| Author | Message | ||
     Nykk |
I would like to support Team Elves by buying a couple stickers. Maybe they could be brought to ASBN? Nykk. | ||
| Spiderman |
Court just the man i need to talk to. I need to know the date that the first RW750 was finished. I am starting (with a few other Buellers) Are going to make a card for Erik for the 20th anniversary of Buell motorcycles. Thanks in advance. | ||
| Spiderman |
paging Court. | ||
| Dave |
Court, Picked up a 95 S2 in Snap Red. The body work has bubbled especially on the tank cover and tail section.  After pulling the tank cover, I noticed some cryptic and not to cryptic markings. I'm guessing the tank cover was completed 28 Dec 94? What's with the "1st"? Perhaps it was installed 29 Dec 94? Perhaps you have your secret Buell decoder ring still? Any rhyme or reason? What on my VIN determines the build date? DAve PS Going through my dealership ... Buell has refused any good will help to this loyal Buell owner.  Oh well ... gotta make it better! | ||
| Dave |
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| Firemanjim |
Dave,your build date should be right up on front headstock frame tube on a sticker near the vin #--at least it is on both of my S-2's(Snap Red by the way)one was built 3/95 the other 7/94. | ||
| Dave |
Thanks Jim you're right... 12/94. That Snap Red is something else! I was hoping to get some of Court's Buell insight on the tape and the initials on the inside of the tank cover as well. Must be tied up with the Elves. Damn freaky I tell ya .... DAve | ||
| Spiderman |
Court here's one for ya. When is Erik's B-Day?? | ||
| Court |
Sir Spidey: Not meaning to sound testy, but as a matter of procedure, I have long adhered to never discussing personal information. This has always served me well. Stick to bikes, stay out of the kitchen. Court | ||
| Spiderman |
OK i shall respect that. | ||
| Donsieg |
Court, Didja get the bicycle article? Let me know what you thought. Don | ||
| Buellish |
Court, The woman I talked to at Classic Coatings,said I would need to provide the powder number,for the S2T dark gray.As Buell used different grays. Can you steer me in the right direction? Thanks...Mike | ||
| Court |
Ok....let's catch up a bit. First of all. . . GREAT PICS of the S-2 bodywork. I think I know who's intials they are but am going to confirm with the offending parties. E-mail me the VIN of that bike if you get a chance. The S-2 bodywork was an early glimpse of some neat Buell think. Ever seen "negative graph" on a bike before?...you sure? Without a seam? That one was tough and required a multi-part mold that had to be dissembeled (with a good old Craftsman combo wrench) after each and every tank cover was done. Eventuall, to advance from the 4 or 5 bikes per day mark, heat was introduced during the curing process. Snap Red was gorgeous. I got one as a gift and sold it 3 weeks later. I was, at the time, over my Matrimonial Buell Limit. Don: I did get the bike article and mucho kudos for nailing a piece of history to the wall to be preserved for Buell afficianados. I'm dying to find all the bike paperwork I had and haven't been able to. I had several of the slick brochueres sent to dealers and in addition, a couple months after I got THE bike, from Erik an package arrived in the mail. I opened it to find lots of his leftover paperwork from the project. The bike still amazes me to look at and you did a great job of bringing to light a few more details. Mike: Let me do some asking about and see what I can find. Court | ||
| Dave |
Court ... thanks for the help and layman's terms are always preferred. "Ever seen "negative graph" on a bike before?...you sure?" I sent you the VIN. Let me know if more pictures are needed. ANy explanation of the S2 blisters? I saw a number of them at Deal's Gap with the S2 Pox. Perhaps not the proper posting location and I'm still working with Buell and my dealership. My new S2 replacement front fender is of the 99 S3 style painted Snap Red. Talk about disappointment! Initial replies were "that's what Buell has replaced it with". Now Buell Customer Service is looking into it. DAve | ||
| Firemanjim |
Dave,you can find the original Snap red color at body supply stores.I had some stuff repainted by my local guy.Can said Alfa Romeo Snap Red on it.I have it at home(I think) and can get # for you. | ||
| Blacksix |
Court posted this earlier........... Thursday, October 03, 2002 - 11:54 am . -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>>Chrome Heel Guards Greg: Excellent point, but like the single piece of shot from a 12 Ga. shell that MISSES the duck, only a point. Fact is, some of the young myopic "my world goes no further than black leather halter tops" tunnel visioned Nancy Davidson Parts and Accessories group are unable to see past the forest, to the trees. In the same vein as the old saying, "When you are a hammer, every problem looks like a nail" they simply seek comfort in what had worked in the past. If you'd made $800,000,000 selling silly shirts last year, I'd bet my ass you'd do it again. But, to reuse the example from my well-worn Louis Rukeyser "Bureaucrats Hate Success" it's the narrow, and similarly myopic mind, which sees only Chrome Heel Guards while blind to Buell accomplishments. For starters, and to provide a flavor for the big picture, take $500 to a barn behind your house and try to do ANYTHING that will get you acquired by America's largest cash holding corporation in less than 10 years. Forbes and Institutional Investor are LOADED with amazing accounts of fabulously successful folks who've come up short of pulling off what Erik Buell has. Credit, dear friends, where credit is due. In addition, I'd submit that Buell is the Rodney Dangerfield (and not totally without merit) victim of the motorcycle industry. Had ANY company in the world done what Buell has with the radical engineering on the XB series they'd be lauded as exotic beyond the wildest imagination of the furthest out thinkers. The most amazing, along the lines of the Steve Jobs "Real Geniuses Ship" thinking is that I can haul my ass into a REAL dealership and BUY a REAL Buell. Granted, the XB hasn't yet raised to my "reach for the checkbook" level like the concept Honda and KTM Duke V-Twin (until I saw the styling) but Buell DID it while others were bumping and fumbling in the design studio. Credit, again, where credit is due. Chrome Heel Guards . . . . You’re right. There mere thought makes me puke. I hadn't gotten over axle covers yet. I'm going out on the line here and I am going to predict growth and prosperity for Buell and some astounding surprises. But..... I am not going, as some would seek to have us do, to base my opinions and respect for Buell on "a miracle to be named at a later date", I don't need to. It's too easy to say, "If you don't like Buell, the world's full of great motorcycles, go buy one". If you didn't have an interest and share at least some of the passion, you'd not be here. I'm unconvinced that folks waste much of their life simply stirring the pot to fuel adversity. I see some of the comments about Buell as the equivalent of "Erik...please show us some signs to keep our faith strong". I submit, that the XB, developed on the heels of adversity that knowing folks predicted would be the doom of Buell is a great start. Again, not checkbook fodder for me, but having closely examined one last week, I agree with the magazines "everything Erik Buell promised and more." I'm still getting over the days when the internet BEGGED, "Please Buell, if the bike isn't ready to be released at least show it to us, the faithful}/ They did only to be chastised for by the same crowd for not shipping until 6 months later. They did what owners ask and had the sword turned on them. As Harvard Business Review (June 2002) said "there are some things consumers THINK they want that, in fact, they don't". (loosely quoted from memory from the Customer Retention article. I recall the crux, but am not going to dig through the files to find it this morning) I suspect that folks at Buell and Harley-Davidson will see the foolhardiness of their ways in terms of Buell support. Buell parts and accessories have failed to give the foggiest hint that Buell knows who its customers are. Buell events have largely been organized events for generating body parts orders and what ever dials have been turned to adjust dealers, don't seem to be connected to an operating system. Harley-Davidson did not get where they are by assembling a large group of stupid people and doing stupid things on a large scale. They have proven to have the corporate chutzpah to take risks and fail. That brought folks like you and I linear accelerators, air travel and the Wham-O Slip 'N Slide. . . I want them on the edge taking risks. I'll take the stupid mistake in the mix. Had you gone to Honda, Yamaha or Suzuki 24 months ago (and I have friends who I dearly regard at these firms) and told them you were going to build a sportbike with a 52" wheelbase, you'd have been laughed out the door. Frankly, Buell did an innovative and ballsy thing. Credit where credit is due. Bottom line, I think they have some huge hurdles. You see the obvious, trust me there are at least 3 behind the scenes. You and I are friends of one mind. We both, as evidenced by this very discussion, desperately want Buell to survive and thrive. I hope that's what motivates what sometime appear to be "stick in the eye" comments. I try to operate from the assumption that, as Aaron says, all right minded folks "follow the light". Will it work? Who knows? Folks much smarter than you and I started packing their desk drawers at Ford after the Edsel. The 1963 Split Window 'Vette resulted in a fist fight in Chevy's styling studio over how stupid it looked and damn near lead to "bye bye Zora". I hope it works. I intend to overlook some of Buells stupid moves, as I do my children's, based on the theory that simply moving, progressing and striving for success sometimes yields less than gifted by products. I am proud to have a host of "stupid people tricks" on my resume'. Trust me, California has at least one "Court Created "Intelligent Highway System"" ..... that .... well ..... ISN'T. Well, this is my $0.02 and, having been labeled by the good folks at Harley-Davidson's P&A department as "the lunatic from Topeka" (and the bastards had the audacity to do it on a 94 minute collect call on Christmas Day in 1996) my opinion is worth what you paid to join this website. I do know that Buell has a new group of folks who are sizing up the very problems of defining who the Buell customer is and what they want. Let's hope, to quote James Taylor, they've "closed their mouths and opened their eyes". You asked........ Court ================================================== Thought this should be kept somewhere....good read. | ||
| Spiderman |
Hey Court, Was it you who had a hand in the original RR ans RS 1200 owners and operators Manuel? I thought I read that you did somewhere. I was goin throught the paper work of the RR1200 that we have at our shop and found the man. and a ad slick with all the cool info of the RR on back. A cool little tid bit I didn't know that Erik signed all the Manuels. | ||
| Court |
I had no hand, other than I closely read the manuals that came with my bikes. Dave Gess did the photography (I'm guessing your talking of the handsome chiseled fella' with the RR or the one with the Blue RS). Court | ||
| Spiderman |
It musta been dave that wrote the manauls then? Ah well it was great to thumb through it in the sales office with this big grin on my face, while people in the sales office just looked at me. LOL this bike is like a drug I tell you. | ||
| Jeffx1rs |
I bought a S fairing (mounting and all nc. mirrors)for my X1 in 4/01. The part number was 58740-97ya. I am thinking about buying another fairing,just in case. I know Airtech made a "S2" fairing and sold them to Buell at one time and they still can supply one to me. But they can not tell me if there is any difference between their fairing and a "S3" / one I bought. They did say they patterned it from a Buell mould however. Can I use an S2 fairing? What are the differences between a "S2" & "S3" fairing? Is mine an "S3"? Any comment on Airtech vs Buell fairing? | ||
| Aaron |
The most obvious difference between them is the size of the headlight opening. But there are other more subtle differences as well. | ||
| Jeffx1rs |
Aaron, can we expand on this. ASB sells the Airtech and the photo they have shows a sq. light opening like mine. ASB calls it an S2. Since Airtech is not sure, I can't be sure if it will work. If you look at that photo, would you call it an S2 or S3? | ||
| Josh |
ASB pn 5690 is an S2 fairing. See here for an S3 fairing. | ||
| Jeffx1rs |
Thanks Josh, but this guy is all wet. He lists a S3 @ over 400.00 list. I paid 258.00, which was list. What would I have to switch to use an S2? Anybody know. | ||
| Court |
Jeff: I think you have eitehr misunderstood or received some misinformation about Airtech selling bodywork to Buell. In addition, I'd suggest that the more accurate statement would be to change "patterned from a Buell mould" to "patterened from a mould produced from a motorcycle borrowed from a Buell owner". The former creates the misconception that the MOLD came from Buell and that would be inaccurate. Best deal would be to dig into the archives and dig up some pictures to compare the two fairings. The "spider" (the mount they attach to) is different as well. Court | ||
| Court |
The part in the e-bay auction is an S-3 fairing. | ||
| Josh |
Jeff, Just givin' ya pictures. I don't know where he came up with that figure but that's from LATUS MOTORS in SPOKANE whom I've heard nothing but bad things about. Notice he says he got a ton of parts included, but doesn't list 'em? I think he's waiting for the auction to end before deciding what to include. (Court I *said* it was for an S3!) | ||
| Court |
>>>(Court I *said* it was for an S3!) Oppps....sorry. This sounds like an NFL trade....."for a Buell part to be named at a later date" er.....did you say THAT yet ? Court  | ||
| Daves |
See Jeff, I knew these guys could help you! Ride to the edge! Dave HD/Buell Cycle Center 4022 Sergeant Rd Waterloo Ia 50701 1-800-342-7539 ext 14 | ||
| Buelliedan |
Please don't bid against me. I need that fairing after my crash!! BTW, a painted fairing does indeed go for $400. A primered fairing is $258. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought Air Tech did indeed make the RS/RSS bodywork. S3 and S2 fairing are completely different. It would take a custom fairing spider to make one work on the other. |
