| Author | Message | ||
     José_Quiñones |
More stuff from the 2000 annual report
And finally something from 99
Low price, HIGH DEMAND, wow, what a concept! | ||
| José_Quiñones |
This is the last one, I promise!
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| José_Quiñones |
At least it's not you know who...... | ||
| José_Quiñones |
I say the things I say PRECISELY because I know Buell lurks around here and reads what we say, and hopefully what we say here makes it up the chain and is considered. This is better than that silly survey they send out in the mail. | ||
| Jim_Witt |
Cool, My turn in the barrel. If the Firebolt kept the traditional street-fighter design, refined it some more, added a respectable 140 ponies to the pavement and offered an optional air or water-cooled engine, it wouldn’t matter. Even if the motorcycle community overwhelmingly accepted and recognized this new hypothetical Firebolt model (as I outlined above) will mean absolutely nothing, until HD\Buell is willing to aggressively address and fix the problems of the past. The facts are; globally unacceptable service, parts availability, warranty issues not being resolved in a timely manner and minor design quirks that end up being labeled as reliability issues, are not big selling issues, and never will be. I consider myself to be a Buell enthusiast and would love to see HD/Buell gain a respectable share in the sportbike marketplace, however I honestly can’t visualize it happening from what I’ve seen to date. As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen or noticed anything publicly from HD/Buell that they’ve resolved and/or that they’re addressing these past issues. It makes me rather uncomfortable knowing the facts and having gone through these problems without anyone officially acknowledging “Hey dude, we’ve changed”. S'later, -JW:>) | ||
| Henrik |
Excerpts from the Firebolt intro review in Sportrider: "..yes, the fire-in-the-blank jokes were coming from all sides in the months leading up to Buell's press launch, but have been noticably abscent in the days since - the new Firebolt, you see, is good". "Upping the pace, the chassis remains stable and solid right up to the limits of the bike's street-oriented D207 Sportmaxes. Steering is light and neutral, althought the bike is reluctant to flick from side to side." "At the end of the day I was quite impressed with the Buell as a package. It's no R6 in the handling and power department, but competent enough to make it a (ahem) blast to ride on the track." "There is no doubt that Erik Buell and friends have worked wonders with what is still essentially an H-D Sportster-based engine, and the Firebolt - while still a notch down from japan and Italy's best - is a more than competent sportbike. The company has succeeded in creating a new "sportfighter" category, and the new Buell stands at the top of it's class - right now it's a class of one." The article is written by Andrew Trevitt, who is a competent and serious writer and I believe ex-racer as well. Pick up a copy for the full story :-) Henrik | ||
| Blake |
Anonymous: It really gets my goat when I lose a masterpiece of prose to the BBS gremlins. Sorry for your troubles. If that happens again, try hitting the "Back" button on your browser, then "cut" the 2nd half of your post; "post" the first half; then "post" the 2nd half in a subsequent "Add a Message" attempt. Better yet... put your prose down in a word processor or text editor first, then paste it into the "Add a Message" window. | ||
| Anonymous |
If you think Buell is innovating then may I refer you to the latest copy of "Motorcyclist" magazine. There you will find specs on: 1) Duke's new motor with equivalent displacement to the 'bolt and over 100 horsepower at the rear wheel...from a v-twin. HELLO BUELL?????????? In a bike that is the size of the Firebolt..hell the thing looks to be the size of a Blast! (page 22) 2) Ducati's new FIREBREATHING V-Twin engine throwing down *210 horsepower* at an eye (and probably ear as well) popping 18,000 (no, that's not a mistype) RPM!!!! HELLO BUELL????? (page 24) Tell me again about Buell innovation and how their eye is on "their" marketplace?? Buell is about to be seriously over-run by V-TWIN bikes that are defined as being in their market...by their own admission. If you think Ducati's bike isn't gonna handle great and stop on a dime giving nine cents change then you better crawl outta the cave your living in.Reliability? How many did not finish showings did Ducati rackup this last year compared to Buell's in the Pro Thunder races? 'Nuff said. Buell needs to pickup the pace or shortly their just going to be a dim memory. And for my last gripe...if Duke (DUKE of all companies) and Ducati can produce engines that put the holy living smack down on HD/Buell offerings WHAT are those wacky people in East Troy up to??? Isn't the mothership supposed to be the King of V-Twins? I don't doubt that HD has "the poop" to stay in the game, but they better start flinging it...or shortly their gonna be swimming in it. Go pickup a copy of the mag and look it over for yourself. I'm left shaking my head and hoping that Uncle Erik has some serious magic up his sleeves. | ||
| S320002 |
I think us Buellers can take heart in the words of Mark Twain, "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." Greg | ||
| S320002 |
Anon, I think the Ducati you speak of is the F1 race prototype. Kind of like comparing a NASCAR racer to your Aunt Nellie's Chevy, or watermelons to cumquats. And yes, we would all like to know what those wacky people in East Troy are up to. Might be interesting to be a mouse in the corner. Greg Greg | ||
| Blake |
Never heard of a motorcycle company called "Duke". The 210 HP Duc is the GP entry. Try and buy one; it'll cost you two arms, a leg, and a testicle. So Anony, according to you, HP and racing are the primary attributes that sell bikes? I'd have to disagree. Maybe you are forgetting the very laudable attributes of the XB9R? Exceptional handling. Excellent fuel mileage. Excellent power at less than turbine-like revs. No valve adjustment required, EVER. No drive chain maintenance, EVER. No drive chain/belt adjustment, EVER. No liquid cooling system maintenance, EVER. The first production fuel in the frame bike, EVER. The first production perimeter brake bike, EVER. Rather than pontificate, try reviewing Buell's history. If you do so considerately, you might recognize a steady and very deliberate evolution of a viable product line. From a few hand-built bikes, to a family of recall ridden, mass produced models, to a ground breaking 500cc single, and finally to the revolutionary XB9R. Before tackling a world beating repliracer or even a totally new configuration of powerplant, wasn't it wise of Buell to FIRST solve their reliability/quality issues?! Wouldn't it be wise of Buell to demonstrate their committment to product integrity/reliability in an innovative new model, BEFORE laying their worldbeater, take-no-prisoners beast of a motorcycle on the world. I'm left shaking my head and hoping that most people aren't so short sighted that they see Buell's success as contingent simply on the HP output of their motorcycles. | ||
| S2no1 |
Blake, Asking price on those Ducatis requires some internal organs and the other arm. Problem is you can't ride the bike on the street, especially with that high purchase price. I'm quite certain a few will try. However, I'll take them through my favorite desert/mountain route in New Mexico. Bet after 500 miles they'd like a different anything besides a Ducati. Although I love the looks of the silver ST2's. HP is important to a people who want braggin rights or a rush on the straights. Take an S2 or S3 and a UJM SPORTBIKE on a long cruise. For the short term the S2 won't keep up. But I bet that I can outdistance any Hayabusa/GIXXER/R1/R6/CBR rider over a multi-day ride just because of ergonomics and the ride. One stipulation, I get to pick the route. Without even riding a Firebolt, I'd consider this bet on one of those. It has to do with streetability and rideability vs. HP and extreme sport orientation. Although I would like a slightly bigger gas tank. Relability of some models aside. Buells are great STREET BIKES, they can be used as a short time track-day bike, but current Buells are not RACE BIKES or RACER WANNA BE BIKES. Although, I'm sure there may be one in the future, especially if Buell is serious about the European market. As I recall, about 1/2 the total Buell production gets shipped overseas. Americans sometimes forget that we only make up about 250 million of a 5.5 Billion population. We are not the only consumers out there. Think about this; How does the Firebolt work with a European riding style, especially since they don't have the extensive interstate system we enjoy/loathe in the United States. PPIA, Rocket, Mark-in-Ireland, Any comments? Time for bed, 1/2 of Oklahoma is still without electricity and I have work at 6:00 AM. Arvel | ||
| Xgecko |
Arvel's right that 748R starts at $30-40K depending on the toys you add on and can easilly reach $50k Now I realize that the Pro Thunder Buells had a lot of custom work but even if they had the same as the Duc at roughly $20k that puts the price in the $30k range. The Duke that Anon was refering to is probably the "new" KTM Duke which is slated to run their new sub liter liquid cooled Vtwin that recently won the Paris Dakar it has been sighted in Europe in a Monster like frame and KTM has already stated that they want to go roadracing with it in a few years. The motor Rocks BTW it's lighter that anything Ducati has ever built...quite probably it will be a sub 400lbs (wet) liquid cooled Superbike in street legal trim. Not to mention that it is way more reliable than anything anyone else has made...in offroad build it runs 130hp. I know this I will be looking at it, KTM's are good bikes and they run forever | ||
| Rocketman |
IN TO THE ABYSS I think the Firebolt will sell as well as any other Buell over here. At the end of the day, Buell over here sells to riders who LIKE something different (in every sense ? Maybe). I believe the Firebolt will continue in this tradition but I can't see it been a landslide success. Ok, maybe they'll sell more Bolts than tubed frame models, which is all well and good in the UK but I doubt this will work for the home market. I can't second guess what Buell want out of life but I think it all comes down to capability. Volume is the key to Buell. They simply don't seem capable of giving us, that's those amongst who want it, a cracking souped up S1. They surely must be capable of building a tiny production run of 'specials' so I recon there must be a good reason for 'em not to. Buell have moved up a gear and that means keeping up with what you've created. The Blast and Firebolt will use up all of Buells production capabilities and this is why the tube frame models will be discontinued. Nothing lasts forever. I stand with Neil on a lot of his points. I firmly believe that Buell has a right to give his fans what they want. As far as I'm concerned, motorcycle manufacture the world over is based on customer desire. Often the market is surveyed to find our likes and dislikes so our opinions must count at least somewhere. Where Buell are concerned they're moving up the production ladder so they won't really have an interest in hand building a few specials because they're too busy reaching for other targets, which is kind of a shame really, because it wouldn't be difficult for the company to keep us BRAND LOYAL members happy for the sake of a 100 or so production special. Reaching for the skies is fine but leaving behind your staple diet shows a lack of loyalty for Buell fans of old. Ask yourself this. We seem to agree that 40ish is the average age of Buell owners past and present, so how old is the target market for potential Firebolt owners ? 40 ? I think not. Do I give a shit ? Yes, for I want to be able to stand at the bar and poke fun at my friends who can't see the magic in Buell ownership. Been 40 means a lot of overweight Americans are not gonna buy the Bolt for fear of looking ridiculous when at the helm. Us 40 somethings need a Buell too, and at our age a Squid bike is great in the line-up, but it's not for the old farts amongst us. More so the fatter ones. Old timers need to be catered for too. After all, where would Buell be today without us ? Now go get that S1 SUPERBIKE built, is what I say. Something that the Squid bike can look up to !!!!!!! Rocket in England | ||
| Court |
Ineresting....I live near Ducati, USA and know some of the folks. In addition, I have the good fortune of working a block from their flagship US store. I am going to slip in and ask about buying one of these 210HP Ducatis. This is great news. In addition, I am sitting here in the midst of the highest paid folks in the USA who buy 996's as starter bikes (delivered in trucks to their homes in the Hamptons). I am eager to find out how many of the 210HP units have been sold to some of these 7 figure folks who snapped up the MV Agustas. Thanks for the tip! Court |
