| Author | Message | ||
     Hybridmomentspass |
Tomorrow is the 3rd auction, right? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Tomorrow is the 3rd auction, right? Yes, and hopefully, the third time's a charm as they say.  (Message edited by Hughlysses on January 12, 2016) | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
We shall see what happens. Come on Bruce, make good use of those payroll checks you already paid for lol BTW - any info on what those payroll checks say on them? Legit question, what company is on it? You said you bought them already so it should be an easy question to answer | ||
| Court |
OK… The auction is tomorrow and we all need some way to entertain ourselves in the meantime. Ponder this… If someone is successful and "wins" the auction tomorrow… How many weeks until one could go in a dealers show room and buy a bike? | ||
| Rsh |
I don't know if a dealer is necessary, I have been watching a local outfit that is importing Chinese motorcycles and has had them approved by all required US and Canadian agencies and selling them under there own moniker. The company is the talk of the internet on the adventure bike boards, with people buying without even a test ride. There is no plan for a dealer network, they stock all parts and can have parts FedExed in 1 day,they also offer service tutorials online as well as all parts with diagrams. The bikes have a 2 year unlimited mileage warranty. The bike has been getting good magazine reviews, and the company's customer service gets rave reviews. This is obviously a very different business model. So far they seem to be doing well. Will this work for the long haul, only time will tell. | ||
| Malott442 |
Weeks.... I am unsure if any bikes sitting will go to a dealer floor, so unfortunately: Any NEW bikes would be 80-120 weeks out. Unless they are 1190rs style, or better yet rr1200 style, quirky and finicky, flawed and beautifully Painful. | ||
| Jaimec |
To repeat my original post: "Today's the day!" | ||
| Lake_bueller |
In response to Court's post, I don't know if we'll ever see another bike in a dealership. IMHO, the best bet for a new brand is to start with small/limited production. Thinking back to the days of Buell motorcycles being hand built in a garage (sans the garage part). The new company will need to crawl first...then walk...and hopefully RUN. | ||
| Dmhines |
I'd be happy if the new owners would release the parts in inventory as well as a real Maintenance and Repair manual that has to be locked up somewhere at EBR. | ||
| Badgerbueller1125 |
Don't motorcycles (and cars) have to be sold through a dealer? Where else can you go and buy a brand NEW motorcycle straight from the factory that's road legal? | ||
| Lake_bueller |
Badger...why couldn't the manufacturer create a separate entity to act as the dealership? This may seem like a strange example but...my local beer distributor has a company that sells the beer. He has a separate company that delivers the beer. Same "umbrella" but completely different business entities. | ||
| Froggy |
Only in states that have protectionist laws preventing factory direct sales. Tesla uses that model in states that permit it, and has been successful thus far. | ||
| Buelliedan |
anything is possible with enough money. But that is something that I think is going to be in very short supply for the new owner if he intends to start producing and selling bikes again. I honestly think last April was the end of the road and we will never see another bike with the name "Buell" on it ever made again. | ||
| Malott442 |
I am very happy that you're not one of the bidders. It's going to take an insane amount of positivity, drive, and talent to push forward. Negativity has no place behind the doors of any business, especially a struggling one. | ||
| Thumper1203 |
Ahem ..ditto^^ With that being said, I hope to be able to make a trip to East Troy for my next American sport/adventure motorcycle | ||
| Buelliedan |
Unfortunately my positivity went away when I got burned for many thousands of dollars by the closure right after I opened my EBR dealership. I doubt you will find any former EBR delaers who are very positive about EBR at this point. (Message edited by buelliedan on January 13, 2016) | ||
| Thumper1203 |
..and it would be a short distance away for anyone in Colorado to visit East Troy for their purchase experience too! | ||
| Badgerbueller1125 |
"Badger...why couldn't the manufacturer create a separate entity to act as the dealership? " The manufacturer couldn't even sell bikes at a dealership where you have the ability to look, touch, sit on and demo ride their bikes. How do you expect them to create a whole new entity to sell bikes on their own? | ||
| Badgerbueller1125 |
Anyways...any word on how the auction went? Anyone? | ||
| Malott442 |
@dan, I've never had to feel that burn, so I can't say I know how you feel. Have you ever messed with the 1190 heads? Is there any room for hp? I'd be happy to throw some money at you when I hit the 6.4k mark. If I'm rotating the motor, I might go ahead and pull the heads for some massaging. | ||
| Buelliedan |
The 1190 EBR heads are pretty much perfect as they come from the factory. The portwork already done to them is top notch. Where these bikes can benefit is a custom set of cams (unobtanium right now unfortunately) and removing the gasket to raise the CR up a bit. | ||
| Buelliedan |
Really Thumper? You are going to take cheap shots at me when to my knowledge you don't even own an EBR? (Message edited by buelliedan on January 13, 2016) | ||
| Thumper1203 |
@B-dan.. my understanding and sentiment for your situation knows no bounds. What I don't understand and can't comprehend is your want/will to spread negativity among hopeful enthusiasts. your edit is prudent. Done | ||
| Oldfartnbuell |
Buelliedan is not so much spreading negativity as he is stating facts. | ||
| Buelliedan |
I guess I did not realize this was "the blow smoke up your ass" thread and nobody is allowed to express an opinion that isn't all rosey?. I gave an opinion of what I saw the chances of this actually working based on prior history. I'm sorry if that rubs some folks the wrong way, but I am not the kind of person who will feed you a bunch of BS just to make them "feel good". I'm also curious how it is you consider yourself an enthusiast if you do not own an EBR. If you have no skin in the game, that to me that just makes you a casual observer, not an enthusiast. Not everyone should get a trophy just because they played IMO. (Message edited by buelliedan on January 13, 2016) | ||
| Badgerbueller1125 |
Dan I agree with you on all the points you have made except - "I'm also curious how it is you consider yourself an enthusiast if you do not own an EBR". Enthusiast - a person who is highly interested in a particular activity or subject. I consider myself an EBR enthusiast. I currently ride a Buell, but was enthused with what EBR was. I did not and have never owned an EBR. (Message edited by badgerbueller1125 on January 13, 2016) | ||
| Court |
I'm probably going to have to get in the "just the facts" camp and I have never owned an EBR . There's a lot at stake. The Elves are gone. HD, who did all the Buell marketing, technical literature and a host of other things, is gone. The bidder, as of this date, have yet to include anyone with any experience in the motorcycle business. The "many" interested parties have, in the last auction produced but a single offer . . . I'm hoping for the best whilst staving off the demons created by the memories of how nearly impossible it was when we were all full of piss and vinegar . . . loved working around the clock (Flick once asked me when he saw an e-mail between Erik and I . . "was this the start of a day or the end?") and we were all in our 30's. I can see a couple ways this can fly and be wildly successful. I wrote, a couple weeks ago, one of those formulas. Trying to go back and do the same thing would be tough. But . . . I'm certain that within the hour . . perhaps tonight . . . we'll get the news of who has purchased the auctioned parts and pieces and . .hopefully . . in a couple days . . will have a clue as to the direction things are headed. Dan's facts . . while you may not like them . . . appear dead accurate. | ||
| Buelliedan |
I guess I am being a bit harsh when I say you have to be an EBR owner to be an enthusiast but it just annoys the heck out of me when folks talk about what EBR should have done or what they should do in the future but they have no personal investment in the company. If all these non EBR owners expressing opinions now had bought an EBR in 2014, I wonder if that would have had any impact on saving the company? | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
" The "many" interested parties have, in the last auction produced but a single offer . . ." BUt that would mean that Bruce Belfer lied to us, right? Say it aint so... | ||
| Buelliedan |
In my business I now live and die by "show me the money" before I start ordering up thousands of dollars in parts for some persons "dream project". Got burned once for about $3,000 when a guy wanted to do all kinds of mods to his sporty and then halfway into it tells me he can't afford it. |
