| Author | Message | ||
     Dj_rider |
so i took my buell a few months ago to get its 5000 mile service. guess what that dealership no longer sells buells, so they cant do warranty work. this is one of 3 dealerships in the past 2 weeks who have dropped the buell line and now only sell and service harleys in my area. what is going on with buell? i wish i would have known about the honda rc51, that bike is just plain up sickening, and besides it being a rice burner, i think it owns my xb12r. i mean come on, i got 9000 miles on my bike, and the motor mounts are wearing out? wtf, i have a 1972 kawasaki that i ride the •••• out of and the motor mounts on it are just fine...yea im going to hear about oh buell this and buell that, the buell's are special, you gotta baby them, treat them like they were meant to go only 30 miles an hour, blah blah, or someone might blame me for riding the bastard 2 hard, or maybe i dont know how to service it correctly...well its rough tryin to keep with with 50 guys on riceburners. anyways now im stuck with a 1500 dollar extended warranty that is basically useless, and i have to beg the damn dealership where i bought the bike to service it (they didnt wana service it anymore cause i repaired the bike after a spill) this is really stupid, and honestly, i think buells are nice and look good, but mechanically they fail far sooner than any jap bike on the market today. on top of all this, my front end feels like its going to fall off, and this is after a dealership inspected it and put a new triple tree on. the front end is audibly loose, you can hear the sucker bouncing. then i got the ever so common intake leak, the damn thing pops and queebs and hardly idles. after the repairs and another 300-400 buxs down the toilet im trading my bike in for a honda rc51. i hate to be mean and so negative towards buell, but jesus, make a bike that doesnt fall apart after 9000 miles, make a bike that doesnt require thousands of dollars in repairs each year, make a bike that will last!!!!!!!! | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Why did your motor mounts fail so soon? | ||
| Dana P. |
Good luck to ya!!! | ||
| Dj_rider |
i have no freakin idea, maybe cause i have to keep it wide open all the time to keep up with the rice burners? all i know is im heated right now and i wanna go shove my 16k investment up someones •••. 12 for the bike/useless extended warranty and 4k in add on parts! | ||
| Monorad |
How many old rice rockets do you see? They're rare, and those that do last for 5 or 10 years are almost always owned by good mechanics that know how to sync carbs and do valve clearances (etc.). The reason the older/vintage bikes (like yamaha RDs) last is because they have a lot less parts, simpler electronics and weren't physically able to be ridden as fast and hard as the newer sport bikes (esp. race replis). Everyone I know that rides a gixxer or ninja has frustrating issues that they have to deal with - but for some reason they don't feel the need to blame the manufacturer. The Buell brand really seems to be a focal point for people who bitch about quality control - and it's highly disproportional to real production issues, especially relative to other brands. Ducati's fall apart, cost twice to repair relative to a Buell but that's ok because of the brand mystique. Kids kill themselves on gixxers every week in my town, and there are at least 5 being parted out at any given time. But gixxers RULE, yo! I just don't understand the unfair labelling of the Buell brand. Its frustrating, and it sucks trying to defend it because the argument becomes circular or overly specific. [I do agree that the dealership issue SUCKS.] If you don't like Buells, or really feel the need to hang with ricers at 150mph, then go buy a ricer. If you beat the crap out of it for 9,000 miles and there is nothing wrong with it, I'll eat my words. (Message edited by monorad on August 01, 2005) | ||
| Edonis |
14k and the worst I've had is a rear bearing go out and lately the speedometer just stopped functioning at the end of a 2,000 mile trip(2003 XB9S by the way). It gets treated rough, believe. Also, I saw a statistic that the Buells have one of the lowest numbers of warranty claims among most common manufacterers. This is only concerning the XB line of course. Another thing to note, if an issue is ever found, Buell gets on it and makes a change to ensure reliability. Case and point, the new belts that are going to be guaranteed for the life of the bike, etc. So having a completly unbiased opinion, why not look at the variables that could cause all of this mate. I'd say your dealership is looking like a prime culprit for some of these issues. I could go more in depth, etc. Good luck on the bike search. Most of us here are just riders at heart that are into something new, so don't lose touch eh. Cheers (Message edited by Edonis on August 01, 2005) (Message edited by Edonis on August 01, 2005) | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
(they didnt wana service it anymore cause i repaired the bike after a spill) Hmmm...of course that just couldn't possible be any reason for your current dilemmas. Its inconcevable that spill couldn't have damaged more then you thought at all. That since your not a certified mechanic that your warrenty is useless based on the fact that they have absolutely no idea if you did the work properly? No DJ, you made your own bed on this one. The XB has gotten nothing but complaints from you since the day you got it. Cut your losses, go buy your RC51 and enjoy yourself. | ||
| Ingemar |
i think buells are nice and look good, but mechanically they fail far sooner than any jap bike on the market today. Really? How many cracked motor mounts have you counted lately? And how many intake leaks? Bet you needed only one hand to count both .... Has it occured to you that the reason those dealers have disapeared might be because they didn't deliver service like the MoCo expects from them? May it be then that there lies a reason for some of those failures and that the quality of the bike itself is not in question? Just some food for thought man .... | ||
| Buellerx |
I would have to agree with the others here. The new BUELLS are very reliable. I have seen a lot of Jap bikes with quality and reliability issues (I have owned some of them). I once saw a brand new 600 Ninja blow its piston out of the front of the engine on a Poker Run. My XB seems to be holding up very well. I have had a problem that was fixed under warranty. A wire wore thru and shorted to the chassis. But like I said it was fixed under warranty and my dealer didnt give me a hard time. I do understand your frustration with your dealer network. I am lucky, I have a local dealer that knows Buells and likes Buells. Everyone there knows me from the sales dept to the service and parts guys. Im not saying they are perfect, but they try to help. That is one of the reasons I became a BUELL fan. I used to ride Jap Crap or Euro Trash. Never thought about buying American. However Jap dealers in my area are complete A-holes. Didnt care about me or my bike. Just interested in $$$$. When I went to my local Harley/BUELL dealership, I found a great bunch of guys that were really interested in Riding, Motorcycles and me. It was refreshing to have everyone that worked at the dealership be a motorcycle enthusiast. The Jap dealerships I went to, most of them didnt ride. Hell, some of them had never ridden. All they cared about was what they could sell you. I guess I am lucky because I know most of you dont have the same dealer support that I do. I do feel BUELL needs to do something about that. I dont think you should blame the bikes "Quality" for a lack of dealer support. I have been stranded on everything from Yamahas to BMW's but never on my XB. | ||
| Truk |
I have an 03 XB9R and no problems to speak of...couple little things, but nothing significant. Bought it used in February with 1800 miles and now have 7,500+. I love the bike. I also have a 01R1 with 49,000 miles. Purchased it new in Jan 02 and the bike has been great. Only one minor problem in the last 3 years. Loose connection in the wiring harness to the headlights arched and melted a lead to a wire to one headlight. They replace the entire harness under warranty. Could have straight wired for a fix, but since I had the warranty, i had them fix it. The build quality of my rice burner has been outstanding I do keep up with maintenance schedule on both bikes. | ||
| 99buellx1 |
You have a bad experience so that must mean that all Buells are bad? I've never understood this. | ||
| Captjim |
I think most of DJ's problem comes from his dealer not handling the Buell brand any longer. The dealer network can make or break the Brand. I am scared for the company. The Uly is generating so much press there are going to be all these strange people walking into Harley dealerships around the country. You know the strange ones, the ones without black leather and tattoos. If the dealerships are not committed to Buell the good press will be wasted. | ||
| Cmm213 |
Different strokes for different folks. He tried the 12R and it didnt work out for him, so what. I can understand his dealership problems too, I used to have two in my area that bailed. Now the closest dealer is almost 2 hours away. As for the RC51, there is no way I would call it jap crap. I got to ride one for about a week and almost didnt want to part with it. My friend wanted his bike back, then I started looking at the xb's. | ||
| Cataract2 |
Captjim, what might be why HD is allowing the dealers that aren't interested to bail on the brand. Get's rid of the ones not wanting to put forth the effort to hold onto Buell. | ||
| Imaposer |
How high will Buell sales numbers have to get before they could possible think of opening up stand alone dealers? My local Buell dealer is your typical HD shop. 75% of the floor space is merchandise, 20% is dedicated to the big bikes, and the last 5% is where the sporsters, buell and used bikes sit. What gets me is when you walk in the door, there's $30K+ customs right in front and on both sides of you, and as you walk down the row it goes from the top of the line $$ down to the sportsters, then finally the handful of buells on hand. Twice since I've heard about the Uly coming out, I've gone there and wandered among the Buells. Neither time did I get anyone to say a word to me until I walked back up by the road kings and such. When I asked about the buells, it sounded as if they were disappointed to have to talk about them.  | ||
| Dj_rider |
im alot calmer now, but let me tell u, i went to the dealership where i bought my bike, and they didnt even have one buell on display, which leads me to believe that they 2, will prabably be dropping the buell line...if this is the case, then there will be no dealerships within 100 miles of pittsburgh pa that carry the buell line. this is rediculous. i told the lady behind the serivce counter my problems, and she said they prabably wouldnt service my bike due to the fact that i, (a person whos been around bikes since i was very young, fixed my bike when i layed it down last summer). after i dumped my bike, i took it to a dealership, told them exactly what happened, and spent over 500 dollars to have them fix/replace any/all problems that were left on the bike that i wouldnt/couldnt fix or have knowledge of. my front end was supposedly "fixed" but in reality it was hardly fixed. i rode a rc51 last nite that was tricked out, and it gave me a woody. i mean, i LOVE MY BUELL, when it runs right. i love the torque, and i love the looks of it, but damn, how the hell are motor mounts going to crap out at 9000 miles. if all else fails, im goin to trailer my bike to appleton, wisconsin to personally see that dave over looks the repairs on my bike. i cant trade it in with out the current problems being fixed, but i did see my new bike..a bran new 2005 rc51, and its still in the crate. believe me people, i really enjoy my buell, WHEN it runs right which is only 2/3rd AT BEST of the time. and please im not looking to pick fights, or try to online-argue with die hard buell fans. i honestly dont give 2 craps what you think, or think you know. i know that my BIG $ investment has been a let down, and no matter who says what, i know my bike better than anyone. | ||
| Court |
>>>How high will Buell sales numbers have to get before they could possible think of opening up stand alone dealers? Unrelated to sales numbers. | ||
| Superdave |
You want some warranty hassles? Try dealing with BMW. | ||
| Frausty12r |
Few points (another $.02 I'd like to throw in, and a little closer to needing a refund to deliver my opinion) `04 Hyabusa, 4100 miles... pushed conrod in cyl.1 right out of the upper block. We were all cruising at about 120 he was in fifth at 9000k rpm (which is well within tolerance of that motor) and pleh.. out if went. He could have blamed the manufacturer, but he didn't. He knew that his mods voided warranty, and he's eating the cost. No heat from him, but to me, that was a quality control issue, a high performance bike like that, shouldn't have cracked like it did. (Redlines around 13k rpm) `03 GSx-R 750 7200 miles, same group of riders.. no.2 cylinder went out.. crack the block, and bent the conrod into a pretzel. Dealership wouldn't warranty the repair as his drain plug had been race wired (hole through it) He was upset, but DIDN'T blame the manufacturer Myself - `05 XB12, 9436 miles.. been down twice, once was a pretty hard highside (long story) but I and a certified buell tech I know checked over the bike, and RE-TORQUED all the vital fasteners i.e. Engine mounts (sound familiar, and yes.. they did get jarred loose) head bolts, valve cover bolts, primary bolts etc... You can just look at the bike and think well.. only cosmetic damage.. I'll fix it.. and it'll be fine. If you spill your bike... go over it with a fine tooth comb, not only can it be detrimental to the lifespan of the said bike, but also YOUR LIFESPAN. And a note on why HD dealerships won't talk to people interested in Buell bikes... why they only want to sell high dollar bike, think salesmen for a minute...... done thinking? need more time? They get better commission on HIGH dollar bikes... where as you Buells run less than most of the dressed sporties that are on the showroom floor. From a salesman's perspective... it makes sense, from a customer's, it's infuriating.. best thing to do is approach them, and say I've got 5000$ in my pocket and I want that bike.. point to the buell, and see how many go running to their desk to fill out the paperwork. I know a few Sales people for the local Harley Davidson, and they've told me, that most people that come in to look at the buells, don't buy. Even after they've been educated on the technology in the bike, they still get talked to by their friends who say noooo man, the Gixxer 750 OWNS the race track... even tho these people will never spend a minute on a track... and if they do, it's years down the road. So, the Sales people only talk to people who are interested in BUYING, not browsing. And another thing, go get the rc51 if it's what you want. just a warning tho, buddy of mine's got an `04, and the tank shell collapsed during the winter, something about a vent not being installed in the tank cap to allow equalizing of a vacuum...(from the hot fuel getting cold.. sucked the tank top into a perfect bowl), something buell has.. hmm... still think buells are poor quality? *gives his soapbox up for adoption* | ||
| Dj_rider |
in the end, we all deserve better quality service and support from our dealerships, no matter what brand of motorcycle we own | ||
| S1eric |
I have seen changes in the Buell dealership network. They are letting less than enthusiastic dealerships opt out of the buell line. On the up side when you find A Buell dealership it will be A good one. People who really want to help the the product line. Already seen it in my area. Also seen by (the PUP) Don`t want to tramp on your toes PUP but I read you posts. On the down side finding one of these GOOD dealers could possibly take you out of your way. But I do think Buell is looking at the dealership network, By letting less than stellar dealerships opt out rather than dragging them down. Hope you find A good one. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Sorry about your bike wooes DJ... I won't comment on causes of them , as I am far from a motorcycle mechanic.... I feel your pain on the Dealer thing though... I live within 30 minutes of 2 Dealers, yet will go an extra 30 min to the third Dealer because they know & support Buell... As for reliability, I have a 98 S1W with (gasp, an "unreliable" H-D based motor in it). The bike has 21,000 miles on it and I like to keep the RPMs at least 3,500 even when just cruising. I have only experienced minor issues up to this point, mostly due to lack of inspection or not taking care of maintence issues in a timely manner... I hope your bike issues get solved and you have many happy years or riding. (Message edited by Paint shaker on August 01, 2005) | ||
| Ingemar |
how the hell are motor mounts going to crap out at 9000 miles. Uh ... You dumped it right? Would it be possible that it somehow got damaged without you or the dealer noticing it and now it finally broke? If you can trailer your bike to Appleton, don't wait until "all else fails". Load it up and get on your way. If thats what it takes to get your confidence back in your bike do so by all means and don't wait until it gets worse. | ||
| Dj_rider |
i have to plan a road trip i guess.  | ||
| 99buellx1 |
"They get better commission on HIGH dollar bikes.." Do you work at a dealership? Do you know this as fact? I do work at a dealership and I do know that in our case this is not true. I make the same money selling a $2000 used EX250 as I do with a $32000 Screamin' Eagle Ultra. It's not about the bike its about the person at our shop. "think salesmen for a minute......" Done. Dont lump all salesmen together as you wouldn't want me saying that all repairmen are fat, dirty and show ••• crack while they work. | ||
| Spatten1 |
I think most of DJ's problem comes from his dealer not handling the Buell brand any longer. The dealer network can make or break the Brand. I am scared for the company. The Uly is generating so much press there are going to be all these strange people walking into Harley dealerships around the country. You know the strange ones, the ones without black leather and tattoos. If the dealerships are not committed to Buell the good press will be wasted. LOL. XBs would be better served sitting next to Triumphs and Ducatis rather than Road Kings. From my personal experiences there is a total disconnect with Buell and the Harley crowd. | ||
| Triumph900 |
>>>"How high will Buell sales numbers have to get before they could possible think of opening up stand alone dealers? Unrelated to sales numbers." So what is it related to, and is it a possibility? | ||
| Buell |
My theory: Harley is in it for the money, and there just isn't enough of it in the Buell world (although I think there could be... I mean, I WANT to spend money on my bike...) | ||
| Glitch |
So what is it related to, and is it a possibility? It's related to the big picture, and it's not much of a possibility. Just compare how many dealerships you have for other exotic bikes. How many certified Ducati dealerships, Aprilla, BMW... I for one would travel an hour or two to find a Buell dealer that wanted to be a Buell dealer, rather than run down to the local HD shop that was being forced to deal in Buell. That's where animosity is growm. I'm just glad HD&Buell finally figured that much out. It was giving Buell a bad name. I'm sorry some people's dealers have dropped the line after they bought their bikes at said dealer. But, it's better in the long run. | ||
| Edmsportster |
I have to second Spatten....I have told many of my HOG chapter "friends" that my sporty is for sale so I can buy a Buell and I can tell by their reaction that they won't ride with me once I change...not that they will be able to keep up....their loss | ||
| Spatten1 |
Definitely their loss. | ||
| Edonis |
One that "crowd disconnect" note, I was at a State HOG rally not to long ago on my Buell. There was a Sportster ride that I joined. I've got to say, the people leading it were stoked to have me along on the bike. I suppose it really just depends on where you are and the people involved. | ||
| Frausty12r |
"Do you work at a dealership? Do you know this as fact? I do work at a dealership and I do know that in our case this is not true. I make the same money selling a $2000 used EX250 as I do with a $32000 Screamin' Eagle Ultra. It's not about the bike its about the person at our shop." Ok, point taken yet I need to point out.. "in our case" I do know several people that work at Adamec's Harley Davidson, and they are commission based sales. Meaning, the more sales.. the bigger the paycheck. "Dont lump all salesmen together as you wouldn't want me saying that all repairmen are fat, dirty and show ••• crack while they work." I wasn't trying to lump all salesmen together, just making a point that 95% of all sales people are on commission. Those who work at a privately owned/mom and pop's dealership possibly aren't, and 9 times out of 10 those are the people who approach everyone. (i.e. good sales people) BTW, whats with the harsh reply? And personally I could careless if you called repairmen Fat, Dirty and ••• crack showing most are.. (like most salesmen are commission based.. see how this works?), you've apparently gotten me confused with a plummer (I can see more flames coming my way, and that was totally meant to be comical) No heat meant between us, hell I hardly know ya, Just speaking from experience man.. DJ_rider do what you gotta do to make yourself happy man.. thats all that counts. | ||
| Sokota |
Qoute from a Harley / Buell dealer Tech "its got a Harley motor, but its still a sport bike." Also "their just different to work on, its harder to make money working on the Buells". | ||
| 99buellx1 |
Part of what I said was lost too, I am commission based pay. But it is not dictated by the price tag on the unit. | ||
| Hanses25 |
03 XB9S 16,700 miles, broken clutch cable, no other problems. Reliable yup I think so!  | ||
| Vegasbueller |
Has anyone ever noticed that the ones of us that are really happy with our bikes (now not picking on anyone here at all I swear) are the ones that do their own work, and aren't afraid to tinker with their machine? We may screw something up along the way, and we chalk it up to experience, or not following the manual, etc, but we are happy as can be with the bike. My XB is soon approaching the 30K mark on the odometer. I am actually taking a thousand mile round trip this weekend! The only thing I have ever had done at the dealer was to change the tires, rear axle and bearings. I do all my own work, change my own oil, my own tune-ups, etc. I don't find the Xb that hard to work on, and I have had excellent tech advice from members of the board like Steve Slaughter, who taught me that you can change rocker box gaskets in just a few hours! Anyway...just an observation. Nick | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
My first clutch cable broke at 54000 miles. I hate my bike now! All Buells suck!! ha ha haha hahaha. |
