| Author |
Message |
    
Cityxslicker
| | Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2010 - 01:11 pm: | 
|
you saw it over in the VW crowd too. Those familiar with that culture know there is a rift between air head and water thumper. No fixin it. You will meet a few that have both or owned both, but by in large the younger crowd is water orientated. And in the vane of 'these kids these days' are always seen as immature, technically shallow, and all about the bench race.
but hey, with out them there wouldnt be stickers to make the cars look faster 
IF BUELL had built the water cooled 450 cc dirty bike, I would be a water thumper too.
My sig on another forum
If you are going to whine about the lack of riding, maybe you should get off the computer and go RIDE |
Court
| | Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2010 - 02:08 pm: |
|
>>>No one is require to contribute to the threads, provide useful information, provide encouragement or help those in need.
The part that pisses me off is the fact that that is true.
It used to be when someone had a problem, like the kid did the other day with the ECM, I'd ask questions, get answers and fix the problem pronto.
I've been spending about $30,000 of Buells money a year getting folks' problems solved FAST. Last year I had the pleasure of sending 3 folks new motorcycles after their efforts had failed. When someone finally listened close, in those days you could hold a conversation, I was often able to go back to the folks in Customer Service and say "technically you did the right thing by the book . . . but here are the reasons we need to reconsider".
To their credit Jon Flickinger (enthusiastically) and the Harley-Davidson Customer Service Team (slow to come around at first . . lord I pissed them off . . but they came around and did great) provided me with unbelievable support.
Last year . . for the first time in 22 years of doing it . . I actually kept a "case by case" log fully intending to write about some of the amazing things Erik Buell made happen behind the scenes. To most the world Erik Buell is an iceberg. . . you've seen but a glimpse. He's not "one of". . . he is the single accessible Chairman of a motorcycle company in the world. Quick . . name a single PERSON who works at Honda, Suzuki or Ducati. The amazing part is that the world has yet to see (E.L.V.I.S. was a glimpse) at some of the amazing things Erik has done and enabled behind the scenes.
Most telling was the reporter who showed up at the Buell house the day the plant closing was announced. Tish opens the door, the reporter and the truck are in the drive . . . "Is Erik here?". "No, I'm sorry he's not". the guy went on to explain that he'd gone to the plant in hopes if interviewing Erik but the HD media folks were not allowing press in. He went on to tell Tish . . . "Mrs. Buell, I've got to tell you something. While we at the plant folks started leaving for lunch. I spoke to 4 or 5 of them. When I asked each of them how they felt all they could talk about was how much they lobed Buell, admired Erik and loved working there. I have to tell you that, as a news reporter in Wisconsin, I've covered more plant closings and this is not what we are used to hearing when a company just told 200 folks they are out of a job".
Telling.
Lord knows that since the late 80's I've been one of Erik Buell's greatest headaches. I've seen him so mad he wanted to kill me. There were some things over the years I REALLY screwed up. I've broken. . yes, it's true Virgina, a few rules. But there's one thing I've always been able to count on. If I am honest and doing my level best to help a Buell customer I could always count on Erik (and later Flick) to cash any check I wrote. The only constraint was to be honest, tell the truth and live by the Buell values.
I may have pushed it last year when I got the frantic call from an Italian on holiday in the early morning hours (they are 6 hours ahead of me) . . . he was on the road, had a problem and all the Italian Buell dealers were closed for the month of August. I told him "give me your cell number" . . . and sent an equally frantic HELP e-mail to Mr. Flickinger.
Turns out . . even with Flick in a meeting . . the contact was made with Buell Europe and a dealer from Spain quickly showed up, retrieved the owner and the bike and the guy was on his way in no time.
My subsequent conversation with Flick had an element of "I'd kill you if I knew where I could hide your fat body". He laughed. We both knew I'd overstepped my bounds . . I, as has happened before, figured it out after I shot my mouth off . . but Flick didn't bat an eye and not only met but exceeded every ridiculous "don't worry, we'll have someone right there" commitment I'd made. That's the way Buell Elves, from Erik and Flick to the guys (I wrote about Nate and Dez in the book) in crating work. It's not a "process" . . it's a way of thinking. Anybody can weld . . but Jack Reinhart, Danno, TA, SF, and the Elves do it with their heart.
I suppose . . at this point . . I could share another one that I'd asked the owner (I have a collection of well over 1,000 that I've acted on the condition that the owner not say a word publicly) not to divulge.
A couple years ago . . in the early stages of the bearing problems, we were having a party with Mike Stone and Geoff and Susan Tate of Queensryche. A Bueller and his wife rode a long way to join us. Soon after leaving NYC and heading off to the Queensryche concert in Atlantic City they lost the rear wheel bearings in the Uly.
Mike Stone stopped to help. The guy and his lovely wife got a U-Haul truck, loaded the bike, headed to AC, got a room, Stone gave them tickets to the concert and the next day they drove the Uly home in the truck. I got wind about it by accident.
I was so impressed that he never once bitched or moaned just made the best out of a bad situation that I sent the guy a note and simply told him "send me all your receipts." He did and 3 weeks later he gets a nice note and a check for $1,000 from Harley-Davidson. I still have the nicest note and the coffee cups they sent me on my desk . . the most powerful words in the world are "thank you".
I always laugh about folks who worry about their warranty running out. In 2007 I sent out about 9 complete sets of bodywork for 1997 and 1998 Buells. Erik's a funny guy who doesn't play bullshit games. His marching orders to me have always, without even having to say it, "if we're responsible for it, fix it". This was never more evident than the day Buell became the first motorcycle company in history to say "stop right now. Stop building bikes and we're not building one more till we fix this" and recall every motorcycle they'd made for essentially what were upgrades. Nothing, technically, would have prompted a legally mandated recall.
Those were fun times. I miss them as I find myself more and more asking questions and getting "why the •••• do you want to know?" responses. It's not the rude replies or the lack of civil manners that bothers me . . it's that I find myself starting to not care as much.
My wife, who's always . . .even while shaking her head. . supported me in this Quixotic quest had recently started encouraging me to "clean the basement out and spend your time with the Porsche Club". She seen some of the offline e-mails I've gotten and she makes a good point.
But . . like gum from a hot sidewalk on the bottom of the Keds. . . Erik's been stuck with me since 1987 and my bet is that the most exciting chapters are quietly being written.
Elves just don't seem to give up.
Court
P.S. - Sometime . . for shits and grins . . call Ducati and tell them the paint on your 14 year old Monster is fading and ask them to send you $1,500 of bodywork . . " then maybe you'll understand the song, it
will be worth it, if not for the sake of this song but for the sake of your own peace of mind. |
Americanmadexb
| | Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2010 - 02:14 pm: |
|
 |
Kim_g
| | Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2010 - 05:40 pm: |
|
>>>"The bikes get you but the people keep you"
and for me it was the opposite, it was for all the reasons that Court talked about. The just plain honest, real people that are Buell.
I finally "got it" at the 25th and it wasn't all the bells and whistles of the event. It was all the great people that I met! These people who continue to amaze me. Where else can a small group of people pull off something like Last Ride?
I can't wait for Homecoming this year to hang out with people I consider friends. |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2010 - 05:46 pm: |
|
Oh Lord...can we imagine how much fun she's gonna be once she "gets" the bikes?? Just need the mid-Atlantic Ice Age to end so she can start logging miles on her new Blast!  |
Court
| | Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2010 - 05:47 pm: |
|
..... It was the same the first year . . . When there were 42 of us Buell owners .... Not "there" ..... But in the world.
:-) |
Mountainstorm
| | Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2010 - 06:13 pm: |
|
You called me out in a post above as a talker Court. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although I am not an elf and can't magically fix people's problems with an email I do my part. I appreciated your "I was wrong" post and the reason I did not follow up on that was the thread was foul.
We may not see eye to eye on political subjects, but I do admire your commitment to Erik Buell and his vision.
You tried to help me about 10 years ago with a warranty issue but Buell flat out refused to honor the warranty and acted like you were just a busy body...not some right hand man. That always confused me Court.
But I say let bygone be bygones. I'm happy you are able to help so many Buellers, even if you were unable to rectify my situation.
Regards
RWK
PS the finish on the frame of my Millenium is fading. Just saying.  |
Whatever
| | Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2010 - 06:50 pm: |
|
What cracks me up Court, is some of the stories you tell seem so strange that they have to be true... I am waiting on a book about the next 25 years...
Maybe we can find a new "Mr. Cash" soon? If I had a hundred dollars for every dumb a$$, unplanned cross state, cross country trip I have taken on my Buell by myself with no support I could probably be "Mrs. Cash" myself! |
|
