| Author | Message | ||
     46champ |
Who will be the dealers? This question is kind of directed at the existing Buell dealer employees. With all the rumors that there will be street Buells again do the existing dealers care? | ||
| Barker |
IIRC, Erik did say he resented that HD would not let him do direct factory sales to customers. | ||
| Xbrad9r |
I manage a Ford dealership that has a large showroom that would look great with a few Erik Buell Racing machines lined up in the front window. (Best American cars and best American bikes at the same location) I say offer franchises and let people with a great track record of customer service and sales numbers have a shot a becoming Erik Buell Racing dealers. | ||
| Xbrad9r |
I wouldn't mind the buy direct approach either. Let Erik and his team be the ones that sell you the bike, and he could sign the bike at time of delivery...how's that for a memorable buying experience? | ||
| Trojan |
It would be quite hard to find a dealer network that could do a worse job of promoting and selling the bikes thats for sure! I would think that a dealer with sportsbike experience would be the best place. Probably multi franchise, Ducati or KTM? | ||
| Spank |
I am hoping for the factory direct thing! How cool would that be, to order online and have the thing show up at your door! I understand there will be people's concern about servicing places, but that isn't a concern of mine. Maybe it can be handled like Royal Enfield is doing and let anyone who wants to be a dealer (who already is a service shop), to do so... | ||
| Jaimec |
For something as expensive as a motorcycle, I'd rather NOT deal with mail order. I want a brick and mortar shop I can turn to when I have issues that need resolving. I'm a RIDER, not a mechanic. | ||
| Froggy |
The bricks are in Wisconsin. I wouldn't hesitate to order it online, then be able to fly to the factory and watch it get build, like the Corvette. Hell you can even build your own Corvette motor now too. | ||
| Ourdee |
For a small fee I could run up to e.troy. Pick up you bike and ride it to you. | ||
| Greg_e |
You must think beyond the initial sale. You must have a support network in place to deal with things when they break, especially warranty issues. Do you really think you would get many sales if the user had to haul the bike back to the factory every time there was a warranty issue? It's a damn long trip from southern Florida or California. With the water cooled engine I don't think it will be hard to pick up a dealer network made by independent dealers around the world. The bigger issues are dealing with the EPA and DOT certifications, I don't know if those could be simply transferred from the previous machine or if new company would have to go through the entire process again. | ||
| Cyclonedon |
The bricks are in Wisconsin. I wouldn't hesitate to order it online Erik Buell Racing is located less than 50 miles from where I live, I would just go there and pick it up. As far as warranty service is concerned, I think Erik and the elves would be the absolute best to take care of a motorcycle's problems that might occur. I hope there is a new Ulysses in the lineup.  | ||
| 2kx1 |
The most interesting thing that I have seen is what Highland is going to do which is have demos at dealers and when a customer orders a bike it will be delivered in 5-7 days with customer selected options already installed. Very low overhead for a dealer, dealer is enthused about product therefore dealer will take care of customer. | ||
| Reepicheep |
For better or worse, I know few dealerships of *any* brand that don't have a bad reputation. And where are we now, a bad stator on an 1125 takes 3+ months to fix? So there have to be some ways to do it better, and lots of ways to do it that aren't any worse. I like the Ford dealer idea. Call it "Last of the Free Americans Outpost". | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Selling in Ford dealerships sounds great, but servicing again is the problem. I don't see Ford dealerships springing for all new motorcycle repair tools/parts/training. I think selling in your standard duciti/ktm/BRP/jap bike type dealerships is about the only reasonable option. I'd love to fly and ride at the factory like many higher end car companies do. And I also do most of my own service. But in the end, I want a shop that can help if I have serious issues or need warranty work. I think sales would be dead slow if they were only sold factory direct. Might be a good way to start, but they need to be in dealerships to sell any sort of decent numbers. | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
I think the Highland way is a good option but in the end I like whole i can walk in to a dealership and ride out idea that a regular dealership gives you. To me the best option would be to be sold at the multi brand shops but more then just those maybe some Erik Buell Racing only shops as well. I mean heck I can't afford to do that right now but one day I would love to own my own motorcycle dealership and more than that i would love for it to be a Buell only shop. | ||
| B00stzx3 |
Ford dealers selling Buells. Install a crabcake and Bud Light dispenser and I'll move in. Hell I'll work for free!! | ||
| Reepicheep |
I'd like to see the model change to be much more accommodating of direct buy and self support. You will always need a brick and mortar presence, but I think it's getting less important all the time. And I think an ASE certified car mechanic with ready access to detailed service manuals and a hotline to company experts could do really well with a lot of motorcycle work. I live near Cincinnati (hardly a small town) and the nearest BMW dealer is over an hour away in Columbus. Heck, maybe you can do regional service centers for "light repairs" and normal maintenance, and those same places operate as a drop point and shipper to a couple of central "centers of excellence" (or even the factory for that matter). Serious problem (i.e. anything that requires removing the motor) and you drop your bike off, they ship it the next day to the service center, and you have it back in 10 working days (two to ship it there, 6 to fix it, two to ship it back). The central location would have *all* parts stocked, so the downtime would be about the same as what we are used too from uninspired local dealers failing to stock things like cam cover gaskets (sigh!). | ||
| Firstbuell |
now THIS is an interesting conversation about a 'new' Buell company let's forget distracting product particulars & address sales & service only many of us have experienced 1st-hand the difference good service makes to any vehicle purchase dunno that distance away is as important to me as knowing 1 visit will get the repair completed - what a concept! | ||
| Oddball |
I just knew BOOstzx3 was a marylander with the crab cake dispenser request.  http://www.timbukturestaurant.com/ They have good ones. | ||
| Court |
Amazing options exist. | ||
| Trojan |
It doesn't really matter how the initial purchase is handled. Either mail order, build to order, build and collect etc etc etc What matters is that the aftersales service si 100% up to scratch and glitch free. Small volume motorcycle manufacturers (which is what Buell will be for a while at least) have always struggled in this area and it is what makes or breaks reputations and products. Bimota, Morini, Highland, MV, Confederate and other low volume producers have suffered from the usual lack of dealer service/support and lack of spares availability that seems to strike small producers regularly. Buell cannot afford to have bad dealerships next time, as they need to make sure they are above the H-D experience and that buyers can have confidence in the bike as a stand alone product. This is why I think the must be sold from a chain of reputable dealerships that already have experince of high performance V Twin motorcycles such as KTM or Ducati. These also tend to be better funded, better trained and more motivated than some others I can think of. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Is a traveling Buellership on wheels still a consideration? | ||
| Reepicheep |
That'll be bad news to my local Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Toyota, GM, Dell, Apple, Garmin, and GE dealers. As I have personally had multiple non glitch free experiences with every one of them. My interactions with the Buell factory were not glitch free either, but they were marked by a strong commitment to make things right and a genuine concern for me as an owner. That was enough then, I'm betting it will be enough in the future.  | ||
| Hr_puffinstuff |
Small spot in a strip mall. two or three employees, two or three "fully optioned" bikes on display. sit down with your (well trained) factory sales rep. and order YOUR BIKE online. the color option YOU want, chain vs. belt, suspension options that suit YOU, the clubmans, clip-ons or standard bars YOU want, standard or programable ECM, ect. at some point, you get e-mail notification that YOUR bike is being built. the e-mail contains the link you need to watch it happen on the line. once it has cleared Quality Control, you can either go get it, (cheapest $) have it delivered to where you ordered it, (a little more $$) or have it dropped off at the house, ready to go. (even more $$$, depending on location) the factory sales rep knows all the indi shops in the area that have qualified to become a "Buell Factory Authorized Service Center," and has IN STOCK, most of the smaller items you will need to replace at some point. (brake pads, clutch cables, ect.) put me down for a new street bike, and i'll pay it off as the most enthusiastic, pimptastic Buell salesman around!! | ||
| Greg_e |
You CAN NOT have a programmable ECM on a street bike, the EPA will not allow it. If someone hacks it, that's a different matter altogether. | ||
| Court |
>>>You CAN NOT have a programmable ECM on a street bike MOST of the things in this thread . . while fun to talk about . . you can't do . . .as a result of one regulation or another. The discussion is illuminating and interesting. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
what ever the man builds... I hope its bullet proof. fill it with gas... do TCLOCK's and ride... simple, fun... the AK47 of Motorcycles | ||
| Hootowl |
"MOST of the things in this thread . . while fun to talk about . . you can't do . . .as a result of one regulation or another. " Aye...our government has their fingers in everybody's pie. | ||
| Swampy |
The truth about small bike builders is that there is little to no dealer network or support. WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH THE OLD BUELL MOTORCYCLE COMPANY? THERE WAS LITTLE TO NO DEALER NETWORK OR SUPPORT How did most of us deal with it? We used the invention of Al Gore to close the distances between dealers that cared. Yes we still have a problem with actually getting physical service and warranty performed on the bikes but the complex simplicity of these wonderful motorcycles would make a great case for GREAT regional sales/service/parts dealers not the diluted uncaring dealer network of old. I am looking towards the future and it looks bright! | ||
| Trojan |
Yes we still have a problem with actually getting physical service and warranty performed on the bikes but the complex simplicity of these wonderful motorcycles would make a great case for GREAT regional sales/service/parts dealers not the diluted uncaring dealer network of old. Like most modern EPA/TUV/EU approved motorcycles, The 1190 road bike will be complex but without the simplicity I'm afraid. The days of buying a new motorcycle that you could fully service at home are rapidly receding unfortunately (unless you buy a Royal Enfield) and certainly in the field of performance bikes electronic gizmos are far more prevalent than even five years ago. Very few home mechanics have either the necessary skills or tools to service their performance bikes at home, so a good reasonably local dealership or skilled independant has become an essential rather than just an option for servicing and repairs. You don't see too many people working on their own Ducatis or KTM RC8's these days do you? I suspect the 1190 will be a similar beast and will require expert attention for servicing/repair/warranty work and I wouldn't want to be in a position of buying a bike that had no dealer backup (again). | ||
| Cityxslicker |
highland bikes, before the accident of their founders, was looking at kiosk and internet marketing; factory direct, order the way you want, direct to the customer. It would be interesting to see how they carved that wheel round and make it work http://www.ushighland.com/ |
