| Author | Message | ||
     Mnrider |
Great event. I met some bwb and Erik signed my owners manual. Made the 800 mile ride in the rain and cold-well worth the trip. I wanted to hear more of Courts stories but he got cut short. Thanks to everyone for organizing this event. | ||
| Crusty |
If we had an extra week to prepare, I bet attendance would have been doubled. | ||
| Eor |
This was a good thing you guys did. I regret not being able to be there. I understand the emotions in play here, both as a motorcycle enthusiast and as a former employer. It seems to me that while Harley-Davidson developed brand loyalty largely through mass marketing of an image and lifestyle, Buell spurred brand loyalty and camaraderie by making a product that ignited people's passions. | ||
| Spuds |
Good on everyone that participated. Ottawa Ontario Canada is just too far away to have made this happen, time off work etc....I know excuses, excuses. I tip my hat. | ||
| Coolice |
Hi SPUDS from Ottawa Illinois! Yes THANK YOU to all that worked very hard on setting up the "event" It was good to see all the bikes ride in. Thank you to all at BMC, you guys are great, don't forget it. So til we meet again, get out and ride your Buells! | ||
| Slaughter |
It WAS a great thing to think that MAYBE the employees got a small sense of how we feel. My regret was that I couldn't be there in person but it felt good to know that the money went to good use. Thanks to ALL who did this and posted pics and video. | ||
| Squidbuzz |
So Brian, what was the final tally on how many got fed and such? Lots of people there, both riders and workers. Also, what are the plans for the surplus? | ||
| Spiderman |
It WAS a great thing to think that MAYBE the employees got a small sense of how we feel. Oh there was a big sense! I showed one of the line workers my tattoo and she almost cried. It was a great day indeed for both sides! | ||
| Mikef5000 |
So Brian, what was the final tally on how many got fed and such? Lots of people there, both riders and workers. Unofficially: 150 enthusiasts 200 employees | ||
| Tattoodnscrewd |
Surplus will be rolled into Homecoming 2010 ... more to come on that once dates and schedule is set. Mike has it pretty much right as far as numbers - my guess, nearly 350 total. Hard to know exactly - and I can't track attendance by who contributed because there were about 10-15 people that gave that weren't there, and out of the near 150 that attended - about 90 contributed. All I know is 50 pies were GONE .... all the chicken GONE .. Cookies GONE... I think only one cooler had anything left .. worked out pretty good. | ||
| Larryjohn |
The Buell visitors log should have a total number of enthusiasts who showed up. | ||
| Tattoodnscrewd |
They had said they gave out 143 visitors passes I believe ... but I am sure there were a few that slipped through without a pass ... or some that didn't require one. | ||
| Court |
>>>Surplus will be rolled into Homecoming 2010 .. Perfect and thank you for your hard work. Nicely done! | ||
| Court |
I probably need to expand on this a bit . . . I was gone the 5 days prior and didn't get to see BadWeB. A couple folks were kind enough to send me the schedule of events. I'm not quite sure who did what but it had all the trappings of one of those "Hal's and Owner's working together" deals. Top notch from start to finish. My compliments to everyone involved. The objective was to send a strong message of appreciation to The Elves and I think you did a stellar job. Court | ||
| Slaughter |
Let's pass the collection plate again for Homecoming and start building a small fund. Maybe show the Elves that their past contributions STILL matter? I'd be in. | ||
| Whatever |
Not sure who cut Court off but that was some funny shit... He was saying, "I was living in Sacramento at the time..." and Duga or someone else said "I thought you were gonna keep this brief?" Too too funny... I will remember the hugs... | ||
| Josh_ |
Pretty sure it was Flick, I got some good shots of the story, cut-off and aftermath  | ||
| Whatever |
Awesome... that was too funny... Just got the 25 Years of Buell book in the mail... gonna stay home tonight and read it!!! | ||
| Davegess |
Just got the 25 Years of Buell book in the mail Hope you like it. All the people at Buell that I talked to were very happy to see everyone and appreciative of the effort and support. They are all feeling pretty low right now, doing as well as can be expected and they are all pretty optimistic so will do fine. The support really made them all feel good. | ||
| Court |
It was great . . . . yep . . I was in Sacramento . . saw the first Buell, rented a plane, flew to Milwaukee, rented a car and wandered all over (not knowing at the time that 62% of the roads in Wisconsin were named Road X) until I found Erik. We sat and talked for hours. Scribbled, scratched and "what if'd". It hurt so much to see some of those faces. I've been to their weddings, waited for their calls when the new ones were born, seen their kid's dance recitals and watched them and their families grow. The gist of what I was saying was that they have PROVEN that American Manufacturing CAN be the best in the world. It's not about wages. That's the layman's smoke screen in manufacturing. It's about productivity. Many of you will never see it but the 2011 Buell has been the pinnacle of everything those folks worked for. The "process" was working. Testing, Analysis, Purchasing, Prototyping, Tooling and all functions were melding seamlessly. They literally had their legs kicked out from under them. Yeah . . I get emotional. It has literally changed my life, accounts for at least 4 hours of every day and still amazes and consumes me. I've met 4,000+ wonderful folks I would never have met. I talked about Buell when I gave the Commencement Address at Columbia University last May. I talked about change, opportunity and excellence. Buell has changed my life. No apologies. Court P.S. - I think everyone should go back . . . look at this video one more time and ask yourself what the Harley-Davidson Board of Directors was thinking. | ||
| 1313 |
My Mom sent me an interesting article about the "One Last Ride" from the East Troy Times. I hope the link works for everyone. One interesting sentence: "It's not about a protest, but about celebrating 26 years of bucking trends," said Steve Kurtz, president of the Bad Weather group. I don't recall reading about an election for BadWeB president... 1313 | ||
| Svh |
Wonder if anyone told Blake....  | ||
| Tattoodnscrewd |
What's really funny about that is who is Steve Kurtz ?? And since when did being an organizer of an event make you the president of anything ... I can say it must've been a comment from Steve Mackay ... because I (Brian Kurtz) did not say that to anyone ... in fact I didn't talk to any reporter or journalist... This girl apparently thought Steve and I were one guy ... hahaha On top of getting that wrong - she was wrong on other points too ... 50 riders ?! try again ... hahahaha Can't believe anything you read these days ... (Message edited by tattoodnscrewd on October 30, 2009) | ||
| Steve_mackay |
ROFKMAO! | ||
| Court |
All Hail President Kurtz! What the heck . . . you guys did a hell of a job organizing it! | ||
| F_skinner |
All hail Steve Kurtz!  Nice article. | ||
| Whatever |
Here I thought his last name was "screwd"??? | ||
| Squidbuzz |
I think the surplus should go to the Elves now instead of waiting 6+ months. Any other thoughts? | ||
| Spiderman |
Any other thoughts? Yeah, save it for homecoming. The elves I hung out at the bar with and talked to could not stop talking about a possible 2010 homecoming. | ||
| Squidbuzz |
But I think the big thing is a lot of people were sold that the donations for Monday would be used on Monday and used on the Elves, not saved for a later time. <shrug> |
