| Author | Message | ||
     Midknyte |
Went by my shop yesterday (LakeShoreHD) to get some pic's of my squids with Santa. I goofed - he was at Ukes... (Anyone in the area that wants pics, WoodstockHD will be doing it on the 18th). Santa might as well had been there though. The Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy too. You won't believe what I saw. Bomber - you'll have to swing by and back me up on this because everyone will be re-reading the next sentence and still not believing...  THE ENTIRE FRONT ROW IN THE WINDOW OF THE STORE, USUALLY RESERVED FOR SPORTSTERS & DYNA'S, WAS ALL BUELL's!  That is real estate. That is progress. That, is simply awesome. They'd gone up to the factory and grabbed almost 2 dozen of 'em. Lightnings, Firebolts, CX's, and a Blast or two. They actually filled the front window space and curled around into the store for a few. People were looking at 'em and the guys at the shop were payin attention to them. Ok, I'm sure I've lost anyone who believed me up until now - but I swear - they "were" talking them up with the customers. They said they sold 3 already and expect to have them turned over by January. I am not making this up. | ||
| Bomber  |
Lake-Shore seems to be making a big-time commitment to Buell -- rumor has it that they just got something like 24 Buells delivered -- big time change from the dark past, and a welcome one, clearly | ||
| Tucsonxb9s  |
They must have gotten Tucson HD's allotment 'cuz the last time I was there the pickins were rather slim. They even had a couple of '03's left! You would think that here in ride-365-day-a-year-AZ that they'd have more in stock.  | ||
| M1combat  |
Post their 800 number... I'll call them and thank them. | ||
| Outrider  |
Sounds like a Christmas Dream come True !!! Wonder how many other dealers in the Country have seen the light and placed their orders? | ||
| Anonymous |
"First and foremost, it is critical that you understand that the Harley-Davidson Motor Company and Buell Motorcycle Company are committed to making the Buell brand successful for dealers and customers well into the future." "we have determined that we need to have fewer dealers in our major markets." "It is our belief that by reducing the number of dealers in the top markets, the opportunity for success will be improved for all Buell dealers whether in these top markets, or in the remaining markets." Buell Dealer Network Optimization FAQs "2. What’s the reason for reducing the number of Buell dealers? Simply put: To provide improved opportunity for fewer (and committed) dealers to grow their sales in the top 52 sport bike markets, and improve profit opportunities for the Buell dealer network, so Buell dealers can be more committed and successful with the brand. 3. Is this action a prelude to the end of Buell? No! Harley-Davidson Motor Company and Buell Motorcycle Company are absolutely committed to making the Buell brand successful for dealers and our mutual customers well into the future." | ||
| Buells Rule! (Dyna in disguise)  |
grow their sales in the top 52 sport bike markets, What does that mean? Is Buell going to be abandoning the small markets? I know they used to have approximately 450 dealers in the USA, I have heard they wish to drop that number to below 100. Any truth to it? Brad, Lakeshore has never buried the Buells in back. At both their old store as well as the new one they have always been up front. Hell at their new place its the V-rods which have been relegated to the back since they opened. | ||
| Newfie_buell  |
Hey Anon, How about sending a dealer to Newfoundland!!!!! By the way nice move on the Blade Movie. | ||
| Ethanr  |
Tucsonxb9s - Try Chandler HD. They also have a complete window of nothing but Buells and a couple dozen bikes in stock. Hmm...aren't they owned by the same group that owns Tucson HD? Might be their stock I saw. | ||
| Midknyte |
Dyna, yeah, I know, but I ain't never seen the entire front yard full of em. | ||
| Tripper  |
I was wondering if other markets were affected. I guess we found out early only because we happen to have a BRAG club associated with a dealer who was cancelled.
They didn't go to the factory, they bought other dealers inventory. So who is out in (Message edited by tripper on December 07, 2004) | ||
| Buells Rule! (Dyna in disguise) |
There are a couple in both the Milwaukee & chicago markets that I believe should be gone but as of now nothing. | ||
| Bomber |
the word on the street is that Chicago HD/Buell will no longer sell Buells | ||
| Buells Rule! (Dyna in disguise) |
They didnt exactly push em anyways. When I was in there a few months back they had maybe 3 buells & I literally could not get to them because of the Softails & Baggers that were strategically placed to block them off. 1 of them was actually pushed against a wall & had a rack of parts directly in front of it....you could still see one of the tires tho. | ||
| Captainkirk  |
This is good news!...Before the move to the new store, Lake Shore had one of the most ••••-poor excuses for a Buell store you could imagine. There were like two guys that would even talk to you about Buells. Their inventory consisted of like two bikes. Kudos to those guys for turning it around. I may have to drive down and check it out! Maybe their little homecoming got the boys fired up. I am relieved to hear from anony that the MoCo is hardline committed to backing the Buell line. And as for the decision to yank the Buell line from the dealers that don't care, I'm all for it. Nothing worse for the dealer OR the customer than selling a product you neither want nor believe in. Product support from these guys has been lacking as well. This could be a good thing! | ||
| Buells Rule! (Dyna in disguise) |
I will agree that in the old place they didnt even want to talk about Buells, but they always had a decent selection. Every single time I was there they always had at least 2-3 M2's, 1 X1 an S3 & then when the Blast came out they had a few. I bought my HD from there & spent many an hr in the shop. | ||
| Bomber |
I bought my M2 there (screaming deal during the shock recall days), but I'll agree they were not particularly Buell knowledgeable -- seems ot be changing with the arrival of the new Buell Guy (Kevin) | ||
| Buells Rule! (Dyna in disguise) |
I bought my M2 there (screaming deal during the shock recall days), Rub it in why dont ya? Maybe a month after we bought the Blast for the wife they had the price on the M2's down into the $6000 range...just had to let the dealer hang onto the bike until the shock fiasco was completed. If we hadnt just have bought the Blast I would have snagged one. But she was just getting the hang of it & wanted to keep the Blast. Looking back now, I should have gotten it anyways. Hell the M2 was only like $1500 more than the Blast at that price. | ||
| Bomber |
nuthin to rub in, Greg -- they almost killed me dead, twice, with service/warranty-related brain seizures on the part of the person in the quonset hut they called a service department at the time word is they've gotten better by orders of magnitude, though -- | ||
| Captainkirk |
OK; So after this discussion I decided to stop in & see. They do, in fact have a whole truckload of Buells (all XB's), all used, as explained to me, "C.O.V's" (company-owned vehicles) owned by Buell/MoCo employees with anywhere from 5 to 5000 miles on them...VERY reasonable pricing, e.g. 2004 XB12S $6995.00, etc. If you're in the market for an XB, GO THERE NOW. I'm not, so it didn't matter.(I was just shopping for leathers). Their P&A shelf was still mighty small, with very little on it. The good news is, I spent the better part of an hour talking to Kevin the Buell Guy and he seems very committed to being the kind of (local)dealership we all want(even using DaveS as an example, though that seems a mighty high mark to reach!) He apparently worked at the factory in East Troy for five years and owns/rides a Buell. Stop by and let him know I'm not the only one who wants more Buell. Especially since Buell is pulling dealerships from the slackers!!  | ||
| Midknyte |
At this point, I wish they'd bulk up their wearables. Uke's has a nice, new, and varied selection of Buell t-shirts, jackets, gloves, you name it. Stuff that 98% of us I'm sure didn't know existed. They even have t-shirts in kids sizes so you can send your minions out to infect the next gen. (Message edited by midknyte on December 08, 2004) | ||
| Ethanr |
While "thinning the herd" may be good for the long haul, I hate to see guys like Charlie, et al, in Yuma (AZ) get shafted on the service end, particularly when the Harley shop there has (had?) a certified Buell mechanic. They have a ~3 hour haul to Phoenix to get to the nearest Buell tech now. | ||
| Outrider |
Dyna...Any clue on who is going away in the Milwaukee area? Just wondering as it may mean a clearance sale on parts and I love to stock up when I can get a deal. Then again, the outbound dealers could just sell their inventory to the survivors. Oh, perish the thought! | ||
| Charlieboy6649  |
Yes, Ethan. It was a little disconcerting. Still love my Buells, but this is a point (service accessibility) that many on this board have complained about referring to other brands Duc, Aprilla, etc. It was nice when it looked like most Harley dealerships would be a good stop for Buellers. Now I dread it. Rode to Cali with my wife, for warranty work, and got a, "that aint a real motorcycle" comment from a dealer out there... I'm going to MMI so I can fix my own! |
