| Author | Message | ||
     Steveford  |
I just came back from Buell Tech School in Milwaukee and had the good fortune to have Gary Valine as my instructor. If you ever have the chance to meet this man, do so - what a tremendous asset this fellow is to both Buell and the MoCo. Racontour extraordinare, as Cook Nielson would say. If Mr. Valine is any indication, Court is right in his assertion that the people at Buell and Harley are a LOT sharper than is supposed by the average slob in the street (me, for instance). At any rate, I came away very, very impressed with Gary's knowledge of all things that pop power wheelies and suspect that he's actually a bit of a maniac which is a good thing. | ||
| Court |
Steve: You may not know it, but you got a gift having Gary as an instructor. Gary was one of the original "Elves" that I wrote the first "Buell Elves" series about. He is an amazing person, with an amazing background and an amazing story about how he got to Buell. He may not have mentioned (he may be one of the most humble folks you'll ever meet) his background in racing, being a teacher or how close he came to being a Briggs-Stratton guy. If you met and got to speak with Gary, you'll have an idea of what I am talking about with regard to other other folks inside that metal building. From analysis, overlooking Buell Drive to the North to shipping that overlooks I-43 to the South, the entire place is packed full of folks who are personally committed to seeing to it that your bike to be the best they can build and many of them can't wait to get off work and go ride their motorcycles. Passion and professionalism..... You met one of the best, Court | ||
| Outrider  |
or how close he came to being a Briggs-Stratton guy Great to read about Gary Valine and his dedication to our industry and our favorite manufacturer. Same goes to Steve's comments about the others he came in contact with during his recent training experience. HDI really does have a lot of sharp, dedicated individuals working for them and they invest heavily into continuing education for their employees. On the humorous side, had Gary chosen Briggs & Stratton, at his level he most likely would still be employed, but that place is a "Ghost Town" compared to just a few years ago. Heck, you can run a Gran Prix in their parking lot during their busiest shift and not have to worry about hitting an employees vehicle. Strange for a company that once promoted car pooling because their parking lot wasn't big enough. | ||
| Firemanjim  |
Raconteur----  So what are you going to do with all this new found knowledge. | ||
| Steveford |
Continue to work on Buells! Real good news is that we're going to continue being a Buell dealer so I'm a happy camper. I come back to work and there's a red XB12R that I'd just set up and there's mud all over it. I ask what the deal is and they were all telling me that they sold the bike, it only went 10 miles and it blew up so I'd better put my training to use and the owner is REALLY particular and REALLY upset. I check for oil, start the bike, everything's fine, WTF, I turn around and they all burst out laughing. It turns out that one of our Economy Sized Harley Technicians bought it after reading some Buell literature that I'd left on my bench. I didn't believe it until he showed me the Registration. The bastids. What swayed Randy (my coworker) into buying that XB12 was the butterfly in the muffler which was Gary's idea. It also looks as if the assistant manager up in parts is selling his iron head Sportster and buying a new Buell as well. Maybe I should be paid to go away more often? (Message edited by SteveFord on December 05, 2004) | ||
| 1313  |
One of the fondest memories of my time working with Gary (that can't affect either negatively...) was riding home after work one night. He was riding a race-kitted X1 and I was on my T'Stormed and race kitted S2 (with probably well over 60,000 on it at that time ~34,000 after I T-Storm'ed it). I came up on him just as the road started to straighten out at the stop sign for Hwy 99. I guessed I 'challenged' him by riding like I normally do on the S2 (throttle is treated pretty much as an on-off switch - when the throttle isn't off, it's completely ON), as I hit 2nd and, even with the light S1 flywheels in my S2, the front end just lofted sky high and stuck there through most of 2nd. At the next stop sign, at the intersection of County Hwy NN, Gary got the jump on me and I was surprised as I was just witnessing him doing the same thing he had seen me do at the last intersection. The next time that I saw Gary at work, he coyly commented 'That's a great running S2, you've got'. Receiving such a compliment like that from someone with Gary's abilities and capabilities couldn't have meant more if it came directly from God himself. If any of you ever get the chance to meet Gary, do NOT pass it up! At this point as I think back about this I am feeling really stupid! I lived in East Troy for over 13 years, this road was on my most frequented list contributing many times to why some nights it would take me 2-2&1/2 hours to get home after work and only living 1/2 mile away from work, had some great curves and elevation changes just leaving East Troy gradually flattening out and straightening out for a short stretch before more great curves and elevation changes, but I can never remember the name of that DAMN road that we were riding on... 1313 (Message edited by 1313 on December 05, 2004) | ||
| Court |
Nature Trail |
