing through the twisties in front of me... The Buell dealer I no longer go to did some pretty awful things to me. That being said, they didn't do anything to me my Yamaha dealer had not done before when I owned one of those... and even the bad Buell dealer carried more parts then the Yamaha dealer did. We need good dealers, and there are plenty of very good Harley dealers. | ||
| Court |
>>>Jay Leno to open one, he could do it and not care if it made money... That's an inaccurate statement. He can't do it, and . . . if he could, he'd care ALOT, if it made money. Few rich folks spend foolishly. There are some great examples, but by wife is the Chief Financial Officer for a hedge fund of 3 billionaires and trust me you'll never find a more parsimonious bunch. They'll be the first to tell you they are about MAKING, not spending, money. | ||
| Soloyosh |
Lorazepam's right guys, you can't come out of the fog and expect the same attention as the HD guys with their bling-it-up obsessions, after all they ARE HD dealers. I call BS. They're BUELL dealers. I'll support a dealer that supports me. DaveS supports me, I'll buy from him. I'll even stop by and buy some t-shirts when I'm in Wisconsin. What I have is an H-D dealer that has some Buells parked by the restroom. | ||
| Daves |
I've been trying to call you all day! | ||
| Xbimmer |
Soloyosh, I was being sarcastic. But I agree with you, my dealer parks the Schwinns in better positions on the floor! Court, I think Teeps was joking? In any case I think this thread has pretty well presented what needs to be done to expedite solutions to dealer problems. | ||
| Teeps |
Actually, I was not joking, but making a point that a Buell franchise is not (at this time) a viable stand alone business. That only an extreme enthusiast, like Leno, would even consider doing something so ludicrous. So, Court, are you saying that H-D will not franchise a stand alone Buell unit? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I read a couple of years ago of a Buell stand alone franchise out in California. They claimed Buell sales were very good once they broke away from the Harley dealer and went solo. But, went to Buell dealer locator's site and only found California sites that were H-D also. The one I read about must of gone kaput. | ||
| Court |
>>>So, Court, are you saying that H-D will not franchise a stand alone Buell unit? Absolutely not. There have ben some HD dealers who effectively moved their Buell stuff away from their hd stuff. Results have been mixed. By the way, I am not disagreeing with some of the merits of physically separating Buell. I think, however, that "emotional" or "mental mindset" separation is more critical. Physical simply enables that. Nor am I going to back down in the ongoing efforts. There are some huge Buell service delivery hurdles currently being attacked. | ||
| Daves |
Teeps I would open a stand alone Buell dealership in a heartbeat if they would let me. Ludicrous? Maybe? Betcha I could make it work.  | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Betcha I could make it work. my money's on Daves. | ||
| Ezrider |
Just a little story about my side stand install, arrived at the dealer at 8:30 am, dealer said " about 2 hours", 2 hours later they call me and say its done, "Tech didn't replace clamps", service tech said mine looked ok and it saved time not to replace them, I said replace them anyway, half our later it's done check bike, front clamp is loose and header clamp is loose and flopping around, Well I got mad and went back into service and said "somebody call 911, the tech is going to need it", then I walked into service, they said you cant go back there and I said "I just did" The service manager ran up to me and asked what was wrong, I told him, and said i was going to have a talk with your tech and was a ambulance on its way,He straightened it out and tightened the clamps himself, nobody said the were sorry. Is there any Buell dealer in AZ with pride in there work, Chandler HD doesn't, great guys to buy a bike from and parts dept is also good but the service dept is very bad, this is my third and last time there, each was a bad experience, ( service manager said sorry first 2 times and said he would personally watch my bike) Thanks for reading | ||
| Windrider |
A standalone Buell dealer would be great but it might be hard to make it on one brand alone. Most bike dealers manage to carry multiple brands with some success. I still think that Buell motorcycles fit better with Ducatis, BMWs, Aprillas, KTMs, Triumph, etc. Buell bikes fit better with other sport bikes and the Ulysses looks great next to a KTM Adventure 950 or a Ducati Multistrada. Buell has had a great year in sales. By putting the Buell line with some good independent dealers I think that they could sell even better because the riding demographic that is interested in the Buell is the same group of riders that are likely checking out a Ducati, a Triumph, a BMW, or a KTM. I have ridden the Ulysses for a year now. I have not yet been approached by a Harley rider who is interested in the Ulysses. However, I am constantly meeting other riders on Ducatis, Beemers, Triumphs, etc who are really interested in what the Buell is. By putting the bikes in the right showroom with the right riding demographic already coming in the door, Buell would increase sales. As far as service goes the Buells are really easy to work on and much easier to provide service for than most other exotic sport bikes so if an independent dealer is already able to support multiple brands of other bikes I can't imagine them having too much trouble adding the Buell line. Here is an example of a dealer from my hometown where the Buells would fit in great: http://www.bigtwincycles.com/default.asp I buy tires from them and they know more about the care, handling and balancing procedure for Buell wheels than the local HD/Buell dealer does. My 2 cents worth of free marketing advice. | ||
| Brat |
Crap, it happened, I pulled up, got off walked 2 steps and the Uly fell across my calf, the two bolts sheared and it let go! Worse thing was I pulled up at the shed to load it into the crate to be shipped to Kuala Lumpur, hope Harley does house calls!   | ||
| Chadhargis |
I'm hoping mine doesn't do the same thing. I've been trying since August 14th to get the recall done. | ||
| Teeps |
Chadhargis, If your worried and are up to the task. Replace the bolts yourself; before they break off. Here's the parts list: Teeps Posted on Saturday, July 01, 2006 Parts: (2)Bolt, 1 1/2" Allen head alloy steel (black) (4)Washer flat, grade 8 (2)Washer lock, grade 8 | ||
| Soloyosh |
Is there any Buell dealer in AZ with pride in there work, Chandler HD doesn't, great guys to buy a bike from and parts dept is also good but the service dept is very bad, this is my third and last time there, each was a bad experience, ( service manager said sorry first 2 times and said he would personally watch my bike) Thanks for reading Im still looking. Chandler Sucks. Tucson is owned by the same bunch of yo-yos. You can read my post on Advrider.com about Hacienda. Anyone know anything about Grand Canyon? Its only 112miles... | ||
| Court |
Hacienda brings back some memories. . . . | ||
| Windrider |
Court, Would those be good or bad memories? | ||
| Court |
Unfortunately . . . not that great. I'd gotten some unsavory reports and decided to hop an aerojet, fly there and do some snooping. I spent considerable time in both their sportbike and HD/Buell stores. | ||
| Soloyosh |
I think the sportbike thing is gone now. The other showroom has choppers in it. Most of the multi-line dealers in AZ are owned by RideNow which owns Chandler H-D/Buell, Tucson H-D/Buell, and Superstition H-D. | ||
| Chopperboy |
I had good luck with Grand Canyon HD in Mayer, AZ. Give them a try. Good luck. | ||
| Brat |
Woohho, rang Harley Distribution in Australia, they are sending a tech to my bike to fix it! What a great company! |
