| Author |
Message |
    
F_skinner
| | Posted on Friday, August 22, 2008 - 09:49 am: | 
|
One of my favorite parts of the book was about the first Homecoming. I think Buell Ownership could be a book by itself.
I would very much like to solve the dealership problem but without fully understanding the HD relationship I doubt I could offer a viable solution. That is until I had a few beers surrounded by a bunch of smart Buellers. |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Friday, August 22, 2008 - 10:10 am: |
|
Take a page from the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America. They are not affiliated with BMW of North America OR BMW AG, it is a completely separate entity. This frees them from corporate governance from either organization. There are some dealerships that sponsor BMWMOA chartered clubs, and there are others that don't give them any special treatment at all. Doesn't matter, the organization thrives.
Just my $.02 |
Glitch
| | Posted on Friday, August 22, 2008 - 10:19 am: |
|
I don't see a "dealership problem"
Dealerships are what they are.
The best thing to do with regards to BOC, BORG, BRAG ...
Is to just organize locally, and market what you can, when you can, how you can...if that's what's important to you.
Dealerships sponsorship never lasts too long for the simple fact, that there's very little profit.
Buellers for the most part do their own work/maintenance, and aren't out to buy every bit of chrome out there.
It usually all boils down to money. |
Buffalobolt
| | Posted on Friday, August 22, 2008 - 12:14 pm: |
|
That is until I had a few beers surrounded by a bunch of smart Buellers.
...No good can come from that! 
But it does make for some great times, and memories!!  |
F_skinner
| | Posted on Sunday, August 24, 2008 - 12:00 pm: |
|
Jaimec, I went through the BMWMOA site a bit. Very interesting and a very large group of people committed to the BMWs. I also checked the local Colorado section and it was also a large group although not as committed. Another site I checked was the Victory site and that was interesting as well but without actually signing on as an owner it was hard to see how it was organized.
Glitch, your right, not a lot of money in it for the dealership and I would not want to be involved with a dealer to the point where they get to call the shots. Much like are local BRAG ending up.
While I was driving to AZ and back this weekend I thought about this a bit. First the problem has to be defined. I think we all see the dealership problem differently.
With 3%s, C3 and other active groups with a lot of Buellers everything might be ok as is and even better than with BRAG. In Colorado, Wyoming and Utah the Buell population is sparse but they are out there. I saw 4 Buells on my way to AZ. One badass X1 and a Blast in Pueblo and two in NM. Those riders were probably not on the BadWeb or any other Buell site. How do we reach them? In Colorado we have the Altitude Riders (Colorado Springs), Colorado Thunder Club (Denver) and the Colorado Riders Adventure Group (Northern Colorado). There are not enough ACTIVE Buell riders for one club much less three. Thus the creation of the Colorado Riders Group; It is mainly to get the word out about rides, help other Buell riders out and to compare notes between the large state of Colorado. It is a place on the BadWeb for Buellers from all over the state to chat and get together no matter what Buell group they belong to. It is a work in progress.
Advertising locally has been a lot of work with very little payoff. I cannot reach the Buell core because the dealership will not let me drop off anymore flyers. They said they cannot advertise for a non-factory sponsored group. Whatever, that maybe the case but I think I hit just about every aftermarket shop in the area but Buell owners don’t go to those anyway. They will not work with me to get any kind of word out about an organized Buell group.
I would like to be able to reach out and talk to every Buell owner in my area. I would really hate to see someone that has a problem with his or her new Buell and get substandard support from a dealership only to have a Buell owner to give up on the brand, not because of the bike but because of the support they are not getting. I am not saying I can fix their bike but I and a group of Buellers could pick at the problem, turn them on to BCS and even find a better Buell friendly dealership. Not everyone is aware of the BadWeb and other Buell resources and of course not everyone cares and that is fine to.
I wish I had access to the numbers of Buell owners by area. It would be interesting to see the layout of owners. It would also be interesting to see the Buell buyer demographic which I bet is different from the HD demographic and one reason some HD dealers are not well equipped to sell or service Buells. I think a BMC run owners association, that can give advice to the owners groups through a centralized location or person, would be great. Each state, district or area (however it is broken down), should have a Buell Advisor to liaison between BMC and the owner groups. The Buell Advisor (BA) would be able to advise dealerships, objectively rate dealerships (giving them an interest in playing nice), and can make sure the Buell owner is well represented at their local dealership. I think it could be a payroll person or a volunteer, depending on the level of responsibility. Of course BMC would have to train them and establish guidelines and goals for such a person. This is just thinking off the top of my head and I have not given too much thought or beer to it.
I like hearing the different view points and it is an interesting discussion, at least to me. I wish I had the time to look at all the different rider organizations and see what works and what does not work.
I better get out of here, I am rambling, Lynn is calling and I have a Pearl White S2 to unload.
Frank |
Whatever
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2008 - 08:52 pm: |
|
Didn't read the entire thread, but speaking as a former BRAG officer of a startup group... the entire process was incredibly beaurocractic... much much work up front all to cover HD Co's a** .... it is a woder to me that anyone put in all the long hours to make it happen! |
F_skinner
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2008 - 09:16 pm: |
|
entire process was incredibly beaurocractic
It was doomed from the get go... Good idea, bad implementation.. |
Oddball
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2008 - 09:34 pm: |
|
Your BA is here.
http://130.18.140.19/mmsoc/mr-t.jpg |
Lost_in_ohio
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2008 - 10:26 pm: |
|
We are not as well off with out brag the big national rides were a huge loss. I would have loved to participate in the Appalachian adventure, just before my time.
I am not into the whole club structure, why do I need to sign a waiver to ride my bike on a public road, with a group of guys I consider friends. hmmmmm.
I live with rules and a bureaucracy at work and don't need it in my leisure time. No desire to join, now a couple friends going for a ride is good.
So why waste the time trying to organize a club? Probably part of the Human being needing to belong to a group or tribe.
If you attend local events and become know on this and local motorcycle forums you will get a group of like minded riders. So what if they ride ducati's, BMW's or Harley's if you are friends it is irrelevant what they ride. |
Rich
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 06:21 am: |
|
BOG should make a comeback! |
Whatever
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 05:24 pm: |
|
Bureaucratic... so that how you spell it??? I was off... I am starting a FEAR Club... stands for F*** Everything And Ride! |
F_skinner
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 08:32 pm: |
|
Charlotte, not sure how to spell it. I was in a rush. I cant read 2 good no how...
I knew what you meant LOL...
Frank |
Tom_b
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 10:30 pm: |
|
What is BRAG? Heard of it never knew for sure what it was. Is it like SACBORG? Or ATB? I wasn't that impressed with SACBORG, ATB is allright. What is BOG? |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 10:46 pm: |
|
Whatever: If I'm ****ing everything, I'm not going to have the time nor the energy to ride! |
Kuuud
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 02:08 pm: |
|
I miss BRAG and am all for it or a similar national org! |
F_skinner
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 02:10 pm: |
|
Tom, if I am not mistaken BOG (Buell Owners Group) was the first factory sponsored national Buell group and then it became BRAG (Buell Riders Adventure Group) that had local chapters through dealerships. I think BRAG started up around 1994. BRAG was very similar if not identical to the Harley Owners Group which was one of the problems.
A couple of things I liked about BRAG is it is it gave local Buell riders a chance to meet each other in the local area. We had some great rides and it was satisfying to help someone with their Buell when they had a problem. I also liked some of the structure; not one person was stuck doing everything.
The thing I hated about it was the dealership BS we put up with. After all, we all ride Buells until we can afford a Harley, right?
BRAG was a good idea but being tied to a dealership was not.
Hope this helps. This thread has outlived its usefulness.
Frank |
Bads1
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 02:23 pm: |
|
There was no B.O.G. There were B.O.G.'s though. |
Bads1
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 02:37 pm: |
|
The first club was...
Pegasus... which was formed back in 1991. First formal meeting was 1992 at Road America. Then in 1994 it was changed to Buell Owners Club. It had a news letter called The Tail Pipe. To what I understand it fizzled out in 1995. The First owners club with HD in the picture was BRAG (Buell Riders Advisory Group)in 1995. In 97 they added the news letter Road Ahead and "Advisory" was changed to "Adventure". Then the News letter was changed to "FUELL" |
Court
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 02:40 pm: |
|
>>>BOG (Buell Owners Group) was the first factory sponsored national Buell group
It was the first group, it was not factory sponsored.
Phil Wolfe, Don Chase and I chartered it, wrote the articles of incorporation, the by-laws and filed them with the Secretary of State.
The name of the group, as incorporated, was BUELL OWNERS GROUP.
Court |
Bads1
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 02:43 pm: |
|
Other clubs existed.
1. American Sport bike night.
2. American Thunderbike Club / ATC
3. First American Sportbike team / F.A.S.T.
4. Orlando 1203 Club.
5. PACBOG
6. RockBOG (Rocky Mountain Area).
7. S.C.A.B. / So. California American Sportbikes.
8. V-BOG |
Bads1
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 02:55 pm: |
|
Court I'm not doubting you. I took those word's from a old Battletwin Magazine. It says in these exact words. In April 1991,a letter was sent out to Buell owners from Don Chase,Phillip Wolfe and J. Michael Schafer,invitingthem to join in on the information of "Pegasus". The First formal meeting took place at Road America,June,1992. Don Chase,Walt Freckman from Pegasus and Dave Gess and Erik Buell from Buell Motor Company organized this get together. This was the first of what is now called BRAG Homecoming.
(Message edited by bads1 on August 27, 2008) |
F_skinner
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 03:22 pm: |
|
Bads1 and Court, I apologize, I should of had my facts straight.
I wonder what led to the success, demise or reconstruction of all those groups listed? That is a rhetorical question btw...
Thanks for the info. |
Court
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 06:06 pm: |
|
What about Graham Ware and ROBE? Gosh, Graham was even at the 2nd 1st Annual Buell Owners Festival. |
Court
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 06:08 pm: |
|
Oh . . .and what about Alison? The first LOCAL Buell Owners Group and perhaps one of the prettiest things Great Britain ever set to the USA. |
M2nc
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 07:52 pm: |
|
No firsts with us C3'ers. We are somewhat of a local group with most of our members in North Carolina, but with members strung out from the Middle-East to Mid-West. One proud note for us is that a marine (southern marine)on duty in Iraq designed our  logo. I am one of the original members of C3, and we did become an official BRAG chapter here in eastern North Carolina. I for a short time was the director of that chapter and can say from experience that it was really tough to organize by the chapter by-laws which are still on my desk. We have always been an unofficial and definitively informal Badweb group. When Buell mentioned that BRAG was defunct we all toasted it. See with over 30 members all over the state, we had different servicing dealers. BRAG as formed is tied to a dealer and we were not. Heck two of the five original members of C3 were employees of another Buell dealer.
Today we are still one of the most active groups here on Badweb. We have three BW custodians and another is an honorary C3 member. Our logo has been passed on to people all over the country including Erik and a few other Buell celebrities. Our logo has made it onto stickers, patches, road signs (ironic), Buell Demo Truck, shirts, hats, beer huggies; heck we have a better marketing department than most reality TV stars. Funny thing is we do not make a dime on any of it. We have no dues to join. We have no by-laws. We have no org chart. Someone posts a ride and we show up. We have had several group rides to Daytona like in 2006 for the XBRR. We have for several years now had C3 Central and C3 Out-post housing as many riders in permanent structures as TWO in Suches. We had several coastal (ferry) rides. We have had several C3 jr. rides where we brought our children along and even have a C3 jr. logo and merchandise. We have been known to take a 1500 miles ride to show a fellow C3'er a short cut to Home Coming. We have had members take a lap of America. We have had many mountain adventures including the most recent fun of cutting the mountain grass just north of Winston-Salem. If a rider is down in NC we are there, even if it's a young racer from another country and we need an interpreter to communicate. If in need we pull together quicker than the National Guard. Locally we have flourished without BRAG, but nationally I still miss the rallies that Buell would help organize.
(Message edited by M2nc on August 27, 2008) |
F_skinner
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 08:10 pm: |
|
Carlos, well said and the C3 is one of the best Buell organizations around. It makes me wish I still lived in NC. I am still looking for a new job in that area.
When Kristi and Carlee showed up to support me in my time of need I could not have been more pleased.
Those C3 members are every where. Even in Colorado.
Frank
 |
Bads1
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 08:14 pm: |
|
But it only took one Badwebs members idea and two other Bad Web member to pull off the best Buell event/Homecoming ever. |
M2nc
| | Posted on Thursday, August 28, 2008 - 04:56 pm: |
|
Frank, that S1 is sporting the C3 logo well. I hope you find what you are looking for. We would love to have you here. |
|
