| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
In the pursuit of a project I am currently involved with my curiosity has been piqued. The data to date points toward the Buell XB platform being well on it's way to earning a place as one of the most, or perhaps the most, reliable motorcycle. In the course of my research, I have just finished reviewing "Predictable Surprises: The Disasters You Should Have Seen Coming" (Harvard Business Review - March 2003) The article describes processes and cites interesting examples. On the hope that we can still carry on a learned discussion, I ask.... 1) Should Buell have foreseen and avoided any of the difficulties of the past 3 years? 2) If so, please explain your opinion as to "how" and provide a brief insight into your opinion of the "cost/benefit" of your viewpoint. (i.e. a system that yeilds a perfect $100,000 motorcycle is out of the range of realistic solutions) I suspect that Buell has learned a great deal not only about motorcycle design and production, but processes as well. I'm curious as to owner's and enthusiast's viewpoints. CAVEAT: This is a POSITIVE discussion. If you still feel the need to "rag" on Buell, this is not the intent of this discussion; take it someplace else. Court | ||
| Hootowl |
The only thing I can offer on this is that maybe they should have paid more attention to the quality of the products they were outsourcing. Specific examples include: Rear shocks Isolators Speedometer sensors These are some of the items that are not manufactured by Buell that we have all had problems with. The isolator failures were caused by a number of different things. One of them, the primary one, was that the manufacturer changed their production methods, and the resulting change in the texture of the metal caused the rubber not to bond well. Don't get me started on the speedo sensors. From what I understand, Buell is now more actively involved with their vendors QA programs. | ||
| Sarodude |
Court- This may be a bit off topic, but the reliability of the bikes is seriously affected by the quality of work performed after the bike leaves the showroom. Someone not interested in turning their own wrenches or ever learning any in depth mechanical stuff can easily be lead down a path with the belief that the factory workmanship or design is the cause of the woes being experienced. One of the dealers in my area made a comment that kinda sums things up. It was about one of the lead techs getting a new 9S. The thought was that maybe now there will be more attention to detail on the Buells 'cause the tech owns one and is excited about it. A somewhat terrifying example: When I went to pick up my 2nd Blast they (the dealership that caused the ridiculous downward spiral of the first Blast) told me that the tech test riding it felt it was 'hesitating'. Checked stuff over, rode it again, and it was still hesitating. Checked it again, test rode it, and it was hesitating. He handed it over to someone who had actually RIDDEN A FREAKIN' BLAST BEFORE (!!!!!!!!!) and it was determined that if you've never ridden a Blast before, it might not be a good idea to 'check one out' for a customer. Wow - it turns out that a bike with less than 1/2 the displacement of a somewhat similarly weighted bike doesn't go as good. Imagine that. If I wasn't in on it, it could've appeared that the bike was lame from the factory and took a Skilled Dealership Technician (tm) to make it right. I didn't even waste my time accepting the free oil change coupon. It was nothing more than an invitation to another free disaster that would eventually cost me confidence in my bike. My point? Perception is reality and the dealer has MASSIVE amounts of influence on that whole thing. Buell can build the best bike in the world but a dealer like the one I described (I'm not mentioning any names, but think along the lines of the Governor of Minnesota) makes the whole point moot by CAUSING problems DESPITE being a Factory Authorized Service Center with Factory Certified Technicians. Just playing a scratched CD I guess... -Saro | ||
| Reepicheep |
Three things... 1) Rocker Box Gaskets.... How on earth could they have missed this one in R&D? The only thing I could imagine is that it was just denial... (yeah, all the test bikes leaks, but that's just because Court keeps wheeling the damn things at redline, the'll be fine in the field). 2) Original front exhaust mount. This should never have passed the "visual inspection" test. SOMEBODY at SOME POINT should have just looked at the thing and said "those rubber ears are going to be chopped off in short order, redesign it". 3) Primary chain tensioner. Again, how did these not manage to break in testing? Or why were they ignored if they did? The Buell engines are almost double the power of the sportsters... I would have been really paranoid about every last component where that power flows, and the primary chain tensioner is a pretty obvious place to worry about. The speedo sensor should have been fixed better sooner, so I did not have to drop $150 on parts, but I can't really blame Buell for the initial defect as it is effectively an unchanged sportster part that they had no reason to believe would be a problem on a Buell. The leaking shocks sound like "somebody elses fault" as well, though at some point somebody might have piped up and said "pull shocks have no serious application history and this thing is in a pretty exposed location so we better be double extra carefull to validate our and our vendors designs". Again, I don't know how these leaks did not show up in testing, unless it was again denial (Yeah 3 of the 5 leak, but those were the ones Court took offroad). Frankly, I think my Cyclone, even with all the problems I have had with it, is a pretty reliable vehicle. My hopped up sportster engine has not been the greatest, but it is about what I would expect for a factory hot rod engine, and it's pro's far outweight it's cons. My tube frame Buell is (IMHO) a very reliable and cost effective for an exotic. The new XB's are looking to be great mainstream motorcycles with lots of exotic touches, and look to be as reliable or better then any of the other brands (which is remarkable given it is a pushrod aircooled engine). | ||
| Josh |
>1) Rocker Box Gaskets.... How on earth could they Call HD and ask. I think they released a new design every couple of years since the EVO debuted. Why is it there's never time to do it right but always time to do it over? >2) Original front exhaust mount. This should Ever see the "mounts" on the older bikes? Wow. Maybe a picture exhibit of the evolution is in order. Darwin would be proud. >3) Primary chain tensioner. Again, how did these >The speedo sensor should have been fixed better sooner, so I did not have to drop $150 on parts, yeah, more things we can heap on HD's "well it sells, why should we fix it" mentality. I'd say the bean counters evaluated it and decided the costs outweighed the benefits. So Saro, you think better/more investment in dealer training (ie hands on with the bikes, etc) is the way to go? One of the problems is since they pay their mechanics peanuts, a well trained elephant will find a better-paying circus. | ||
| Bomber |
the comments on being more involved with suppliers is a great one . . . . manufacturers that are more assemblers the world over are getting hip to that, if they havn't already . . .. while the other issues are not minor to their owners, I think the biggest bang for the buck would be a greater level of involvment/muscle with the dealer network is definately in order . . . while these folks are independant businesses, there can still be a level of quality control exercised by the supplier . . .has Buell/HD ever pulled a franchise due to lousey service? Some sort of program recognizing high-quality service like the Chrysler/Dodge 5-Star program perhaps? The pegasus award is mmore broadly based, I believe (given what little data I've seen) . . .something that specifically remarks on the service level one may expect from the service department would be useful . ... . actual quality of the bikes, while a problem, is not the cause of most of the ill will I've seen/heard, but, rather, what is perceived as shabby treatment by the dealer(s) | ||
| Mikej |
I think this discussion quickly came to a key focus, that being outsourcing of components, and technically the engine is an outsourced component. So much so that due to Union reg's (according to an un-named source) require a Harley-Davidson badged technician to do any repairs that are required while the bike is being assembled. 1. Rocker box gaskets: A known problem for a long time; leads to continued stereotyping that "all Harley's leak"; causes customer frustrations; relatively cheap to cure at the engine assembly plant; relatively expensive to repair at a dealership as the labor cost far outweighs the cost of the required parts. 2. Speedometer sensors: A known problem for a long time; for the rest see number one. 3. Primary chain tensioner: Don't know about this one. I don't think the extra power of the Buell configurations is the culprit as the tensioner is on the free side of the chain travel and does not take direct power except under deceleration. 4. Dropping the tube frames: well, if they hadn't dropped them out of existance from the Buell.com web site I wouldn't say much because product improvement and advancement happens. But the fact that they dropped them off the site so quickly says that potential customers looking at the Buell.com web site before or after heading to a dealership might be a little confused if they went back to the Buell.com web site to look up data and options on the majority of the bikes they saw at their local dealership. 5. I hate to say this, but to quote a bastard (clinton), it takes a long time to change a culture. And with Buell being sold and serviced by a lifestyle/culture driven company structure it is an uphill constant battle. You can't punch a stereotype in the nose, because a stereotype is a preconceived thought. You can punch the head containing the brain containing the stereotyped thought, but that doesn't really solve anything. It just takes time. Perhaps during the last 20 years, and especially in the last 4 years, the "culture" has been opening up some to the incursion of the Buell concept into the H-D lifestyle as I'm seeing more "biker" types riding Buells (though they tend to ride the S1's as a rule). I do think that this August will reveal a lot as far as what's to come. Either Erik will get a hug from WillieG up on the stage, or he'll get snubbed. WillieG doesn't run the company, but he is the model for the mindset (IMHO). The day I see WillieG ride a Buell in public with a smile on his face will be a good day. (Go ahead and show me a picture if you have one as I've never heard of nor seen one of WillieG on a Buell.) I hope in some small way this helps in your observations and research. MikeJ | ||
| Court |
We are experiencing "scope creep". I know what the Buell recalls were, the bulletin numbers and am satisfied with my command of the history. What I am asking for is not so much a recitation of "can you remember the battles Buell's fought?", rather "do you think any were avoidable?" and if so, how? See if this helps?  Essentially, is there something a company COULD do prospectively to "see around the corporate corner"? Court | ||
| Sarodude |
I don't know how I'd solve the dealer tech issue. I feel bad ranting about it 'cause I'm just being a critic instead of trying to address the problem. Besides, I fear that elaborating on it will lead this thread astray. It's an odd situation. A good tech is one that will put himself out of business. It may not be good business to invest loads of time / money training someone to do such a good job that the bike never comes in for anything. Money spent / lost on training AND lack of repeat business. I'm a terrible businessman. When I would do work on the side for people, I NEVER charged the time it took if it took too long. I charged what it SHOULD'VE taken if I didn't miss something silly or if his machine wasn't such a dog or something... I NEVER charged to fix something that I caused - even if the the client was unaware of it. I did this because I had to live with myself. But, people appreciated it and were willing to pay my higher (though cheaper in the long run) hourly rates. Weeks and months would go by and I'd not have to revisit the problem and / or the customer. New problems were usually a result of someone installing a cute new screen saver or deleting the wrong file or... It was the best I could do given a spit 'n chewing gum network patched together by someone with no concept of system setup besides his 3 station mini-net at home. Service is odd - and it seems more odd when you look at a vehicle dealership. Too many people trying to get too many slices of a pie that, if everything went well, would be SHRINKING. It's time for a paradigm shift. -Saro | ||
| Hootowl |
Well, lets see... The rockerbox problem has existed for years, as well as the solution. They SHOULD have seen this coming. The isolator failure was (in part) due to a vendor changing their manufacturing methods. Short of micromanaging another company, I don't seen how Buell could have foreseen this. The other failures, such as shocks and chain tensioners, I'm not too sure about. It's easy for me to play armchair quarterback with my 20/20 hindsight and say what they should have done, or what they should have foreseen, so I can't speak to these issues. | ||
| Bomber |
Court the answer is "mostly." I am aware of the enormous expnse and effort required to test -- enormous may be too small a word . . . . I think most of the issues folks have had started out really small at the factory, and therefor, might have been difficult to recognize as an emerging problem, using the terminology in your posting above. That said, once they left East Troy, and placed into the dealership stream, many of these problems expanded greatly. THAT could have been recognized as an emerging problem. If said problem was addressable by East Troy is another question altogether, one I'll let those more familiar with the workings of HD/Buell comment upon. | ||
| Mikej |
When problems happen to a product they are reverse engineered or de-problemized(c) to identify the source and cause of the failure. This happens preferrably before the product gets to the main customer base. Some companies use Alpha and Beta testers, you don't want to be an Alpha tester, but a Beta tester can be fun with a little danger thrown in. Some problems won't appear until some time after the product has made it to the main customer base. These problems have to be handled legally and proactively. When first noticed the company "should" assign someone to check into it and attempt to identify if it is a localized problem, and attempt to quantify and qualify any potentialities should the problem continue to surface in stable or growing numbers. Take all that, take your chart, take my previous comments, shake and stir and resort as necessary. Or, in less words: the answer is YE$! (Since I don't have access to internal Buell/H-D programs, and since I have 40 books worth of other homework to work through, this is all I have to offer at this time.)  | ||
| Jim_Witt |
Court asked: What I am asking for is not so much a recitation of "can you remember the battles Buell's fought?", rather "do you think any were avoidable?" and if so, how? So I'm confused. I would think all of the issues would be avoidable? To me, it makes no difference what's outsourced, whether the union or non-union side is involved or any other delusional excuses. I haven’t the slightest clue what the hierarchical structure is within the manufacturing plant but someone in some area(s) simply dropped the ball or they didn't have a ball in a specific department to drop. It sounds pretty simple to me Court. I know when we outsource something, including the material we purchase (whether it be electro-polished tubing, polyvinlidene fluoride piping, fittings, valves etc.) it goes through our own internal QC department and thoroughly checked against the specifications. QC is also heavily involved throughout the process, whether it be pre/post setup, pre/post assembly, pre/post or during the welding process, pre/post installation and startup. Our design, safety, pre-task planning departments go through similar parameters. -JW:> | ||
| Sarodude |
Court- In direct answer to your survey and to help put my lame ramblings into context... 1) Yes 2) Educate / test techs to a higher standard and Flunk 'em if appropriate. Maybe set up a tiered certification program. Essentially, make the certification mean something. Maybe the dealerships should make the techs pay for their own education. This may (or may not) show motivation. Require some sort of an addendum to the certification as significantly new products emerge (the first FI bikes, the Blast, the XBs...). This would partially address my concerns - though it may not help. The brunt of the cost would go to the dealership / trainee - as I assume (how does that saying go again?) that Buell doesn't pay for the dealership employee's training. -Saro | ||
| Pammy |
A lot of Buells technical troubles could have/should have been forseen with more extensive/intensive and extreme field testing. Most all of the backlash from the physical falterings could have been better dealt with on a personal level. Training, in customer service, of personel, on EVERY level, should have been paramount at the onset of the first sign of trouble. A little finesse goes a hell of a long way, as those of us in the 'ass kissing' business well know. A bad experience is shorter lived in ones memory if there is something pleasant to take it's place. People as a whole want to be validated on a personal level and shown respect. The dealer network should have been and should be held accountable for the relationship that they have with the customer. Good for good, bad for bad. There are good dealers out there and they should be studied and used as reference for the dealers that don't have the skills necessary to deal with the normal customer, much less the customer who feels as though he or she has been molested and ignored and ultimately, raw. The asian motorcycle companies have the some of the same faults but the emotion is not as high. The owners are not usually as emotionally vested in the bikes and are more willing to let go of the bad experience and move on. "{{{{{Buell, the bike was a symbol of an ideal with which we all want to be associated and part. A normal guy who loves motorcycling built this bike in his garage and look what it's become...But look what it CAN become. Corporate is involved and there are rules and regulations and P&L to be considered...But Buell, the man is so accessable, and likable and he is still excited about motorcycles(and studebakers). He hangs out and he rides and he visits and he is totally involved and he is one of us....and we are in the club and he is in the club and we are all in the club.....}}}}}" O.k. I am getting off on a Tangent now...so I'll stop here. You see where I am going. I am sorry for the long and rambling post and read at your own risk. May cause severe headache and nausea. Do not operate heavy machinery after reading this post. | ||
| Kelly |
Good post Pammy! At least someone out there can admit that Buell dealers are lacking in customer service. | ||
| Hootowl |
Pammy, You said a mouthful about the Buell community. I get a warm fuzzy every time I look at mine. | ||
| Tripper |
A complex question to be sure. The best companies I have seen and some I have worked for, have covered over a million errors in production of there products with one simple attitude... Outstanding customer service. These companies grow from nothing into respected leaders in the face of recurring, seemingly idiotic errors, and come out smelling sweeter every time they have to throw the (expensive) customer service unit into action. You older pilots remember a company named Narco? A giant in the field, no one could possibly compete against them, they would never be toppled. A short guy named King starts a company in a farmhouse, the parts department was in the attic. Creates one clever radio design, then two, combines them into a third variant (this is not a bike story, familiar though...) sells a few hundred and sticks around one month, then a year. In that attic, he insists on stocking every part they ever used, and more. A few copies of every radio they make (they used to call that FINSHED GOODS, now they call it insanity). He can ship any order for product or repair part before going home that night. Got a problem with a radio, no problem, a replacement is out the door on it's way to wherever you need it. Dealers sign up in droves. They are recommending and selling King Radios, instead of the Big Guy. Big Guy falters, needs revenue, decides to corner the repair business by making NO parts available and no repair documentation. The giant suddenly has no sales. King takes a near monoploy in the market. Then one day an older and very successfull Mr. King sells his company to Mega Corporation and sails off into the sunset. Finished Goods? That's INVENTORY! Bad word, vanquish that. Customer service engineers in the field? Fired. Training? Slashed. Meanwhile, across town two guys named GARy and MIN start a small company and create one clever radio design, then two, combine them into a third variant.... But how does this relate to our bikes.... The only difference in Mr. Buells case is he has stayed in the building and clearly brings focus and fire to a core team. There are recent indications that Customer Service is back in vogue, and that gives me all hope that they will survive. Past errors be damned. | ||
| Jim_Witt |
Pam, Excellent post to say the very least and something that no one with any credibility can deny. The problems you describe are real and the solutions you offered are correct. Plus I personally don’t believe that HD/Buell recognize how extensive the dealer/customer related problems really are to this very day. If you look at the over all picture (concept, design, R&D, QC, testing, manufacturing, outsourcing, inventory, dealer-network, dealerships, all training, customer support, warranty, marketing) the entire system must be broken and not communicating with each other. Problems that arose in many of those areas have trickled down to the most important entity, the end-user. The poor dealership to consumer relationship only compounds the problems that already existed at a much higher level in the food chain. -JW:> | ||
| Blake |
Court, Absolutely, I feel that most of the problems were avoidable/preventable. The investment required to improve quality involves people... An analytical, objective, logical, hard nosed, experienced, respectable, thoughtful, relentless Program Manager/Project Engineer should have caught most of the design and implementation issues (rockerbox gaskets, kickstand safety switch, intake manifold leaks, DDFI problems, primary chain tensioner, swing arm recall, XB9R kickstand, wiring of speedo sensors, exhaust hangers). Add to that a rigorous qualification testing/analysis program for vendor parts like shocks and even those problems could be largely eliminated. The Program Manager needs to be involved right from the inception of a new project. He/she must have purview over all pertinent phases and the respect of all functional and marketing and management involved. He must be given adequate resources to conduct testing and analysis. He must be able to communicate from a position of authority with vendors. BTW, I'm available, not for cheap, but you definitely get what you pay for. | ||
| Kcbill |
I think they came out with the fuel injection to soon and not properly tested. Seems I recall an engineer was assigned to that project and had no experience. The fuel injection should have been put on one model and then see what the consumer response is. Harley knew better than to do that when they came out with fuel injection. I felt it was a huge mistake to put it on all but one model. History will reflect that decision. I can see the company has an all on board or nothing attitude. Thats good but do your home work and I mean really do it. The shock issue was another example of the same. Or did the vendor miss the QC., or eng. error. Information I don't have access to. Getting rid of the tube frames all at once, the same all or nothing approach again. If there is a reason they did it this way may be that should be looked at. As a small mfg. co. it may be to costly to produce tube frames and the XBs under the same roof. Not enough room and a number of other reason I'm not privy to know. So it can be easy to set back and play arm chair foot ball. I would have thought that continuing the tube frames and maybe dropping one model would have been the way to go. But it's all or nothing again. Then they couldn't get the new bikes to market. That really upset the dealer net work. Thus the demise of the Battle to Win mag. Dealers sick of investing in advertising and no product to sell. Plus a bike in a dealership that most don't want any way. Things are in need of attention and maybe no real easy answer to them all. That has hurt their sales. The public sees all these drastic changes and it makes Buell look unstable. Then the magazines love to throw fuel to the fire. Buell isn't going the super sonic direction they are, so that just fortifies their venue. Eric knows what a person can really use, and in his thinking it's over kill. And he is right. Buell will have trouble attracting the younger market he wants be cause he won't play the super sonic game. I'm getting off track alittle here. Interesting question Court. | ||
| Blake |
"I felt it was a huge mistake to put (EFI) on all but one model. "All but one model"... you mean "two models."  | ||
| Kcbill |
Blake in 99 there were the S3/S3T,X1,M2. Did I miss one? Court today I was at Central HD now a full blown Buell dealer. The guys were telling me that they just went to Buell Sales school last week. The instructor told one group that the tube frame bikes are to be avoided because those frames weren't very good and not to take them in on trade. The new Buells were much better bikes. One of the techs who owns an M2 said that most of his Buell riding friends rode the S3 and S3T. He was not in agreement with his statement. What kind of Bull Shit is that! He said the instructors had tags that said they were contractors. They were really dogin the tube frame bikes. They told them Buell was marketing towards the 28 yr. age group that were done with the hyper speed mkt. The tech asked, Whats wrong with the over 28 crowd. (As several of the S3 and S3T riders were 35 to 55 group.) Whats wrong with their money. He said the instructor said they were not their focus group. Does marketing know this is going on or are they endorsing it? I think this is on track to your question. | ||
| Dave |
1999: S3 Thunderbolt, X1 Lightning, M2 Cyclone...&...P3 Blast  DAve | ||
| Mikej |
Kcbill, I'd say that contractor's contract should be cancelled. Wonder how H-D and Erik would react if they received a letter detailing the "training" being given. Sorry, out of scope again, but right on target. | ||
| Bomber |
AH . . .contract trainers . . .. I subject that I'm familiar with (I run a training and documentation group) . . . . Mike, this is NOT out of scope, it's exactly the kinda thing Court's asking about, I think . . . R&D anbd Manufacturing are only part of bringing a product to market (the lion's share, no doubt) . . . HD has apparently decided to save some money by NOT staffing up to get this training done . . . well, they just LOST more than they saved by having that chuckle-head stand up in class . . . .. . everyone in a company, and I mean everyone frlom the CEO to the guy sweeping the loading dock at the end of the thrid shift is in sales and customer service . . . it seems the someone on Juneau Ave didn't get the word | ||
| Court |
>>>it seems the someone on Juneau Ave didn't get the word Okay, I admit to "roaming" here a bit myself, but I concur. I've saved some of the past Buell "training" materials. For the most part they are laughable and counterproductive. Now, let me hasten to point out that Buell has made huge strides in TECHNICAL traning at the dealer tech level. In MY PERSOANL OPINION, the personnel who hav been doing the sales and marketing training are motivated not for the "good of Buell", but maintaining their Harley-Davidson Consulting contracts and pro bono bikes as compensation deals. For what it's worth.....regardless of the tarketed market group, the tube frames are not "to be avoided". The tube frames are, in terms of design and functionally, a piece of pure engineering genius. HINT: Note the curved member of the 1996 S-1 frame that wanders from the left to the right side of the bike and ask me sometime, like a fellow did at the San Fran IMS shwo in 1997 why Buell doesn't use the "stick frame tubes" that Ducati did. Okay...I'm about to go Buellistic about this Central HD thing....counting to ten This is reminscent of when I walked into one of the largest Buell dealers, who also has a Sportbike shop and asked "why aren't the Buells with the Sportbikes?" and was told "they're not that good and they're pretty slow". Yeah, right, I'm sold! By the way, I'd love to do the Buell marketing training. For what it's worth, my team would include at least: OWNER: One Bomber type FACTORY: One of the folks who sweeps the loading docks at Buell type. DEALER: Justin Schilling Dave S / Danny Modesto types. If you don't show the PASSION, you can't sell the product. Court (back to the subject I'm writing on..."predictable disasters" | ||
| Bomber |
the sad part, for me, is that I had a (long) shot at a training gig at HD University . . . the reason I wasn't hired (through the grapevine) is exactly the reason I should have been hired . . . . enough personal venting . . . . . not all the probelms could have been tested out of existance before product release . .. . but, once found (with the exception of the shock recall), the difficulties seem to have been, in the distribution chain, treated as owner-caused probelms . . . . . . a great product is only half the solution | ||
| Jim_Witt |
As we all know, second, third and forth hand information can be miss communicated from its origination point (the contractors’ training itself) down the food chain. BTW, I’m not trying to discount anything Bill posted. I venture to “guess” the contract guys intent was to convey, used tube-frames sit on the floor to long, so don’t take them on trade in. Okay, so the roaming is over then. So what’s the conclusion and solutions then. The problems are probably like everything else. Poor planning, inadequate budget to work within, appointing people in positions they are not qualified to assume, lack of accountability and naturally the political factors. I also contend that very little has changed from my perspective (in my area of the country). -JW:> | ||
| Anonymous |
I can't comment on anything in Buell's manufacturing and R&D segment but I do know that a problem still persists in the retail segment. Harley (the company) is going great guns to promote and improve the Buell line but there is considerable resistance to the brand in many of the dealerships' personnel. The situation is analagous to badge-engineered Aermacchis in which the product is rejected by those who are supposed to be promoting, selling and servicing it. My personal opinion is that the Buell brand would be best served by being offered for sale not only at Harley Davidson dealerships that wish to carry them, but at stand alone dealerships (Buell only) and in European dealerships as well. The Buells are more akin to a Guzzi, Triumph, Ducati, etc. than they are to a Heritage Springer Softail and the customers will always be unhappy if the dealership's employees could frankly care less. This isn't going to happen, of course, but at least Harley's executives are astute enough to realize that they're dealing with an ageing customer base and they need to attract a younger group of customers. Perhaps the solution is to make every employee at a Harley Davidson dealership actually ride a Buell so they have some sort of idea as to what they're about. As it stands now, I daresay that the majority of them are clueless. |
