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Buell Inside Pass at Homestead

Posted by Kenn Stamp
Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Page 1 of 3 Story and Crash Test Dummy impersonation by: Kenn Stamp Static photos by: Kenn Stamp Action and suit photos by: Alfonse "Fonzie" Palaima Editors note: The abridged version of the track day footage can be seen on YouTube. The full video is on our Helloworld site; just click on the video icon on the left side of the page and choose the video. Apparently, I fall good (yes I know the grammar is incorrect), at least according to a corner worker at Homestead-Miami Speedway who wanted to come and tell me that. I believe the conversation went like this: Corner worker (CW): You the guy that crashed on the Buell, the black one? Me: Yep, that would be me. CW: You did good out there. You went down but you got right back up and moved out of the way. You fall good. Got off just in time. If you woulda held on a little longer it woulda high-sided ya. Good fall. Me: Umm....thanks. I guess if you're gonna fall being good at it is helpful. So ended my day at Homestead-Miami Speedway for Buell's Inside Pass track day. But I am getting a little ahead of myself here. Let me go back to the beginning and tell this story in the proper order. It all started with an email asking if I'd like to go down to Homestead (just outside Miami) and ride Buell demo bikes all day long on the track. The track day was on a Monday so I left Sunday morning to ride down and spend the night at my best friend's new house. I knew that he and his wife lived in Homestead and I knew that they just bought a new house and completely renovated it, but what I didn't know was that they now lived 10 minutes from the speedway! Fate was smiling upon me already it seemed; oh how fickle fate is. After a rowdy night of drinking soda and playing Wii bowling (hey he's got 2 little kids) I crashed out on their sleeper sofa at some ungodly late hour (actually midnight), but I awoke refreshed and ready to tackle the day. After the short ride to the track and the required riders meeting, it was off to the Buell truck to get my name on a bike to ride for the first session. Before we go any further let's talk about the Buell Inside Pass program. Buell decided they wanted to take their demo fleet around the country, stop at Buell dealers, and let people take a new Buell out and demo them on the street. For a company that prides itself on how well their bikes handle, riding around on mostly straight roads following a ride leader while doing the speed limit is not the best way for them to showcase that handling to potential customers. Working with the same "break out of the mold" philosophy that started the company in the first place Buell developed their Inside Pass program. On paper it works like this: Buell gets a track day reserved at different tracks across the country. They then contract out the actual management of the track day to The Sportbike Company which handles all the technical stuff. It is an open track day so you can bring your own track prepped bike and ride it all day for a reasonable fee if you want and never touch a Buell. The fun part is though, should you want to touch a Buell, you can. Buell takes riders out to run laps every session. While it is a "guided tour" they do go fast enough to make it interesting, but more on that later. In reality it works like this: Excellent. If you just wanted to know if it was worth doing then you can stop reading now and know that it is, so go sign up if one is coming to your neck of the woods (Buell Inside Pass). Heck you even get lunch and drinks included in the price too! Not only is Buell willing to let you "borrow" one of their bikes to go out and explore your inner track star (within limits of course) before the sale but through their partnership with Sentry Insurance they are working to help you save money on insurance after the sale. Even if you aren't a fan of their bikes you have to admit that they are taking steps and doing things that no other manufacturer is doing to ensure customer satisfaction. If you do happen to be a fan of their bikes then all this is just icing on a very good cake. << Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>

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