Author Topic: Buell Blast is now a BOAT ANCHOR?  (Read 14760 times)

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fun2drum

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on: August 23, 2009, 01:19:28 am
I just ran across this on the Buell site.  I know I'm not the only one here who also has a Buell Blast (500 single), and I'll bet I'm not the only one here who thinks this new anti-marketing campaign makes Buell look pretty sucky.  Click on the link and make sure to watch the videos.  I'll never buy another Buell again, and I was going on their site to look at their more powerful bikes just because I like the Blast.  Unbelievable...

http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes/blast/#
The Family Fleet:
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2002 Buell Blast
1973 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Convertible
...and a couple of boring and more practicle family vehicles that I won't mention here.


Ice

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Reply #1 on: August 23, 2009, 01:40:54 am
<speechless>
No matter where you go, there, you are.


Cabo Cruz

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Reply #2 on: August 23, 2009, 01:44:32 am
It was quite clear, through the videos, that Mr. Erik Buell made a conclusive business decision!  May the Blast rest in peace!
Long live the Bullets and those who ride them!

Keep the shiny side up, the boots on the pegs and best REgards,

Papa Juan

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NAME: Perla


fun2drum

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Reply #3 on: August 23, 2009, 02:12:56 am
You know, I don't have a problem with the Blast being discontinued.  Models get discontinued all the time, and maybe the Blast wasn't selling well, and maybe they just felt like it had run its course.  That's okay by me.  What really honks me off is the way they made an advertising campaign just to kill it, saying their own bike was basically a piece of S***, and that anybody who had one is not anybody they would want as a customer.   Well I was considering a new Buell for next year, which is why I was on their site in the first place.  Since they don't want MY KIND as a customer, then I'll not be dirtying up their entranceway with my feet.   There are a lot of bike-makers that make more reliable bikes, so I figure one of them would like my business.   

By the way, I'm glad Royal Enfield still likes it's customers. 
The Family Fleet:
2008 Royal Enfield Electra
2002 Buell Blast
1973 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Convertible
...and a couple of boring and more practicle family vehicles that I won't mention here.


Cabo Cruz

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Reply #4 on: August 23, 2009, 02:24:36 am
Your point about Buell's management and their opinion about their clients is well taken.  I failed to see it from your perspective.  In other words, Big Daddy Buell did not have to throw out Baby Buell (or the clients) with the bathwater!!!
Long live the Bullets and those who ride them!

Keep the shiny side up, the boots on the pegs and best REgards,

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REA:    Member No. 119
BIKE:   2004 Royal Enfield Sixty-5
NAME: Perla


doomed1

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Reply #5 on: August 23, 2009, 02:50:20 am
that's just... pathetic. now they're just limiting themselves and their market for enthusiast sportsbike riders. it really is kind of sad that they reject the sorts of riders that loved their Buells and are definitely limiting future market by eliminating the bike. suppose someone gets over their Blast and wants something sportier? of course they're going to look at Buell first. dollars to donuts Buell is going to be losing money, ESPECIALLY in today's marketplace. you can't just give up on your entry level product just because it's "boring." if you do that, you end up having nothing to grow your user base and market share.


REpozer

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Reply #6 on: August 23, 2009, 02:52:01 am
Must be an image  marketing thing.

Aren't they related to H-D ?
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Anon

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Reply #7 on: August 23, 2009, 02:53:26 am
You know, I don't have a problem with the Blast being discontinued.  Models get discontinued all the time, and maybe the Blast wasn't selling well, and maybe they just felt like it had run its course.  That's okay by me.  What really honks me off is the way they made an advertising campaign just to kill it, saying their own bike was basically a piece of S***, and that anybody who had one is not anybody they would want as a customer.   Well I was considering a new Buell for next year, which is why I was on their site in the first place.  Since they don't want MY KIND as a customer, then I'll not be dirtying up their entranceway with my feet.   There are a lot of bike-makers that make more reliable bikes, so I figure one of them would like my business.   

By the way, I'm glad Royal Enfield still likes it's customers. 

I agree completely.  I liked the Blast and actually would have liked to have one, but not if they want to insult their customers like that.  They may not have sold well, but I think the very same attitude expressed on their website was part of the reason.  They marketed the bike like it was for pussies and girls.  I liked it because it was a modern thumper that was nicely balanced, had a standard riding position, got good mpg, and could ride any legal speeds.  Being made fun of by the people who are asking for your money is not good marketing.

Eamon
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r80rt

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Reply #8 on: August 23, 2009, 03:10:28 am
The Blast was the only Buell I ever considered buying, they are super fun to ride.
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1Blackwolf1

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Reply #9 on: August 23, 2009, 03:28:45 am
Must be an image  marketing thing.

Aren't they related to H-D ?

   More of a H-D clone in ways use hopped up sportster engines.  The blast was actually half a Sporty engine.  Used lots of H-D parts if they could improve on them.  Will.
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fun2drum

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Reply #10 on: August 23, 2009, 04:02:57 am
I don't know if you guys browsed around the Buell site, but here's just one more slap in the face where they added the Blast to the 2010 line-up and listed its features as "end table" and "boat anchor".  When you move your pointer over it the picture changes to the crushed "redesigned" Blast.

Check it out:  http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes/
The Family Fleet:
2008 Royal Enfield Electra
2002 Buell Blast
1973 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Convertible
...and a couple of boring and more practicle family vehicles that I won't mention here.


Slider

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Reply #11 on: August 23, 2009, 04:09:26 am
Another take on it...


The Buell Blast was a friendly motorcycle, a beginner's bike and a favorite of US-based rider training organizations. Its 500cc air-cooled single was reliable, simple and unintimidating, its low seat height made it great for shorties and lady riders, its unassuming looks made it a bike that you didn't have to be a rev-head to ride. But the unassuming Blast wasn't exactly a sales hit, and worse, Erik Buell was finding that it was giving young riders the wrong impression about the Buell range - so, in a commitment to balls-out sportsbiking, he canceled the bike for 2010, and stuck a few of his remaining stock into a crusher. Next year's Blast, it seems, will have an exceptionally short wheelbase and highly centralized mass.

It's quite a publicity stunt - Buell has put up a pretty humorous website for the 2010 Blast, showing video of the bikes going through the crusher with head honcho Erik Buell pushing the final button.

It might seem like a fairly extreme gesture - to literally trash your own bikes for the world to see - but the Blast wasn't the sort of bike to inspire rabid fanatics, and while it did fill a void in the entry level segment, it was a bit of a contradiction with the rest of the Buell range.

So this is Buell's way of turning a fairly flaccid product line into a PR hit, saying the Blast isn't fast enough, scary enough, innovative enough or tough enough to wear the brand's badge. As the site says, "The Buell Blast was a cute little motorcycle. It just never made much of a sportbike. But, as luck would have it, it makes a killer ottoman. Or end table. Or art piece. Through an innovative process known as crushing, we’ve turned a limited number of Blasts into colorful metal cubes, each numbered and signed by Erik Buell himself."

PR disaster or masterstroke... Probably neither, but it's certainly a notable little development in the motorcycle world!

http://www.gizmag.com/2010-buell-blast-crushed/12389/

I must retreat to my place of Zen and meditate on this.


fun2drum

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Reply #12 on: August 23, 2009, 04:46:23 am
My wife and I agree that we are not ever buying another Buell.  That's two bikes they won't be selling.   I wonder how many more?

If he wants to piss off a lot of Buell Blast owners and make them choose other brands for their sport bike upgrades, then I guess the marketing plan should be a smashing success. 
 
You'll see some articles praising Buell's "genious" and saying it's just "humor"...
Whatever.   I think Buell sucks.
The Family Fleet:
2008 Royal Enfield Electra
2002 Buell Blast
1973 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Convertible
...and a couple of boring and more practicle family vehicles that I won't mention here.


Kevin Mahoney

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Reply #13 on: August 23, 2009, 06:22:38 am
I looked in the HD annual report a few years ago and they listed Buell Blast production figures. I thought we were small until I read their numbers. I think it was a good bike but was not a commercial success.
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birdmove

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Reply #14 on: August 23, 2009, 07:27:20 am
    I subscribe in digest form to some yahoo groups about the Buell Blast motorcycles. Being an old thumper fan, I was very interested when I heard about a new street thumper-and one made in the USA at that. I test rode one and thought it was a pretty good motorcycle. It would easily hit 80-85 mph (that's theoretically, of course-I would never exceed the speed limit). It felt a bit small in physical size to me. I can tell you that many Blast owners are flat pissed at Erik Buell for the way he handled the dropping of the Blast. Buell is going to lose a fair number of repeat buyers because of this. Many Blast owners move up to bigger motorcycles ( a rat race that I no longer choose to participate in-henct the RE Bullet in my garage)-but they will be switching to other brands because they are disgusted at Erik Buell and his handling of this issue. He seemed all to happy to take the Blast buyers money and he extolled the virtues of the bike in videos and interviews, but now suddenly the Blast is a POS and a joke per the ads from Mr. Buell himself?? I have to say the way he handled this is in very poor taste. He could have dropped that model in a respectful way and should be thankful for the people that believed in the Blast and Erik's design philosophy in the whole Buell lineup. I've also test ridden the XB9R Firebolt, and the XB9 Lightning, and both bikes were a riot to ride. Its almost like Erik is embarrassed that he designed the Blast and put his name on it. He shouldn't be that way.I've read more than once that the Blast actually has maybe the best reliability record of any HD/Buell motorcycle. Its no sports bike, but for an inexpensive midsized street bike for commuting and back road riding, its a pretty decent mount.Sound familiar? Sounds a lot like the characteristics of our own RE Bullets doesn't it?

    Jon
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