| Author | Message | ||
     Tim_w |
OK so we know what happened. We also know there is more than just a cult following here. We have smart people posting with real ideas and smart answers. We need to start making lemonade here! Heres an idea I wanna bounce off you guys; Survey interest in share selling. Keep the bike!!!, maybe use an S & S engine (or give me an idea for an American motor). We are Americans damn it and I'm F'n tired of seeing my $$$ going overseas. Eric has good people with good ideas going through the same struggles as other Americans. They will be without a job Dec. 18th, this buys us time. Ducati owners group in Texas saved Ducatis ass, we can do this! I challenge all of us to pull our resources, this is OUR bike company, what WE like to ride. I could have spent all $11,000 dollars on any bike I wanted. I served not once, but twice in the US Army and I put my money to save a brother AND sisters job. I didn't want my many hours of sweat going to Japan or anywhere else. If you guys are as passionate about your tire peeling, torque monster, thigh burning Eric Buell invention then lets try to save it. I'll watch for your ideas, bitches gripes and complaints, this is why I joined the Army twice so we could have this right but Americans overcome. We aren't p***y's and it's time to show people this. I called HD today and told them exactly what I've expressed here; you can do the same- | ||
| Daveswan |
I tried to get HD email, but they don't have email access just the number to call and the address to write. I'm sort-of worried that a petition sent to HD would get swept under the rug if it didn't do straight to a Buell person. I even have been going as far as writing to Jay Leno who's passionate about motorsports. I think he even has a Buell. And, yeah... there is the HD phone number. But since Buell is 1% share of the market a lot of people whom are common folk are not going to give a sh*t but the ones who do have to gather in number to rattle a bigger elephant... put pressure on it or awareness within a venture capitalist or motorsport group who see the passion and want to drive with it. It's a part of American pride and innovation, adapt and persevere. If you can link the pride and symbolism to the brand and I think HD thinks that's what they're doing by putting all of there bets on their failed business model and Harley but that was Harley of the 50's this is 2000-almost 10 and there's a place for nostalgia creating something as it was virtually unchanged from the 50's isn't it. It's McClassic. They've redefined themselves and the backlash of consumer disconnect from HD will take time to overcome. I wonder if enough people collectively could buy the group along with Eric. Have to run the numbers and do a cost analysis. I've seen a story about an impassioned retired business owner who came out of retirement to buy back his business at a loss to keep it running. He had plans to grow it again and a responsibility to the people. Some things are hard when you alone don't have the cash but with large groups of interested parties... sometimes they can do it alone or that's passion is enough to make an investor take another look. I think the plan needs to have full size bikes with lower cc's as well to help fill a mass need. European and japanese markets would require 400cc the Europeans could use that and something in the middle or a 1200 and 400. Not a fr*iggin blast! needs to look just like the full size and be a twin. Ducati has grown this year despite the market. HD is down 84% - whoops. Harley doesn't get it and Buell needs to be on it's own. Eric has to think of himself and getting a check for now but, If I were him and done what he's done I wouldn't count him out of the fight. He's got to have something in his head, god knows what. Aside from camping out in front of his house and gaining media attention that way there's got to be... and hey, maybe it comes to that too... but even trying to get a list of names from sponsors, builders, riders agents etc.... Jesus... it's not like this was a crap idea that we're glad finally went away, this is good stuff! (Message edited by daveswan on October 15, 2009) | ||
| Tim_w |
Dave, yes and I agree with most what you've said here. Lets start with the ideas; COST analysis, is there someone here with this expertise? Jay Leno: big name passionate people who can capture an audience/get the word out. Eric's ideas/wheels are spinning, thats just how genious works. If someone knows how to get this out to him, we'll need some info from him to crunch numbers/find who IS still interested and show that person our numbers (rider wise) and $$$ support if this exists. I know most of you are thinking "Ive already invested with my purchase yet if we can ALL pool a bit of cash AND set expectation this could be incentive for investors. This does not have to be a HD brand to be American. Keep it coming guys, we're on a role...... | ||
| Moonrunrs |
Jay Leno does own at least one Buell -- a 12R. He rode it to the Rock Store before. | ||
| Reducati |
im in....god this bike is good | ||
| Daveswan |
There's a guy who just posted on the other thread "Fischer1" I think who owns Fischer and says he just spoke with Erik etc. -- need a mole. How about governor Arnold... I think it's time he rode a Buell. A sympathetic actor... Paul Newman...nope he died, Steve McQueen, same I think... and maybe I'll have to think younger. A lot of the Harley stuff is made in Mexico... so America-yes, just don't ask north or south. But seriously, no idea is a bad idea it's all part of brain storming. | ||
| Roysbuell |
I believe Angelina Jolie has a Buell Lightning. | ||
| Davegess |
I wonder how long it will be before someone leaks a photo of the 2010 bike. I am betting it was gonna be way cool. This whole thing sucks. Keep this thread going, likely will need to take it off line before you can get really serious about it. | ||
| Dj_engine |
What about selling the bikes as kits, like the chopper guys do? I'd like to see a completely Harley-free Buell after this, so why not buy the tooling and sell the frames, plastic body parts, and other Buell-unique parts? Source the engines from Bombardier like they do now. Same principle applies to wheels, brake calipers, tires, bars, controls, and switchgear. This is not a new idea. There's a company making a reproduction '67 Camaro, and this has been Factory Five's model for years. | ||
| Buell2001b |
I can't believe they are not even talking in the news about Buell and the idiot managers at HD. I say buy Buell gear anthing you can. The only thing I am glad about this year is that my son was at NJ and saw an American company whip the jap companies. I say Obama stick a 400% tarrif on all japp bikes and subsidice Buell, not the idiots at HD | ||
| Veebuell10 |
Funny thing is the idiots at HD don't realize that their idiots, hence....being idiots. They won't wake up until their entire company and American Motorcycle manufacturing is dead. | ||
| Cborel |
im going to talk to a guy in northern Virginia, he is a really good long friend of mine and owns truly one of the top 5 full car restoration companies in the world and does a lot of work for jay leno, i like your idea about that, we need to kick this thing off fast, ill get back to everyone shortly. i love my buell, i love the company, no company has ever done what they have in this day in age. NO ONE. i dont care what its going to take, we will get our brand back, we will be american's. | ||
| Captainkirk |
I agree with all of you on getting the big names involved. I'd love to own stock in Buell. I hope HD chokes on it's own vomit, flooding the market with the same ol' same ol' different-paint-scheme-for-this-year crap. The MoCo is heading for a fall of apocalyptic proportion, and I'll dance on their grave. | ||
| Fmaxwell |
I'd love to see the brand saved, but it's not going to happen. You can't produce "kit" Buells because Buell owns the patents on fuel-in-frame, ZTL brakes, underslung exhaust, etc. I won't even get into the logistics and costs -- because it can't happen. Harley won't sell Buell, but they may sell patents to get some money (think Aprilia with fuel in frame or Suzuki with ZTL brakes). That's part of the problem: MV doesn't have a lot of valuable patents, so they get sold off. Buell does, so they get shut down. It sucks, but no letter writing campaign, protest rides to HD headquarters, or yelling at HD Customer Service reps is going to change Harley management's mind. | ||
| Chipper6 |
"According to CFO John Olin, the Buell brand is not accounted for separately on the Harley-Davidson books, and therefore the company has chosen to kill it rather than sell it off." According to this article HD purchased MV Agusta for 109 Million in 2008. http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/15/harley-davi dson-to-shut-down-buell-mv-augusta-brands-finally/ I don't know how much money HD has into Buell but I think that said investors could probably make offers to purchase all the equipment, trademarks, rights, etc. for less than 109 Million. With Google announcing a 1.6 Billion USD QUARTERLY Profit, we just need to find the right person with a Buell in their garage. (Message edited by Chipper6 on October 16, 2009) | ||
| Buellishxx |
Maybe it's time to start the first Website based / Internet motorcycle company. I bet Harley isn't even interested in selling, unless of course somebody might pay them the 125 million they figure it's going to cost them to shut down the company. Has anyone found an email address for the illustrious CEO of Harley yet? Take a look at the quote below, maybe we should show them how much value the Buell brand has! According to CFO John Olin, the Buell brand is not accounted for separately on the Harley-Davidson books, and therefore the company has chosen to kill it rather than sell it off. Another explanation might be that the brand has little to no value. (Message edited by buellishxx on October 16, 2009) | ||
| Tim_w |
On a role here. Some negative stuff but ideas do come from venting. On line company for bikes havent been done full bore that I know of and it would be innovative with the right promotions (adds placed in the right areas, arenas, etc.). Another idea I had was stimulous money. Who is it offered to and why???? This needs to be researched. We NEED to get on the Leno show, does his sight accept e-mails? (down time = less interest we need media coverage while this is fresh). Who out here works in advertising? We need ideas, catch phraises, etc. We need someone with political connections to find government funding available, ie grant writers, lobbiests, etc. Keep them coming, this is Americans helping Americans. How about the union of the employees involved? Do they know we are interested? Come on guys, we're on a role- | ||
| Tim_w |
One more thing...lets link this to other blogs; the more interest the more resources. | ||
| Unpaved313 |
You might want to check out The Motorcycle Radio Network show on Saturday night - we're going to devote the entire show examining Harley's decision to kill Buell. Keep in mind that one host (Todd B) used to work for H-D at Buell, and the other (Bill) is from a family that owned an H-D dealership for 30 years. Go to http://www.motorcycleradionetwork.com to listen live on Saturday night at 9PM Eastern or download the podcast after the show ends on iTunes or Zune (search Motorcycle Radio Network). You can also check out our partner site at http://www.UltimateMotorCycling.com to see a whole bunch of information related to this horrible turn of events. You'll also want to continue to watch these sites afterward, as there are several additional articles and opinion pieces coming soon. | ||
| Buell2001b |
Maybe we can put a Buell on a balloon and see how much media it gets | ||
| Daveswan |
I emailed jays show ... thought it will inevitably go through the gauntlet of personal assistants and end up in the trash. You can find links through Jays Garage... you can submit photos and there's there own moderated forums. Maybe save a text message as a HELP BUELL image and post it on there site like a ransom note. That's a little more desperate. Maybe a large media outlet that does news stories... I was thinking 20/20 or something but what about a FOX show? Weave in American pride and corporate complacency -- wouldn't they start rattling cages? I'll try them too, can't hurt.  | ||
| Tim_w |
Is the Angelia Jolene rumor true? If she does have a bike I can see here as a guest on Jay's and both pulling on stage with their Buells. The theme would be Americans saving an American brand and American jobs! Lets get some die hard Buellers and Eric with a few employees on the show. The producers would eat this up, everyone knows how passionate Jay is about American machinery. | ||
| Buell2001b |
Tim that is a great idea, the question is who knows the producers at Jay Leno | ||
| Buell2001b |
I would like to suggest Buellers ride to the Capitol In the East coast and anyone that woudl join in. we could set a date for it. I would take a day off to ride and be there. I have room in my basement for buellers that woudl need a place to crash for the night. | ||
| X1carbon |
Could make a movie about it to get support. There was "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." We could name ours, "Buellers Layed Off." In Ferris' movie they repeated, "Save Ferris." Ours could say, "Save Buellers." Just a thought... just a thought... | ||
| Buell2001b |
dude with youtube we should make movies | ||
| Daveswan |
I emailed Hannity with the American jobs, pride and innovation and champion the underdog. he likes that stuff. I have a contact who has contacts in the film industry. I'm going to see what I can dig up there. | ||
| Oddball |
Leno/Buell Motorcycles. Have Rotax and S&S for engine suppliers. Then they could completely disconnect from HD and their precious dealer network. | ||
| Tim_w |
"Buellers Laid Off" GENIOUS!!! ok so we all need to saturate You Tube with our stories.I made a profile on Jays Garage and started a forum under; BIKES. I'm sure Jay's gotta read these things. Hannity is another fabulous media avenue. Who would be concerned enough on the West coast to organize a ride to make our voices heard? Assemblymen/women? UAL or an equivelant? Looks like Buell2001b has the East coast question already on the table. Ideas guys....keep'em coming. X1carbon contributes; "Buellers Laid Off" excellent!! | ||
| Daveswan |
I'll add to jays forum... Maybe Mel Gibson can play the part of Eric Buell and at the end of the movie he screams and the small HD execs. disembowel him. I think that was Braveheart |
