my buell and my buell dealer has let me down

[XBear9S]

To BuellPartsGuy's point, one of my best friends handles the ordering and shipping for all of CentralTexasHarleyDavidsons customers including Buell. He is my best source and always in my pocket, but he tells me he has NO WAY OF TRACKING PURCHASE ORDERS and although he personally ordered several parts overnight for me, more often than not, they didn't come in for several days and there was NOTHING HE COULD DO ABOUT IT.

Having worked retail for years and having handles special orders, it is inane to me that he can be expected to do his job w/o knowing who his vendors are, and/or having a way to contact them in regards to PO's and their expedition. This guy is basically doing the best that he can with what he has to work with. It is what it is!

Now with Harley parts being so plentiful and so available, anything Joe Harley orders will either be in-stock or it will be there PDQ. For us Buellers, we might as well be riding some 1971 modified duc. The resource pool just doesn't work for us. They system isn't set up for us.

To further BPG's point. Money talks. As Buell grows, so will the quality of products and services, but we are way, way out there still. Maybe the "25" will open the doors to allow Buell to become a household name. Maybe that will lead to Buell only dealerships. Maybe someday we will find a fully stocked Buell dealership with Buell knowledgeable mechanics who ride, eat, breath and sleep Buell. That time is not today.

If you own a Buell, you've bought into a dream. That dream CAN be a nightmare. You must be resourceful, knowledgeable and/or patient. It isn't only about being all BADASS and pissy. I can tell you right now that the locat HD dealership doesn't give a rats ass about you and your attitude. They'd prob rather you just go the fuck away. Yer $500 warranty repair is holding up the next $3k chrome R.O. and/or Screaming Eagle upgrade.

One of the biggest complaints I hear from the other side of that counter is about Buellers doin' their own mods. We're like that. We love to upgrade and modify out bikes and we don't want to wait for weeks whilst some HD shop gets around to it. So we figure it out ourselves and then there's a prob and the poor guy behind the counter's gotta diagnose the issue despite all the crap that we did and probably did wrong. This, and he's only seen 6 Buells in the 2 years he's worked there. Yer not being fair if you aren't considering all these factors.

If you want better service, get a jap bike.
If you want a Buell, get some bigger cajones and a service manual.

Robtk! a.k.a. "SpecialK!"

"If the person in the next lane at the stoplight rolls up the window and locks the door, support their view of life by snarling at them."
--Anonymous HellBuelly

 

[BuellPartsGuy]

Amen......XBear9S

 

[keisersozae]

i have been mad with how long it took them to service my bike in the past and im understanding how their system works. i get it. most of my parts have been overnighted when my bike was in the shop and i appreciate that. i believe that most of the people at the dealer want my bike to work properly and me to be happy with it, not just get my bike and i out of there. i have always been nice to the guys at the dealership even though i didnt always agree with how their system works.

my beef is that the bike is still having problems, problems that have left me dead on the side of the road, embarrased in front of people i ride with, and baffled as to how come they can't fix it. what im really wanting from buell is to look at my bike and find out exactly what is causing all the electrical issues. my dealer has used 3 different techs on it trying to get a fresh perspective on whats wrong. they all spent hours tracing wiring and replacing parts but the last time i picked it up, they said "im not telling you its fixed, buts its running". i think right now it prolly needs a tps reset or something because it feels like its a little out of time or something.

i feel as a consumer of a purchase of more than 10k, i deserve for it to be resolved. i like my bike, i say that a lot but i feel like i need to justify my comments. im not trying to bash buell, at this point, no other bike interest me more than a buell. but i feel like after so many dealer visits for essientially the same issue, buell should step in and resolve it.

i havnt bought one accesory for the bike yet for fear that the bike will never be repaired. i want a drummer real bad but i want my bike working properly before its anything but bone stock. i dont want anything that i have added to the bike to confuse whomever is working on it into thinking that my accesories are causing the problem.

do you really think that i should buy a service manual and try to figure this out myself after countless factory trained techs can't figure it out? i havnt done anything to it for fear if i tear it apart, im making it worse because then they have that to figure into the equation of what could be wrong, so i have never disassembled more than the tail to remove reflectors and the airbox to see how it worked. when my bike goes in its always clean and looks brand new, not a scratch on it. never worked on by anyone but their dealership.

you guys love this brand, i know this. me sitting in here with my problem is like me insulting you and your buell, but that is not what i am trying to do. in a way, im writing to the only people that i can relate to. i could tell my wife about my bike but im pretty sure my dachsund could make more sense of it. when i started the post i was very upset. and the things i wrote show it. but because of this post i have a learned a great deal. i appreciate your opinions, and all of your comments.

 

[XBear9S]

If your bike is under warranty, you should let a certified tech to the work.
That means more time and more patience.
You deserve to have a bike that runs right out of the box.
Shit happens and sometimes bikes don't run right.
If you dealer has done everything reasonable to get it right but can't,
then you have a legitimate gripe against Buell.
You may need to follow up on that.
That's what the lemon law is for.
It protects us against a faulty machine.

I feel your pain buddy.
You have every right to be upset and even angry.
I completely sympathize with your issues.
There are a bunch of threads on this site where people are just as upset as you.
They too have been to hell and back with their issues.
I had one frustrating experience that took 4 trips to the dealer to get right.
I was just as upset as you.
I too thought about pursuing the lemon law.
But in the end we figured it out. Me and HD.

I had a faulty coil recently and that damaged my ECM.
I had both replaced and after that she ran rugged for a while.
If she's fresh from the shop, its prob a good idea to keep her under 3k.
At least for a while.
In my experience, this gives the ECM time to iron out issues.
A TPS reset is probably a good idea.
If it doesn't help, then you prob need to dig some more.

I hope you get a working machine soon.
Whether that be a repaired one or a new one.
But when you do get back in the saddle,
its just a matter of time before you have to deal with something like this again.
You will be better for understanding how it works.
You will be better if you have more realistic expectations.

Robtk! a.k.a. "SpecialK!"

"Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebars to the saddle."
--Anonymous SageBuelly

 

[PAIRTBOW]

my 04 did it n i had to have the tps remapped no biggy 5 minute job for them i got my service guy to do it for freee they love me there

 

[PAIRTBOW]

try havin the TPS (throttle possition sensor) rezeroed in the computer. mine did something that sounds exactly what urs is doin at about 2000 miles let me kno how u make out its a 5 minute thing dont let them charge u more then a minimum service hour i got mine dun for free cuz i talk to my dealers alot n send them tons of work check it out hit me back n let me kno how u made out

 

[slwglide]

it cant be helped" "It cannot be changed".

Small minded people think like this. people who are complacent think this way. when i think of Buell, i think of innovation. All the hard work that went into designing these bikes takes a strong minded individual. someone who didn't say things like "it cant be helped" "It cannot be changed". It can be fixed, it will be changed or this brand will never thrive the way it should.

Amen brother

 

[Bigern]

Is there a motor oil equivalent to HD motor oil thatI could get at a local parts store?

 

[golfnutXB]

Firstly can i say hi to one and all as this is my first post on this site.
I would just like to say that in a twisted sort of way, i appreciate the unreliability of the buell, lets face it we've all read the write-ups and still we buy the things so instead of moaning , i actually embrace the fact tha one day i will be caught out, but i expect it and also expect to take it to a dealer who will take forevever and a day to not fix it[confused]