| Author | Message | ||
     F_skinner |
With B.R.A.G. being gone for a while now it might be a good time to ask the question. I think overall we are better off because it gave individual groups the freedom of dealership hassles however, this is a trade off and I have a lot of thoughts on this but wanted to see what everyone else thinks. What are your thoughts on the demise of BRAG and implications it has had in your area? Frank | ||
| New12r |
I miss it. The dealer now has no incentive for our groups to hang out and thus we have all lost touch. We still get together but not nearly as much too. | ||
| Bill0351 |
It was a dumb name. It conjured up images of guys hanging around talking about how much their gear cost. (Use best RuPaul voice for maximum effect) "GIRLFRIEND..... You don't even want to KNOW what I paid for this Icon jacket!" "Oh yeah..... See this helmet? CUSTOM painted??? U got one of these??? Uh! Uh! Didn't think so!" They should rename it and bring it back. Buell Interest Group Bound Against Lamos Losers and Sissies! | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Dont know, they shut us down before we ever started a group. Still it would be nice to see some company (ie Demo Truck Events) up in the ol Pacific NorthWet. Like the rally in the gorge this weekend 600+ riders in attendance. Who is bringing a truck? Just BMW, Aprilia, Triumph & Ktm (offroad) 7 day event for Sport bike & Dual sporting. Lost opportunities. | ||
| Jaimec |
I miss the cheap motorcycle rentals myself. Not going to join H.O.G. to get it back, though. I get enough Harley propaganda as it is. | ||
| Buffalobolt |
I miss it also. The "Northeast Touring Adventure" was the best Buell sponsered ride I've ever been on. It was like a traveling homecoming event! (OK, so I missed the 25th) Some of the other BRAG events were also good, but that one stood out to me. I also miss the road side assistance. I know I can purchase it else where (but haven't). In the big picture though, there have been some good things. And, the Badweb has been a hub of Buellers setting up their own rides. And this is great! I still don't see the large Buell rides that cover different parts of the country. | ||
| Indy_bueller |
I miss it and think it was a mistake to do away with it. Maybe the form it took wasn't perfect, but it was better than nothing. They need to come up with something new. | ||
| Buffalobolt |
OH, and I forgot... I miss the yearly BRAG atlas!! With Buell losing more and more dealerships it was nice to get a new atlas each year showing updated Buell stores! The BRAN network is great for emergencies, but it was still nice to know where the dealerships are... If only to stop by and find that there aren't any on the floors, and there isn't any merchandise, and the saleman dispises Buells!  | ||
| Csg_inc |
What do you mean "No More B.R.A.G." I still have my membership card and it says in the lower right corner that it expires 5/2010. So am I the only member left?? This is getting spooky | ||
| Spiderman |
No I got a 2010 card at home in my desk  | ||
| F_skinner |
I would like to see Buell, as a company, have a more active role in the Buell owner groups. Not to the point that it ties us to a dealership but more of a chance for the owners to have a responsible voice about Buell concerns in their respected parts of the world. HOG membership offers me nothing I want and I already get the same benefits from my AMA membership. In my opinion BRAG was very much like HOG due to the fact it was tied to HD dealerships. I do like the fact that I can get a listing of Buell groups from the Buell Web Site but that is limited to owners. What I do not like about it is that a good number of the links are not active. It must be frustrating for someone trying to find a local group and get an inactive link. Buell depends on the updates from the people that listed them there in the first place. Maybe Buell can verify the link every so often. I really like the fact that all I need to do to get FUELL is to register on the Buell site. I would like to see Buell owners empowered by Buell have a vote in dealership awards by using some type of rating system for local dealers so Buell would be able to weed out the poor dealerships. What I mean by that is last summer the Buell demo truck was at the dealership here. They had very little dealership help from what I saw. The people inside the dealership had a limited knowledge of what was going on outside with the demo rides. It was a big hassle trying to get the swag after the demo ride. That is not the image of Buell but it is what people take away from that because of the dealership. If Buell, not the dealership, had better contact with the local owners group they could have asked for help with the demos, setup etc. Instead the local HOG group was leading the rides down straight roads with lots of traffic. Just getting a group started that is in an area that does not a have a pro-Buell dealership is an exercise in futility. I was led to believe that dealerships have a listing of owners of Buells and Harleys in their area or at least the ones that bought a bike from their dealership. I don’t know if that is true but it sure would be helpful in getting the word out about Buell events. The BadWeb is great but it is a small percentage of Buell owners and most people (like I did for years) browse the information and only register if need be. About a year ago I took handouts, business cards and contact information for the local Buell Group down to the dealer. I talked to three people over the next few months that purchased Buells from this dealer and they were unaware of any group in the area. Figures, they must have tossed them as soon as I left. I tried a simple test this summer. I went to the local HD/Buell dealership and asked about Buells. The first salesman was confused on the XB12X and XB12XT and the price was 500 over MSRP on the X and 1000 on the XT. (The 1125R was way over). No big deal I can haggle if needed. When another salesman asked what I rode I said Firebolt and he mentioned that he liked the real small bikes and the dealership uses the Firebolts in the beginner class. Of course I think they got the Blast and Firebolt mixed up. Finally I said I need to think about it and was wondering if they could give me contact information for a local group of Buell riders so I can talk to them. They said they have BRAG meetings and I was welcome to go to one but they could not produce a name, number or email of anyone in the group, because it did not exist! I wonder if they realized they could look on the Buell web site for that info. Another black eye for Buell because of a dealerships impression on a potential buyer. I do not want dealership involvement in a BRAG like group but I do want dealership recognition that there is a local Buell group and whenever they have a Buell event like Demo rides or need help educating the Harley sales people they could call on the local group. From the attitude of some dealerships it is no wonder they could not keep a BRAG group going. I bet they have the same problem with HOG with one exception. There are so many people buying into the lifestyle they have a steady stream of new people to keep a HOG group going. | ||
| Glitch |
It sucks. Once upon a time we were 25 or 30 strong. We had the core group, we had every-now-and-thens, we had new friends every get-together. The core group is still there...more or less. We do appreciate the time we get together, it's just not the every week thing. There was one night set aside for a ride out to the Vortex, we had once a month ride in the mountains. We still do it, just not as often, and I really miss the Thursday nights, and the Sunday morning runs. | ||
| Jlnance |
Good and bad. I miss the national BRAG events. They were a great deal, and it's the only chance you ever get to see 100 Buells together. The local BRAG group, wasn't around long enough to for me to tell if it mattered. Many of the active C3 people were from the Sheltons HD BRAG group. My local dealer (30 miles away from Sheltons) also wanted to start a BRAG group. That would really have spread us too thin. The way it is now, we have some fairly large events, mostly thanks to the organizational work of Ulywife. Since we aren't affiliated with a dealership, there aren't problems with different dealers BRAG clubs competing with each other. I realize that isn't a problem for many people, but NC has 9 different Buell dealers. | ||
| Ulywife |
Our BRAG group was essentially a BadWeB riding group. The same 4-6 people showed up at the meetings each time. Of course, they were probably the same 4-6 that rode together and then cooked out that night at our house or Aydenxb9's house. I'd say that the  name came because of a BRAG meeting, but the rest has taken place right here. In fact, our logo was designed by Southern_marine while deployed. A lot of that has to do with the fact that NC not only has so many dealers, but we don't have a heavy concentration of Buell owners in one spot like the 3%er's. We seem to have a few in each cluster. The trick is getting 2 or 3 clusters together to ride. The only thing I got out of BRAG was one more thing on my plate since I was married to the "director". You know the rest of the story!  (Message edited by Ulywife on August 22, 2008) | ||
| Glitch |
The trick is getting 2 or 3 clusters together to ride. March Badness and Buelltoberfest come to mind.  | ||
| Ulywife |
March Badness and Buelltoberfest come to mind. Sad that we have to go out of state to ride together! But what the hell, we've got great company to hang out with when we get there! Is it October yet? | ||
| Bads1 |
I miss it for the dealer stuff. But other then that not really. I still organize stuff every year. You get out of this ownership only what you put in. Me having Erik and band play is my way of offering all you guys to be under one roof/courtyard and to hear a motorcycle legend play his music. Steve at Hal's and group do what they do to assure you all a good time. If you want to get something going in your area you need to plan it. Get others involved and promote it. Only then will it pay off. (Message edited by bads1 on August 20, 2008) | ||
| Court |
Heck . . I still miss the Buell Owners Club. | ||
| Crusty |
What I miss is the American Thunderbike Club. It was a Club when Jay and Donna Hawley were running it. The first Saturday meetings were always enjoyable. The "Family Reunions" were as good in their own way as Homecoming is, though they were very different in nature. | ||
| Sparky |
I miss BRAG. Without a cohesive organization uniting riders from all over, I doubt there will ever again be as great an event as the first-of-its-kind California BRAG Ride, an epic tour covering aprox 2000 miles in 8 days from San Diego to Eureka, led each day by those most familiar with the twisty roads in the area. It was events like this that made each of us Buellers feel like VIPs. | ||
| Rotchcrocket51 |
I bought my M-2 in July, 1999. Two weeks later I was at a Buell rally at Mid-Ohio and on Saturday, I was on a group ride with Erik Buell. The next year, I was at a Buell rally at Winchester, VA and on Saturday, I was riding on a group ride with Erik Buell. That was the last time I saw him because the rally the next year, at Deals Gap, was just after 9/11 and the company didn't want Erik to fly. There were other rallies too, one at Pocono with a track day and a great one at Blowing Rock, NC. Do I miss BRAG? I most certainly do. | ||
| Ratyson |
Me having Erik and band play is my way of offering all you guys to be under one roof/courtyard and to hear a motorcycle legend play his music. Speaking of that, is there any way we could get Erik and the band to play at March Badness?? That would be a GREAT addition to an already fun weekend. Now on topic: Being that there was not a BRAG group here in Huntsvegas, I don't see any difference except for the annual atlas. We have a group here in Huntsville that I ride with called the Tennessee Valley Sport Bike Club. We ride (or at least there is a group ride) every sunday, at 10 am, like clockwork. We have a yahoo groups type forum where we communicated with eachother. There is no corporate involvement, just a bunch of folks who like to ride. And this works out great. There no upfront expectations, except that when you ride, you respect the others that you are with, and ride at your own pace.} | ||
| Slaughter |
My take on the changes is that now a dealer MUST go through HOG in order to get liability covered. We can do rider-organized rides that start out from the dealer. Glendale will let a group start at the shop, provide coffee, a place to meet but because of the liability they CANNOT be the organizer. Without BRAG, it's either HOG or the riders themselves. Very few of the Buell riders I've known are interested in HOG rides... it might change but the demise of BRAG has meant fewer dealer-organized rides. (Message edited by slaughter on August 21, 2008) | ||
| Darthane |
I miss the big organized rides. The Carving the Northeast Adventure was far and away the best time I've ever had on a motorcycle, and I just don't see something like that happening again without the company's involvement. | ||
| Firstbuell |
per my pal Sparky, "....I doubt there will ever again be as great an event as the first-of-its-kind California BRAG Ride, an epic tour covering aprox 2000 miles in 8 days from San Diego to Eureka, led each day by those most familiar with the twisty roads in the area. It was events like this that made each of us Buellers feel like VIPs...." yeah, 1 of the best parts was the free massage when we got to Tahoe, remember? my M2 still sports its Tour sticker & I wear the event's long-sleeved T with fond memories that was a GREAT ride - H-D & Buell have blown it big time by completely scuttling the concept! | ||
| Glitch |
Well I miss all the excitement of everyone being in the same place at the same time. H-D & Buell have blown it big time by completely scuttling the concept! What I don't miss are the some of the things that happen because of all the excitement of everyone being in the same place at the same time. There was a streak of bad luck mixed with excited riding. There were some pretty bad accidents.  | ||
| F_skinner |
I remember the first BRAG meeting I went to. There were 6 Buells. I had never seen that many Buells at one place outside a showroom before. It was exciting! MBV and Homecoming were the same way. All those Buells, I about pissed my pants! And while the Buells were cool, it was the people that really made being a Buell owner something special. Maybe Buell has something in store for the future by capitalizing on the great groups that have formed up here on the BadWeb and other places, it is hard to say. I do not miss BRAG but I do miss the organization (officers, charter, ride rules and liability) that came with a dealership group. I liked that because you do not end up with one person running everything and getting burned out. If there was someway to cut the dealership and have Buell, as a company, organize a new group it may benefit the dealerships and of course the riders. Buell riders are the best salesman for Buell motorcycles. The enthusiasm for the product, the company, track days, Erik Buell and events like Homecoming is infectious.  | ||
| Glitch |
We are fortunate that we still have a March Badness. SO much has changed since seven of us got our heads together and came up with the idea. Cameron, and Pete were the main motivators behind MB, both have moved on. It wasn't until Buelltoberfest that we realized dealer sponsorship wasn't a make it or break it type situation. If SMHD&Buell was to drop MB, I believe MB would live on, only without the Demos. BRAG being gone means we don't get to welcome new Buellers to the fold as quickly, and in some cases we don't even get to meet them. Used to when we'd see a Buell out riding, all we'd have to do is check out the riding gear to know who it is. Now when I see a Buell out riding, it's less and less a chance of knowing. North Georgia has a great number of Buells, it's too bad we may not all get together. When I meet a new Bueller, 9 times out of 10, they've never heard of BadWeB, so I'm at a loss as how to meet new Buellers in our area. | ||
| F_skinner |
When I meet a new Bueller, 9 times out of 10, they've never heard of BadWeB Same here. In Fountain Colorado there are not many Buells, or people, but in Colorado Springs and Denver there are a lot. What I did was make up some business cards with the CBR logo and the URL for the CBR section of the BadWeb (along with my name and number). If I see a Buell I try to give them a card. I do not know if this is helping or not. I have seen very few people signup on the BadWeb as a result. I have had the privilege of helping a few individuals out. It made it worth the effort. I have ideas to do other things to get the word out but I have been somewhat busy lately and have not had the chance to work on it. I would hate to see a Buell rider give up on the brand because of lack of rider support and lack of a group of people to help him or her out. I also think MB would continue without dealership support and would continue to grow. I had a somewhat unusual experience with the dealer that was supporting your event but I had a great time with the riders and met a lot of new friends. It was a great time. I think I am smart enough to see dealer BS when it happens. Frank | ||
| Court |
You guys are dangerously close to stumbling onto the solution to the "how do we solve the dealership?" problem. Frank. . . I recall the first BUELL OWNERS CLUB meeting . . . there were like 6 or 7 Buells there and it was pretty much all of them in the USA. It was fascinating to see them, including Erik's R/W/B RS1200 sitting there together. |
