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MAIL ME HERE"Summers gone and the time is right for bloggin' on the web"
My apologies to Marvin but I am back to work here at davegess.com and hope
to be posting blogs weekly and more pictures on the Buell history pages.
Had a good summer hanging out with the family and unfortuantly busting my
butt at my real job. Lots of Buell stuff happened this summer so I have
some catching up to do.
Watch this space.
posted by dave gess 1:42 PM
Man oh man am I looking forward to the Buell birthday bash. Not so much for
the bash but for the time off. I need some days off. I am sick and tired
of being an adult. I am tired of having to be responsible and having to get
stuff done. I want to have nothing to do. I just want to ride my bike and
screw off.
posted by dave gess 1:13 PM
XB12, WOW. A homerun in my book. I am very happy with the power of my XB9
but I can see people wanting more. It is the classic "too much is not
enough" thing. The 12 should take care of those folks.
It is a pretty amazing engine. Something like 93 HP at the rear wheel (we
will have to wait until Cycle World tests one to get a real number to
compare to other bikes) but 93 sounds right. In such a small light bike
that much power will be entertaining. I take my hat off to the crew in East
Troy for getting that kind of power from the loveable old Sportster lump.
In fairness there is not much Sportster left in it. I think that Buell is
completely justified in calling this a Buell engine. Sure it is built on
the same assembly line as the Sportster and it uses many of the same
fixtures at various stages of its production but little of the actual engine
is the same as a Sportster.
The job could not have been easy. The aftermarket folks can get some
serious power but they do not need to pass noise and emissions tests nor do
they carry 2 year warranties.
GOOD WORK FOLKS.
Dave
posted by dave gess 3:00 PM
WOW, Ducati wins a GP. First year in competition and only their sixth race.
Quite surprising result BUT you had to figure, with the outstanding results
they have had so far , that this win was coming. Sure the World Champ made
a mistake but if he wasn't being pushed he would not make that mistake. No
I think it shows just how good at racing Ducati is. By all accounts they
have been very focused on this goal and have devoted a lot of talent to it.
I do have to wonder about the money. The Texas Pacific Group is rumored to
want out but with s sinking stock price they have been unwilling to jump.
While GP racing helps the old reputation I don't see how it will move many
more bikes or improve the manufacturing efficiencies to the point that Wall
Street will be happy. Ducati has always been good at selling the dream and
glamour to entice yet another investor to keep them afloat. Perhaps even a
group of hard core venture capitalists are not immune to the legendary
Italian charm?
What do you think?
posted by dave gess 8:28 PM
What does Buell do next?
I think they make an M2 replacement. Downgrade the suspension components, use a conventional brake and wheel, detune the engine a bit and sell it at $8599. They fly out the door. Meanwhile the S and R get a 3 percent horsepower boost and some trick new paint schemes and keep the same price.
Meanwhile the $8995 pricing on the 2003’s move those bikes out the door. (This is a first for Buell and H-D, realizing that Buells sell like other sport bikes and pricing becomes a big issue as the summer moves on.)
Dave
posted by dave gess 8:59 PM
You know what ticks me off? What ticks me off is hearing that a Buell
salesperson has told a perspective customer that this is "a make or break
year for Buell". To my ear that sounds like there is a possibility that
Buell won't be here next year. Would you buy a product, an expensive
product you plan to keep a while, if you thought the manufacturer was going
away? I wouldn't.
When a salesperson uses that line (which is purely and simply BS) it shows a
bias toward the product that truly hurts Buell. It is part of the "what you
really want is a Harley" mentality that is the curse of having the bikes
share showroom space with H-D.
Now being in the H-D family has always been a mixed blessing for Buell with
the positives out weighing the negatives (a topic on which I have wasted
your time already) but for some dealers to continue to treat the bike like
an orphan stepchild is unacceptable. Buell is building a motorcycle that is
the rival of any sporting bike in the world, to be treated as some sort of
unwanted growth by salespeople who's idea of high performance is fish tails
on the end of open pipes is simply unforgivable.
I know that H-D is addressing this problem, along with others, and some
would ask for patience but dam I am sick of it and want to see it stop NOW.
OK I'm done venting I'll return to the cave.
Dave
posted by dave gess 2:41 PM
H-D's financial numbers are out and as usual make interesting reading as
well as generating lots of investor activity. Shares were sold off in very
active trading as investors reacted to the slowing registrations of bikes.
The price seems to have leveled off over the last couple of days. Some
analysts have downgraded the stock while other are maintaining their "BUY"
ratings.
Here in Milwaukee were the stock is watch very closely by lots of people I
think guarded optimism prevails. Profits are up nicely but more importantly
dealers are still getting big markups over MSRP and used bike sale pricing
is very good. The slower registrations are a concern but dealers could
easily lower prices if needed to bring in sales.
Personally I think that we are seeing the beginning of a return from outer
space to some place in the stratosphere. I don't think H-D has any
long-term issues but I don't think the surcharges that many dealers have
collected can be maintained. This will manifest itself first in slowing
registrations BUT as dealers react to slower retail sales they have the
classic slow sales weapon available to them, lower prices. While none of
them likes to lower prices even if a dealer gets MSRP they are still making
substantial profits on each unit sold and more importantly the Motor Company
still gets the same amount of $ for each bike they sell.
I suspect the Motor Company would be happy to see ALL it's dealers selling
bikes at MSRP. While it will make some dealers unhappy most will be glad
that bikes are still selling and many of them, the ones with long term
relationships with the Motor Company and their customers will actually
welcome this situation. For a sales person demand exceeding supply is
mostly a good thing but it can reach a point (and I would argue that H-D has
been at this point for many years) where people feel that they are being
taken advantage of. A customer who feels that they have been ripped off is
unlikely to come back and buy again. Long term that is very bad thing.
So I think the Motor Company is still in good shape. Profits will hold up
as long as the dealers are willing to buy all the bikes H-D can produce.
After all it is sales to dealers not to customers that make money for H-D.
Dealers currently have lots of room to move on pricing, they can drop prices
and reduce waiting lists while still making tons of money. I think we will
see a short-term reduction in registrations followed by a drop in the
premiums charged to buyers as well as a drop in length of time you wait for
a bike. This will lead to the registration numbers going back up.
A perfect world for H-D would every bike they can make being sold at or near
MSRP shortly after hitting the dealer's floor. Bikes selling at premiums
above MSRP make no extra money for the company and may alienate customers.
Long waiting lists don't help either. Harley-Davidson has been working hard
to build enough capacity to meet customer demand and they may be about to
succeed.
Dave
posted by dave gess 10:03 AM