| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
I can't tell you what I'll think tomorrow, but nonetheless want to tell you what I think today. I've watched, over the past weeks, as the "new" Buell threads, on several websites, have been cussed, discussed, prejudged, hypothesized and most of all wildly anticipated. After 20 years of going through this I've learned that like a first kiss and Christmas, the mere anticipation of a "new" Buell always stirs the very reasons I first fell in love with Buells, the people and the excitement they elicit. Make no mistake about it, neither Dave Gess nor I know anything of substance about the "new" Buell. We, just like you, hang on every word, rumor and guess. What I do know, is that over 20 years a pattern has developed and I can "see" much in the hearts, souls and excitement of the "Elves at East Troy". Buells, like any art, poetry or creative process, always overflow, acting as cognitive reflecting pools of their creators, with the hearts, souls and collective passion of those who have created them. What I know, I know from watching these folks. . . I've never seen them so excited and so charged with enthusiasm. A new motorcycle, like art, bares the soul of the entire team who created it. The people of Buell, from Jon Flickinger to the folks who are crating the bikes, put a bit of themselves in every bike. The culmination of the design process and the handoff to marketing represent the "end" of several years of being these folks entire life. Regardless of how excited any of us are, I assure you it pales in comparison to the sense of accomplishment these very talented folks will feel. Like you, I'll be glued to www.buell.com at 11:00AM Central time to see what bait my old friends are about to dangle before my waiting checkbook. My sense, based on acquired intuition, is that they are, once again, going to erode my retirement savings...thy excel at that. Most of all, I find myself excited about the prospect of new friends who will soon be joining us as a result of the new product. I confess, remembering the years when there were less than 50 Buells a year produced, to being in awe at the thought of Buells being produced at the rate of 40 per day. Each and every Buell has broadened my life and the wonder of my world by bringing new folks to the world of Buell. Like Newfie with an S-1, Ferris with The Blur or Jose' with an S-3, whatever Buell shows us tomorrow will soon be bringing a host of new enthusiasts to our number. I've also learned that the mindset of Erik & Co. always plays a huge role. I've not spoken one word to one of the Elves about "new product" but they are incapable of concealing their excitement. Whatever is coming from Buell comes at a time when Erik and The Elves have never been better. Collectively, I've never seen them happier, more charged with excitement or energy. The piece of a plan has most certainly come together. Another piece of this puzzle is that Buell now has the ability, thanks to making themselves technology leaders, to build motorcycles that are frankly better than anyone, a mere 5 years ago, would have dreamt. Don't let anyone fool you, Abe never dreamed technology would allow such wildly advanced ideas to actually be manufactured and with such quality. One thing I know for certain, every one of these new Buells will leave East Troy with that single part that doesn't show on any build sheet.... a piece of each person's heart who touched the idea or the bike. Now, how could I end any tome without telling you a story, this one's a dandy. We're all fairly certain that what we are about to see will be, or has been during development, dubbed "Ulysses". How I learned this speaks to my strange ability to wander into places I have no business being. Last New Year's Day, as some of you recall, I took a series of neat pictures of a Buell City/super{X} I had on loan. Below is one of those pictures.  Within minutes of posting (and quickly removing) the picture my phone rang...."my God man, what are you doing? I didn't know you were in the "loop". Knowing I was onto something, but having no idea what I responded "yeah, we keep my involvement pretty hush-hush for obvious reasons. How your part of the project going?". STOP....I blurted. I couldn't do it. I couldn't lure an old friend into my trap and let it go at that, explaining that, of 18,000 restaurants in New York City, I just happened to park the XB9XS in front of ULYSSES and shoot a killer pic. Regardless of what appears in our world tomorrow, now unlike that first kiss or Christmas, I'm sure it will be great and we're in for nothing but more fun. We'll be beginning to lower the ball atop Times Square at midnight. My sense is we're about to bring Ferris back into the ranks. Ride safe, lean much and smile more.....it's so much more than a motorcycle. Court Canfield New York City | ||
| Madduck |
Always good to dream of new motorcycles. I am ready!! Reduced my BMW inventory from two to one. Freeing up garage space and cash reserve. Probably going to buy from DaveS if the new models tweek my "Gotta Hav Meter". Need to reward enthusiasm. Stone Mountain is also possible. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Court, You amaze me. It's an honor to call you friend. Man, I wish I could write prose half as well as you. Neat picture too! Brad | ||
| Buelliedan |
Yea right, It was just an "accident"!! | ||
| Tripper |
Court, my Kansas brother who I have yet to meet. Thanx for the prose. We need to Meet In The Middle.... of NY Dave Tripp Pendleton. NY | ||
| Court |
WOW I never thought I'd have to come here and declare Dave Gess wrong....but, alas, I do. Dave, to quote loosely, declared hours ago that the Ulysses was a "home run". His intent was laudable, however his measure fell short. I am summarily, after reading about everything I can from the intro and reserving the right to increase my enthusiasm with time, am declaring the ULYSSES . . . . Let's talk. . .
In short.....Dave Gess I demand you retract your short sighted "Home Run" comment and come with me to the high ground....it's right there, about 3 miles from where the pavement ends. Congratulations to all my friends at Buell. The most, initially, striking thing about this motorcycle appears to be voracious attention to detail. I knew you'd do it . . . again. 20 years and this pox has me like Double-Bubble on the bottom of a pair of Keds. Court Canfield New York City P.S. - TO MY DEALER. . . . GET BACK HERE QUICK! | ||
| Peter |
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| Court |
What do you think of something like this? | ||
| Peter |
Or this? Or how about this, and this? Wish Buell would do it, along with regional prices. | ||
| Pilot |
bloody ripper | ||
| Blake |
Great stuff. Choose your parts and your preferred dealer would be a great seller for HDI. I buy so much more via internet and mail order than I would otherwise on account of it's too easy compared to traveling to a dealership. | ||
| Broodwich |
I never thought about it until I saw it wrote down. No exhaust pipe reduced bag on one side of the bike. That's nice. Very nice. | ||
| Court |
Actually...it depends on WHICH bike you are talking about. As one of the rare folks who OWNS a BMW, I'll share a pic of my bags.  | ||
| Peter |
I'm on my 4th GS now, and I've got two sets of bags for it. One with "normal" lids, and the other with the narrow "city" lids. Neither of them sit out THAT far though! I'm with Blake, I like ordering from home. Touratech also have their catalog online and are another favourite of mine. Pete2 Dakar | ||
| Pilot |
Court Mate do you use the aux power socket to connect up the yellow rotating light and do you have a mount for it or do you have a magnetic base?Also where do you attach the wide vehicle signs?Enquiring minds want to know.  | ||
| Paulinoz |
"As one of the rare folks who OWNS a BMW" I thought that you had to be rare to own a Beemer.  I have an F250 that takes up less road space than that there F650 mate, but I think you got me licked for load space. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Ferrisability (this is the ability of a Buell to carry TWO (FB&D) experienced motorcyclists and sacrifice nothing (yes, I base that on D driving) we'll be confirming this soon enough. nice, Court, really nice.  FB&D | ||
| Blake |
"...but I think you got me licked for load space." Court, I think Paul may have just insidiously insulted you. | ||
| Court |
I doubt it. Paul knows I have attack lions....he's smart enough not to attack. | ||
| Road_thing |
Insulted? Sounds more like a proposition to me... | ||
| Court |
Don't know where to put this, but I have the world's largest marine crane today and I am totaly screweing ywith the folks who filmed conpsiracy theroy....  | ||
| Reepicheep |
Court, were you on the brooklyn bridge between 3 and 4 yesterday on the BMW with the hard bags? A buddy may have spotted you... |
