| Author | Message | ||
     M2me |
As you might know I'm working on a poster for the 20th Anniversary. I need professional, stock, high resolution images of Buells past and present. I called Buell Customer Service today and talked to John. He told me that I would need to go through a dealer to get these images. The marketing department at Harley is not going to give them out to a Joe Six-Pack guy like myself. John at BCS called me a "privateer". So, what I need is somebody who has an inside track at a dealership. DaveS? Anybody else? You would need to have the dealership contact HD/Buell marketing department and request the images in a high res digital format. I don't know what reason you should give for wanting them. The truth I suppose. Also, does anyone know what's up with BRAG? I tried calling their number figuring they might be able to help, but all I got was a recording saying this extension no longer exists. Thanks in advance for any help on this. My email address is in my profile if you want to contact me that way. | ||
| Daves |
Call me friday! Ride to the edge! Dave HD/Buell Cycle Center 1-800-342-7539 ext 14 | ||
| M2me |
Dave, I'll call you Friday. I sent you an email before I saw your post. | ||
| Dynarider |
No replacement for Leslie yet either. I made a guess a few months back & I still stick to it thaat BRAG will either be dissolved or simply folded into the HOG program. Same benefits apply to both groups, just a different name. | ||
| M2me |
I just copied this from the HOG web site:
Well, if I can be a Full Member of HOG, why bother with BRAG? Sorry, but as usual this is going off topic.  | ||
| Dynarider |
Well, if I can be a Full Member of HOG, why bother with BRAG? Thats what I have been saying for awhile. Brag & HOG are both owned by Harley & it makes no sense to me to have 2 groups performing the same functions within the company. | ||
| Court |
>>>>>it makes no sense to me to have 2 groups performing the same functions within the company. I fear what is, based on that logic, about to happen to the U.S. Navy and the United States Marine Corps. There is much sense to having two discreet groups. I've been a lifetime H.O.G. member for 16 years, why don't I receive Fuell? Hmmmmm | ||
| Csg_Inc |
Court Fuell only comes with your BRAG membership. So if you get all the same benifits as HOG by joining BRAG plus you get both Fuell and Enthusiast. Why join HOG? Must be the Roadside Assistance Program then because the BRAG one only says Buell bike and the HOG one says HD. So does this mean the "Reciprocity" does not cover both if you one or two on each? DAVE | ||
| Daves |
I talked to a HOG guy at the dealer meeting and voiced my concern that the two groups would be joined into one(big mistake in my eyes) He told me that was not the plan at this time and agreed with me about keeping the groups separate. I guess we will have to see what happens. Ride to the edge! Dave HD/Buell Cycle Center Waterloo Ia | ||
| Cjmblast |
I don't want to be folded into HOG, too big an organization !! Why can't I just take Leslie's place ??? Plus there's always good reason for more than one group, organizations have many groups because people are different and different people have different needs !!! CJM  | ||
| Court |
>>>>and agreed with me about keeping the groups separate. Just "seperation" is not the issue and, unfortunately, "seperating them" seems, to the myoptically focused to be a solution. Instead, I'd suggest, someone take a look at: 1) What are the needs and expectations of Buell owners with regards to a group. 2) How can those, within budget and scope, be best met. Sometimes, and Bueller Dave Lorimer summed is up well in his Master's Thesis which I had the pleasure to review, what companies PROVIDE as "customer service" is not what owners PERCEIVE as service. In the past, this has threatened to evolve to contentious as folks within Harley-Davidson reeled as the "well, if it's good enough for the H.O.G. folks, why aren't they happy with it" attitude of some Buell owners. There's much more to it and it has to do with group appropriate means and methods. If you tell me to hand you a piece of metal and I fire a .45 round at you; didn't I do what you asked? Extreme example, but I suggest there are some things that could be done that would be significantly cheaper than what B.R.A.G. has tried and go much further to DELIGHTING Buell customers. Spending more, by the way, does not necessarily make it better. For a complete summary, you'd have to read the document I wrote in 1995 entitled TEAM BUELL that outlined a detailed plans, budget and implementation strategy for a Buell Owners Group. Events like BattleTrax (although not detailed or using that name) and factory stipends for riding schools were included. I broke it out the other day and I still think it'd go light years to putting the next piece in the Buell puzzle. Furthermore, I suggest that the current dealer situation would benefit tremendously. I contend that much of what we read here about wanting dealers is a symptom, not a cause. The relationship equivalent of double nutting the exhaust stud to deal with pipe vibration. The solution needs to be simple, planned, budgeted and executed by persons capable of meeting and working toward goals while being allowed, in fact encouraged, to bring creative and innovative thinking to the group. The Buell group has to reflect the way the company is represented and perceived. Poker rides and hammerin' down the super-slab in an intimate group of 100 bikes will not provide the same "satisfaction" to a Buell owner they do (and I very much enjoyed slow-riding my Low Rider Custom and traveling x-country on my FLH) to a Harley-Davidson rider. Buell, to the companies credit, has made great strides in "uniquing" itself in terms of how it deals with Buell owners. The Customer Service Group, in my eyes, is a GREAT example of Buell watching, listening and providing what owners want and need. Expect no less as they cipher on this owner's group question. Court | ||
| Davegess |
Buell is actively looking for a BRAG coordinator. They have not had a lot of inside people who are qualified and interested so they are probably going to go outside. If you are interested I would suggest that you watch the H-D job board for an announcement. It will show up there if they cannot get an internal candidate. It would be a cool job for either a person with out family who likes to travel about the country and ride bikes or a person with a non working spouse who can travel about with them and also likes to ride bikes. It is a pretty cool job but you live on the road. | ||
| Mikej |
Dave, Any rumors of what the pay rate is????? H-D Job Board | ||
| Cjmblast |
Awesome, thanks for the info DG !! CJM | ||
| Dynarider |
With HOG harley gets free advertising from hundreds of thousands of people who tell all their friends how great harleys are. Hell these people pay $45 a year or so to be harley spokesmen. I dont know how many people currently belong to Brag, does anyone have the actual figures? Anyways both groups serev basically the same function. If you belong to HOG you can attend any of the Brag events & same goes for Brag. Why should Harley employ 2 groups of folks to perform the same function? And Court brought up a good point, why do we have both Navy & Marines? The goal is the same. And then we have the air force, yet the navy has more planes. Whats up with that? Oh well back to my tangental thoughts. HOG could devote a couple of people in their group to deal with Buell related events. Sorta like any other business, you go to the capitol drive plant & all the employees work for Harley, but some are machinists, some are janitors, some are mechanics, etc. People like to claim that the Buell riders dont want to be lumped in with HOG because they have "different needs & desires". And how different are they? The folks who attend the Harley rallys are very enthusiastic about their bikes, they love to ride, they love the company of fellow riders. The only real difference is the style of the 2 makes of bikes & the whole leather & chrome thing. Harley see's that as a positive not a negative. More chrome = more $$$. | ||
| Daves |
Dyna for BRAG leader!!! I agree that a lot of the internal stuff could be handled by the same group of people. I think most Buell riders concern is that the events would be lumped together. At the local chapter level I feel there should be separate meeting and rides. I know that the members of our HOG club would starve on the BRAG rides. We only stop and eat once per whole day of riding! Oh, my God sometimes we don't stop for food at all. Ride to the edge! Dave HD/Buell Cycle Center Waterloo Ia | ||
| Bomber |
er, Dyna . .. . ya better be duckin and runnin . . . Navy and Marines actually have very different purposes . . . .as does the Air Force, etc, etc, etc . . . .. . that said, the internal division of labor could be transparent to the membership, and still meet the slightly differing needs of both groups . . . . . | ||
| Mikej |
politics aside, of course  (c) | ||
| Turnagain |
wait a minute, is this the same Dyna that just yesterday wrote (on das borg):
edited somewhat if so, I think we're dealin w/ Jeckle (or is that Hyde).  | ||
| Davegess |
I have post a long tirade about this at http://www.davegess.com/buellhist/blogger1.html Just a cheap trick to generate traffic  | ||
| Bomber |
Turn yep . .. . that's our Dyna alright . . . . | ||
| Mikej |
I think I'll go quench my thirst and then do a little readin'. | ||
| Court |
>>>if so, I think we're dealin w/ Jeckle (or is that Hyde). Suggested Theme Song: "I am a schizophrenic....I am my own best friend" | ||
| Turnagain |
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| Andrewb |
>>And how different are they? The folks who attend the Harley rallys are very enthusiastic about their bikes, they love to ride....<<< Yep, and after oh, 10 miles of holding back on the twisties and the straights, you'll be weaving to the front of the pack. Then dusting 'em, never to be seen in your rear view again..... because riding with slooow....get on your brakes before the turn...dropping 30 mph to get it through..ain't the kind of riding we do! | ||
| Dynarider |
Steve, yup thats me. Storm has been having a lot of issues with his bike lately & I told him what I would do. Also did I suggest he go buy a 96-97 S1. I am not going into this again, but I like Buells....I hate my Buell. Simple enough? Back to the HOG/Brag thing. They would be managed by the same group but still could have separate functions. I dont know why the Buells/Harley folks simply cant get along. Yes its true as dave says that the average Harley ride needs to stop 20 times a day for food/gas & it drives me nutz as well. Yep, and after oh, 10 miles of holding back on the twisties and the straights, you'll be weaving to the front of the pack. Then dusting 'em, never to be seen in your rear view again..... because riding with slooow....get on your brakes before the turn...dropping 30 mph to get it through..ain't the kind of riding we do! I have seen quite a few foreign bike riders as well as Buell riders that cant get out of their own damn way. Just because someone has a bike that is capable of carving great corners, does not mean the person owning it can do so. I know of quite a few Harley riders with a variety of machines from baggers to sportys who will drag their pegs & floorboards thru corners all day long & they love it. Stereotyping all harley riders as incapable of taking corners does not help the cause at all. | ||
| Mikej |
I actually sometimes enjoy the Harley/H.O.G. events. Lots of bikes, variety of people, lots to see and do, and the occaisional attitude to step out of the way of. Just like Buell events to some extent. There is a bit more of some extremes at one event than the other maybe, and there are times I vacate the area due to, uh, shall we say induced exuberance, but all in all okay. And there are times where I avoid certain gatherings due to a less-than-social element that sometimes appears. But all in all it comes down to ride your own ride, and run what ya' brung. But there should still remain some separation. As sometimes when one group is larger than another group, the smaller group is oft times lost in the crowd. I'm still looking at that FXRP, but don't think it will happen before August, less someone wants to talk Bugatti-kit-swap. Stereotypes: easier to point to than overcome. | ||
| Dynarider |
I think you should get that Harley. You know you want it & it looks like its in good shape. Just stay away from the Live to ride shit. | ||
| Mikej |
Dang, and I've got that air filter at home that I took off the S2 that I was hoping to use. Oh well, back to the box it goes. | ||
| Bomber |
Mike . . .get the hog and I'll loan ya my official, genyouwine "Denizens of Doom" plate holder! me, I'm waiting fer 65 or grandfatherhood for my 2nd harley |
