| Author | Message | ||
     Blake |
http://buell.com/en_us/mania/racing/racingnewsdeta il.asp?news_id=1112 BUELL ANNOUNCES MILLION DOLLAR RACING CONTINGENCY PROGRAM More Than $1,000,000 in Cash Contingencies Posted for Privateer Buell Racers Aboard XBRR and XB models in 2007 EAST TROY, Wis. -- (Tuesday, January 23, 2007) Buell Motorcycle Company has announced an expanded racing support program for 2007, with more than $1,000,000 posted in cash contingencies for Buell racers competing in a variety of national and regional race series events and classes aboard XBRR and XB motorcycles. “We’re committed to supporting our dealer and privateer teams through this contingency program and through trackside and technical support managed by our own Henry Duga,” said Erik Buell, Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of Buell Motorcycle Company. “Nothing makes me and Henry happier than helping privateer Buell racers achieve their goals. And we’re proud to support their efforts.” The 2007 Buell contingency program will reward Buell racers competing on all XBRR and 2003 and newer XB model motorcycles. Cash contingencies will be posted in the following racing series and classes:
Complete details of the 2007 Buell contingency program, including the racer registration form, are available at www.buell.com in the Racing Support Section. The program begins with races on or after February 1, 2007. Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, Inc., produces sport motorcycles, motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel. To learn more about Buell motorcycles, visit your local Buell dealer today and experience the pure streetfighter attitude, style and performance only found on board a Buell. Pull into www.buell.com for the Buell dealer nearest you. | ||
| Bomber |
this is very cool news -- so much for Buell being out of the racing business! Thanks for posting, Blake! | ||
| Blasterd |
This is GREAT NEWS!!!!! Court, I hope you have plenty of Buell Racing shirts this year!!! Ken | ||
| Gearhead |
ASRA & CCS payouts for 2007 ASRA ThunderBike 1st - $2,000, 2nd - $1,500, 3rd - $1,200, 4th $1,000, 5th $800, 6th - $700, 7th - $600, 8th - $450, 9th - $400, 10th - $350, 11th - $300, 12th - $250, 13th - $200, 14th - $150, 15th - $100 ASRA ThunderBike Season Championship Awards: 1st - $3,000, 2nd - $1,250, 3rd - $1,000, 4th - $750, 5th - $500 ASRA SuperBike 1st - $3,000, 2nd - $2,000, 3rd - $1,000, 4th - $700, 5th - $400 CCS SuperTwins Expert at ASRA national events (only second race on twin sprint weekends) 1st - $1,000, 2nd - $800, 3rd - $600, 4th - $400, 5th - $200 CCS Middleweight Superbike Expert 1st - $500, 2nd - $400, 3rd - $300, 4th - $200, 5th - $100 CCS SuperTwins Expert 1st - $500, 2nd - $400, 3rd - $300, 4th - $200, 5th - $100 CCS ThunderBike Expert 1st - $500, 2nd - $400, 3rd - $300, 4th - $200, 5th - $100 CCS ThunderBike Amateur 1st - $300, 2nd - $200, 3rd - $100, 4th - $75, 5th - $50 I'm glad Buell is spreading out the wealth but it's not too hot if you're a CCS amateur. Oh well, I'll just have to work REAL hard to get quicker to qualify for that Expert license!! | ||
| Court |
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| Trojan |
Great news, provided you race in the USA of course  | ||
| Blake |
It would seem likely that with all the sales of XBikes in Europe, we will soon see Buell stepping up to support Buell racers there too. Looks like the CMRA folks need to get in on the action too. We're looking to have two XBRR's competing here this year. | ||
| Blake |
You are most welcome sir Bomber sir. | ||
| Mutation_racer |
I'LL BE GUNNING FOR ALL OF IT | ||
| Trojan |
It would seem likely that with all the sales of XBikes in Europe, we will soon see Buell stepping up to support Buell racers there too. I wait with bated breath  | ||
| Blake |
With the expanding market in Europe for Buell motorcycles, I cannot imagine why Buell would support racing Buell motorcycles in America but not in Europe, can you? The only possibility I can imagine is that such support may currently be relegated to the purview and limited budgests of the various Buell UK, Buell Deutschland, Buell Italia, Buell France, etc. governing entities? I don't even know how the Buell organization is setup in that respect. Is there a Buell organization for each nation or one for UK and one for Europe or... ? | ||
| Elvis |
Buell's contingency program really shows that they have more than a casual interest in racing. Sure, it would be great to see a full-fledged racing program, but if you look back over the years, you can see that they have been trying to increase their racing presence given the resources they have. If I'm reading the press releases on Buell's website accurately, here's what the contingency programs have done over the past several years: 2003 - $61,000 2004 - $70,500 2005 - $200,000 2006 - $700,000 2007 - $1,000,000 Anyone see a pattern here? Anyone think Buell may see racing as a priority and something worth investing in? Anyone think, if Buell continues to sell bikes and be successful, they may offer a true factory effort when the money is there? | ||
| Court |
Buell will be a major factor in motorcycle racing. I could tell you when .. . but I'd have to shoot you. Anyone who has ever met Erik Buell and understands his passion becomes aware of certain things. . . his fascination with "going places" (in many ways he sees motorcycles much more as utilitarian transportation than you and I) since the day he found our he could ride out of the driveway and down the road. Another element is his manifestation of his personal competitiveness (more on where that came from later) via motorcycle racing. Quote me please. . . Buell will be one of the top names to be contended with in the racing world. Period. | ||
| Firemanjim |
Darn,as usual, not a thing for us poor SCTA guys---  | ||
| Elvis |
When you step back and look at what Buell has been doing over the past 5 years, you can really see that they are building a solid foundation. When 14 year old kids are being weaned on Buell road-racing, anyone with vision can see a bright future. That's what frustrates me with the people who shout "Harley, Harley, HARLEY". Do we really want to repeat the Harley, VR1000 "jump in the deep end, flounder around for a while and then get the hell out" approach? Is it better to have a hollow Harley victory now, or a solid Buell victory 5 years from now? I'd hate to be the kids of some of the people around here: "Son, I don't want to see you fooling around with that namby-pamby high school track stuff. I expect you to win an Olympic gold medal now or else just quit and hang your head in shame . . . I mean, after all, your mother and I have enough money to hire the best trainers around." | ||
| Reepicheep |
That last line really does a good job of making a complicated point really succinctly Elvis, thanks. | ||
| Trojan |
The only possibility I can imagine is that such support may currently be relegated to the purview and limited budgests of the various Buell UK, Buell Deutschland, Buell Italia, Buell France, etc. governing entities? I don't even know how the Buell organization is setup in that respect. Is there a Buell organization for each nation or one for UK and one for Europe or... ? Buell UK is a tiny part of H-D UK and appears to get no real supportfrom either H-D or the Buell factory. The people working there also seem to know very little about the product and certainly have no knowledge of motorcycle racing or the Buell racing effort in the US. They certainly have nobody working there who shres the passion for racing (or even for the brand as a whole) that the guys at the factory seem to have. Buell need to take a very close look at their national representatives/distributors if they are to be taken seriously over here I'm afraid. They have apparently just hired a new marketing guy who used to work at Honda, so hopefully he will be better than the previous incumbent. The guy in charge of H-D UK doesn't have a bike licence and has been quoted as saying he doesn't even like motorcycles in the past. His previous job was that of chief executive of the Rover Group, which is hardly a glowing reference really (Message edited by trojan on January 27, 2007) | ||
| Court |
>>>The guy in charge of H-D UK doesn't have a bike licence and has been quoted as saying he doesn't even like motorcycles in the past. His previous job was that of chief executive of the Rover Group, which is hardly a glowing reference really Nor is it a reason to dismiss him. Beethoven was deaf. I'm not, per se, disagreeing with you, but I must confess I am amazed at your ability to find the negative in everything. You'd not stand a chance in my world. | ||
| Jimidan |
Hey, its all good for the CCS/ASRA boys (and me too, because that's what I go to mostly). But I still think Buell would get more bang for its advertising buck by using the $1,000,000 for a full factory supported XBRR Formula Xtreme effort. It only makes sense. That is, if they really thought they could be competitive in that class with that bike. Maybe Buell management knows something the rest of us don't (the XBRR would never be competitive in that class?). Court keeps talking about something happening next year that he would have to "kill" us if he told us about it. Buell's best racing in FX is ahead of it...thank goodness, because it ain't been much yet). jimidee | ||
| Trojan |
Nor is it a reason to dismiss him. Beethoven was deaf. I'm not, per se, disagreeing with you, but I must confess I am amazed at your ability to find the negative in everything. You'd not stand a chance in my world. Court, I have been the only person racing a Buell in the UK since 2002, so I must be some kind of optimist (or masochist) and certainly don't see negative in everything. However I am not blinded by brand name or BS, and you obviously have not had to deal with H-D/Buell UK at all otherwise you would be pulling your hair out the same as I am! It just amazes me that a national distributor for a major manufacturer can make such a balls up of marketing and promoting such an exciting machine without the factory asking questions about their ability and comittment. This isn't something new, and is something that I have spoken to Erik about as long ago as 2003. I suspect that Buell would sell as many, if not more, motorcycles in the UK even if Buell UK did not exist as an organisation and the bikes were supplied direct to dealers from the factory. | ||
| Court |
I agree. | ||
| Jimidan |
Nor is it a reason to dismiss him. Beethoven was deaf. I'm not, per se, disagreeing with you, but I must confess I am amazed at your ability to find the negative in everything. You'd not stand a chance in my world. And what world would that be in? There is a BIG difference in pointing out inconsistencies and logical contradictions to finding the "negative". (Message edited by jimidan on January 29, 2007) | ||
| Trojan |
I have just received the latest Performance Bikes magazine in the post, and am delighted to see that we have a full colour 4 page feature on our race bike, PLUS another two page feature by Phil Read on what it was like to ride the bike in last year's UK Thunderbike series I am sure that Buell UK will be quick to jump on the 6 whole pages of free publicity once again, although they contributed nothing to the race effort or to the bike. Bitter and twisted, MOI? | ||
| Davegess |
Jimidan, three things, first is that Buell never planned to do a factory effort, it was supposed to be a privateer effort. They got carried away with enthusiasm last year and had more factory involvement than I think was planned. Part of that was employees stepping up and VOLUNTEERING to work on the project, get themselves to races etc at no cost to Buell. Many of the folks working at Daytona or back in East Troy to make that big effort worked for free. Second, They don't really have a million bucks to spend, contingency money is nice form a PR stand point in that you can annouce a really big number available but you ussually don't have to spend a lot of it because not enough people win or place to collect it all. Third, I don't think they know something we don't, the bike has shown it is fast enough to run in the top 5 to 10 at Daytona and other places, now they just need to improve the reliabilty. I is unlikely to beat the factory bikes to the top of the podium but is as fast as the best privateers and that is what was intended. | ||
| Blake |
"Beethoven was deaf." But he had an extreme and undying passion for musical composition. Lacking that, he would have achieved little in the field, yes? I think Matt makes some thoughtful, valid and constructive points wrt Buell UK and the state of Buell marketing and racing there. | ||
| Court |
>>>I think Matt makes some thoughtful, valid and constructive points wrt Buell UK and the state of Buell marketing and racing there. I think Matt's points are 100% accurate. That is why I took exception to none of them. He could do a far better job expressing and resolving them. | ||
| Jimidan |
Davegess sez: Third, I don't think they know something we don't, the bike has shown it is fast enough to run in the top 5 to 10 at Daytona and other places, now they just need to improve the reliabilty. I is unlikely to beat the factory bikes to the top of the podium but is as fast as the best privateers and that is what was intended. Might I respectfully suggest an addendum to your comment: Now they just have to improve reliability and get another rider with the abilities of Jeremy McWilliams on board. When I first started dating in my junior year in high school, I naturally went after the top 5 most popular girls in class. I thought I was reasonably good looking, could carry on a decent conversation and was a triple sport athlete...so why not set my sights high. However, as the year went by it became painfully obvious that I didn't have the God-given genetics nor the money to attract these girls, so I lowered my expectations and started dating in the second tier (5th - 10th)...where I did OK. jimidan | ||
| Davegess |
John Warr hired McWilliams, Buell does not have the cash to afford someone like him. I do not know how Warr got him but I suspect it had something to with things other than money. I an thinking that any MotoGP rider, even nearing the end of a career and needing a ride would demand a couple hundred thousand bucks for a year and a good percentage of that just for Daytona. | ||
| Trojan |
I think Matt's points are 100% accurate. That is why I took exception to none of them. He could do a far better job expressing and resolving them. Hi Court, You are probably right, although my expression is borne out by years of frustration at trying to deal with people at Buell UK, none of whom seem to have even half of the passion for the brand that we do (if they stay in the job long enough to care). My comments do NOT apply to staff that I have dealt with at the factory. Having had the pleasure of dealing with various people at the factory I can say that the difference is chalk & cheese, with everyone I have ever spoken to there (from the receptionist right to the top) being 150% helpful and comitted to Buell. With Buell UK you will be very lucky if you can even speak to a real person and not a voicemail, and e-mails seem to disappear into a void somewhere around Oxford. As far as resolving issues with Buell UK, I have tried so hard to get them to show some passion, comittment and enthusiasm for so long that I am now at a loss as to what to do next. I can only liken it banging your head against a wall for 8 years. After a while you just get used to it, and don't realise how annoying it is until you stop doing it | ||
| Court |
>>>none of whom seem to have even half of the passion for the brand that we do They don't. Part of prevailing is to thoroughly understand your adversary, their motivation and perceptions, and the constraints you face. | ||
| Jscott |
"Quote me please. . . Buell will be one of the top names to be contended with in the racing world." In SuperCross? | ||
| Jimidan |
Davegess sez: John Warr hired McWilliams, Buell does not have the cash to afford someone like him. I do not know how Warr got him but I suspect it had something to with things other than money. I an thinking that any MotoGP rider, even nearing the end of a career and needing a ride would demand a couple hundred thousand bucks for a year and a good percentage of that just for Daytona." So, would agree that for a privateer Buell XBRR to be a second tier (5th - 10th place) contender in FX, that a rider would have to be found that would have at least McWilliam's talent? He certainly seemed like the only one who could push the XBRR to that level last year. This year will only be tougher to break into the top ten, because the competition hasn't been sitting on their hands during the off-season (like Buell has). I think that a young stud who is hungry for fame and fortune would be a better (and much more affordable) selection for an XBRR FX team. Anyway, CCS and ASRA is going to be fun with Brian B. and Mutant Man out there on their XBRRs. Hopefully, some folks will buy and race these XBRRs that are showing up on ebay as the dealers realize that they may not be such valuable collectors items as they thought (nobody has paid $30,000 for one yet on ebay). These dealers are such an impatient bunch, as the true value will not be realized for years to come. jimidan | ||
| Davegess |
I don't think you need a second tier MotoGP guy to realize the full potential of the RR. McWilliams is very talented BUT I think his biggest edge was his ability to learn the bike/track combination quickly AND to know what changes he wanted made to make it faster. A young guy may actually be faster once the bike is set up. BTW Buell has not been doing nothing. They have not abandoned this project, they are committed to learning more and passing on info to racers. I think they are being very quiet about it to avoid all the hand wringing caused by the publicity last year. |
