So just when I think I've somehow managed to run into every dumbass in this world another one pops up. The newest dumbass I've encountered owns Trophy Queen, her name is Jenny Tanner. Some may know this company, most probably not. She makes purses, wallets, etc., mostly a woman's apparel type line. Her stuff has some retro style to it and as many know I tend to like that type of styling, i.e. the Retro Rockitt, Bob Job, etc. So after checking out her stuff I thought I'd look into offering her line to our customers. I swapped e-mail with her and she said there was a minimum stocking order, not uncommon amongst smaller suppliers. The size of the order wasn't unreasonable and she seemed nice enough to deal with. She faxed me her contract and application. Her only rule was we couldn't sell at shows she planned to sell at. Now let me say right here that she would be the only supplier I'd be buying from that is in direct competition with me, something I'm not a fan of. But since she did mostly car shows and we do mostly bike shows it seemed reasonable. We sent the contract back and placed our order. I then set up pages on my web site to offer her stuff to our web customers. I also was going to offer the items at a lower price than she charges. Makes sense to lower the price and move more volume to me, sort of Business 101. I thought her prices were too high to start with and she allowed plenty of margin so why not offer better pricing to my clients? Part of my credo is offer the best price possible to our clients. Well she wasn't at all happy that I was going to sell her stuff for less than she was or that I'd be under cutting her established dealers. This rings of communism to me. It's price fixing to say the least. The whole free enterprise system is based on moving more inventory and making more sales. I do this with our S&S motors. I sell them for much lower prices than my competition which makes me sell more motors, again, Business 101. And amazingly S&S couldn't give a rat's ass how much I charge for these motors. So after I get her stuff in stock I think she should hear how things are done in the business world. Obviously she's not too bright to start with. I mean if I had a dealer and by the way we have had dealers in the past, I really don't care what he sells the product to the end user for. As long as I'm getting paid and he's moving product I'm happy. It's really none of my business how the dealer wants to run their business. It is a free country after all and we live in a country where capitalism is king. As long as she's getting her money for the product from me and I'm not mis-representing myself in anyway by using her name to sell products that aren't hers she really shouldn't care how or for how much I sell the products.
So after I send her a nicely worded e-mail explaining how my business is MY business and she doesn't really have any right to tell me how to run MY business and also mention that she is directly in competition with her dealers, bad business altogether in my book, I send her orders for more of her products. I was also in the process of placing an order to stock up for the Arlen Ness motorcycle show in April. How does she react? She sends me an e-mail cutting us out as dealers. How stupid can one person be? You have a shop selling your products in a fucked up economy and also wants more of your products so let's stop selling to them. Her business tactics baffle me. I guess she got her money from us and stuck us with the inventory so maybe that's her goal all along. I think she's stupid as the day is long and her business tactics suck big time but I guess she has the Hot Rod Kulture so baffled by her bullshit that she can stay in business by fucking over her dealers and just selling retail direct. I'm no longer a fan of hers. I hope she can keep afloat screwing people out of their hard earned money for over priced purses, well actually I don't. If she goes out of business it makes room for someone with a fucking brain to run a real business.
I've cut the shit out of my prices to move her stuff out of my shop. It's listed on craigslist at a fraction of her inflated, demanded prices. Now they're in the range where they should be to start with.
My advice to anyone thinking about taking on her line is think twice. I wouldn't sell her shit if it were the last line of apparel left on the planet.
As always,
FTF
Ride Free.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thursday, September 17, 2009
The Net
So I have to say something about our society today. I think the internet has given us a whole lot of great stuff. Ways to advertise, disseminate information, e-mail, blogs like this, forums, social sites like Facebook, MySpace and chat rooms. Lots of good things have come about through our internet society. I'm glad we're living in an age where these things are possible.
But, I have one bitch about this new form of technology. Okay probably more than one bitch and I also know it's not quite so new anymore.
My bitch is this, we seem to be allowing more and more little fucking punks run their mouths on the net now. The total or semi anonymity of the net seems to make these little douchebags think it's okay to just say whatever they feel like, true or not. I'm sure you all have seen my other posts about integrity and my page on my site called Straight Talk. These pieces of shit that have no clue what it's like to run a business let alone be competitive in a field like I am seem to find ways to hide their true names and post things about others that they usually know little or nothing about. This pisses me off, more than a little. Why, you ask? Well anyone that really knows me, not just knows my name, knows that I have no problem whatsoever bringing any issue I may have with you to your face. That doesn't mean I'm confrontational, not unless you'd like me to be and you show this by your shitty attitude towards me. Then I'm more than happy to step up to that level. What it does mean is I am a grown man and behave as such. Not some snot nosed punk that goes around yapping my mouth through the net hiding behind some made up screen name.
Lately I've seen this type of behavior more and more, not always aimed at me but it's still out there. I'm a throwback, a dinosaur that still believes if you insult a man you had better do it to his face and then you had better be ready to get punched in the mouth or defend yourself. That's the way it used to be done for the youngsters in the crowd.
I guess then next worse thing in my book is those 2 faced fucks out there. They know who they are, if they don't then they're a dumb fuck 2 faced fuck. Sorry, gotta call 'em as I see 'em.
FTF
Ride Free
But, I have one bitch about this new form of technology. Okay probably more than one bitch and I also know it's not quite so new anymore.
My bitch is this, we seem to be allowing more and more little fucking punks run their mouths on the net now. The total or semi anonymity of the net seems to make these little douchebags think it's okay to just say whatever they feel like, true or not. I'm sure you all have seen my other posts about integrity and my page on my site called Straight Talk. These pieces of shit that have no clue what it's like to run a business let alone be competitive in a field like I am seem to find ways to hide their true names and post things about others that they usually know little or nothing about. This pisses me off, more than a little. Why, you ask? Well anyone that really knows me, not just knows my name, knows that I have no problem whatsoever bringing any issue I may have with you to your face. That doesn't mean I'm confrontational, not unless you'd like me to be and you show this by your shitty attitude towards me. Then I'm more than happy to step up to that level. What it does mean is I am a grown man and behave as such. Not some snot nosed punk that goes around yapping my mouth through the net hiding behind some made up screen name.
Lately I've seen this type of behavior more and more, not always aimed at me but it's still out there. I'm a throwback, a dinosaur that still believes if you insult a man you had better do it to his face and then you had better be ready to get punched in the mouth or defend yourself. That's the way it used to be done for the youngsters in the crowd.
I guess then next worse thing in my book is those 2 faced fucks out there. They know who they are, if they don't then they're a dumb fuck 2 faced fuck. Sorry, gotta call 'em as I see 'em.
FTF
Ride Free
Friday, July 17, 2009
BEEN AWHILE..........
Yes, I know it's been awhile since my last post. Lots of stuff going on this biz lately. Shops closing their doors, one we're especially sorry to see go is my friend Randy Simpson at Milwaukee Iron. Randy is a great guy and we wish him well. He was one of the very first builders I got to say yes to going on the USO tour we tried to get off the ground a few years back. He's a class act and this industry won't be the same without him and his great products.
BMC is looking for investors, now that's a shock. I don't know how they managed to stay afloat this long. Short on imagination and quality parts used while long on cookie cutter. Hasn't had an original idea, ever. Maybe he can try ripping off someone else's ideas in another industry and see how far he goes. Not a fan, guess you can tell.
Hollister was canceled this year. I guess the city took it in the shorts last year, are we shocked about that? I mean why in the world would you push the rally back to the weekend AFTER the 4th of July? Dumb and dumber. I can't believe these rocket scientists allowed this to happen. Last year the 4th was on a friday so it was a perfect 3 days weekend for the rally but NO, let's move it to the next weekend. I guess that's why they don't run businesses, they run a city. Dumbasses.
In Hollister's place we the Salute to America run in Tullelake, CA. I was invited to go at one point, then I looked at the map. Nope, sorry. Wasn't going to pull the trailer all the way to east bumfuck on a new event. It wasn't like this event was being held anywhere close to civilization. Guess we're still of the mindset that bikers must be off in the woods, the deeper, the better. I've seen shots of the event, looked a little quiet to me. They did have some decent music lined up for the event so that was cool.
In May we were at the Santa Maria event, Motorcycle Madness. It was a decent event. Great weather, good location. Not as many patrons as the year prior but it was also dwon to a 2 day event from the 3 days it used to be. Chica, Todd's Cycles, Cole Foster and us pretty much made up the bike builder's area. I like this event. I'd like to see more people come through the gates next year though. It's a great area for riding and pretty much less than a day's ride from both the Bay Area and SoCal.
Our next event will be the Dave Mann Chopperfest in Ventura. The date is set for Decmber 13.
Here in my shop I'm busy building a very cool project. It's somewhat of a surprise but let's just say it has a ton of one off parts and a motor that has to be seen to be believed. I may post some in progress pictures soon. Right now we're doing the pipes for the bike and then we're back to finishing up all of the mounts on the frame. This will be a feature for some magazine out there.
I was saddened to hear of the passing of Florida bike builder Brad "The Wrench" Ruel. I never got to meet Brad in person but always appreciated his work. He was much too young to leave this world. My condolescences to his friends and family.
Sturgis is around the corner. We won't be there. The cost to do these events has gotten out of hand in the past several years. The return on most events in this economy is miniscule at best so it really doesn't make sense to keep doing a huge number of them. The t-shirt and water guys make a killing while the builders spend their time answering questions about their bikes so others can "borrow" their ideas for their own bikes. Nothing like spending a ton of money to rent the space, spend days or weeks getting to the event, spending even more money to be at the event and then getting nothing out of the time and money spent. The people don't understand this, they think we're there for free somehow. Being at an event for a business costs a LOT of money people. Then think about how many times we're out for these events. I decided a few years ago that I was done doing the big huge events and now focus on the more regional events. Those people tend to have better deals on space plus they're in our home area for the most part.
Summer is here, get out and ride people.
Ride Free
FTF
BMC is looking for investors, now that's a shock. I don't know how they managed to stay afloat this long. Short on imagination and quality parts used while long on cookie cutter. Hasn't had an original idea, ever. Maybe he can try ripping off someone else's ideas in another industry and see how far he goes. Not a fan, guess you can tell.
Hollister was canceled this year. I guess the city took it in the shorts last year, are we shocked about that? I mean why in the world would you push the rally back to the weekend AFTER the 4th of July? Dumb and dumber. I can't believe these rocket scientists allowed this to happen. Last year the 4th was on a friday so it was a perfect 3 days weekend for the rally but NO, let's move it to the next weekend. I guess that's why they don't run businesses, they run a city. Dumbasses.
In Hollister's place we the Salute to America run in Tullelake, CA. I was invited to go at one point, then I looked at the map. Nope, sorry. Wasn't going to pull the trailer all the way to east bumfuck on a new event. It wasn't like this event was being held anywhere close to civilization. Guess we're still of the mindset that bikers must be off in the woods, the deeper, the better. I've seen shots of the event, looked a little quiet to me. They did have some decent music lined up for the event so that was cool.
In May we were at the Santa Maria event, Motorcycle Madness. It was a decent event. Great weather, good location. Not as many patrons as the year prior but it was also dwon to a 2 day event from the 3 days it used to be. Chica, Todd's Cycles, Cole Foster and us pretty much made up the bike builder's area. I like this event. I'd like to see more people come through the gates next year though. It's a great area for riding and pretty much less than a day's ride from both the Bay Area and SoCal.
Our next event will be the Dave Mann Chopperfest in Ventura. The date is set for Decmber 13.
Here in my shop I'm busy building a very cool project. It's somewhat of a surprise but let's just say it has a ton of one off parts and a motor that has to be seen to be believed. I may post some in progress pictures soon. Right now we're doing the pipes for the bike and then we're back to finishing up all of the mounts on the frame. This will be a feature for some magazine out there.
I was saddened to hear of the passing of Florida bike builder Brad "The Wrench" Ruel. I never got to meet Brad in person but always appreciated his work. He was much too young to leave this world. My condolescences to his friends and family.
Sturgis is around the corner. We won't be there. The cost to do these events has gotten out of hand in the past several years. The return on most events in this economy is miniscule at best so it really doesn't make sense to keep doing a huge number of them. The t-shirt and water guys make a killing while the builders spend their time answering questions about their bikes so others can "borrow" their ideas for their own bikes. Nothing like spending a ton of money to rent the space, spend days or weeks getting to the event, spending even more money to be at the event and then getting nothing out of the time and money spent. The people don't understand this, they think we're there for free somehow. Being at an event for a business costs a LOT of money people. Then think about how many times we're out for these events. I decided a few years ago that I was done doing the big huge events and now focus on the more regional events. Those people tend to have better deals on space plus they're in our home area for the most part.
Summer is here, get out and ride people.
Ride Free
FTF
Friday, May 1, 2009
INTERNATIONAL FEMALE RIDE DAY- MAY 1ST.
Today is International Female Ride Day. I've always been a huge supporter of women riders and think we need to get more women out on their own bikes. To be honest most women are safer and better riders than most of these ass clown male riders I see weaving in and out of traffic every day. Don't get me wrong, I like to twist the grip too but c'mon guys, some of the shit I see you doing is just f-ing stupid. Wheelies at 85mph? Lane splitting and lane sharing at over 70mph? Both would fall into the dumb ass category to me. And what most of these dumbshits don't realize is their actions and lack of knowledge about how to ride a motorcycle properly have resulted in me being forced by law to strap a helmet to my skull every time I want to go for a ride. I don't appreciate that. Hey, if you wanna go wreck your motorcycle then do it on a race track somewhere and if you wanna skid across the pavement do it off the highway so we don't have to see it. It's called natural selection or survival of the fittest.
But I digress.
Women on bikes is the subject and it's one of my favorite subjects to be honest. I personally would like to see a whole lot more women riding their own bikes. Usually once they feel what it's like to be the pilot instead of the passenger they don't want to get on the backseat anymore. It's freedom. They can go where they want, when they want on their own terms and on their own motorcycle, nothing better. My wife rides her own bike. I've built her two bikes now and have plans for her next one already.
I'm often asked how women can get started in riding. My suggestion is to take a rider safety course. I know here in California the CHP has courses women can take to learn how to ride. They have them at numerous locations and they do a great job. If you're a woman that wants to ride your own bike, go for it. Call and sign up for the course. They provide the bikes and if you pass the course it makes it a whole lot easier to get your M1 endorsement.
Support the female riders guys, after all it is the 21st century.
FTF
Ride free.
But I digress.
Women on bikes is the subject and it's one of my favorite subjects to be honest. I personally would like to see a whole lot more women riding their own bikes. Usually once they feel what it's like to be the pilot instead of the passenger they don't want to get on the backseat anymore. It's freedom. They can go where they want, when they want on their own terms and on their own motorcycle, nothing better. My wife rides her own bike. I've built her two bikes now and have plans for her next one already.
I'm often asked how women can get started in riding. My suggestion is to take a rider safety course. I know here in California the CHP has courses women can take to learn how to ride. They have them at numerous locations and they do a great job. If you're a woman that wants to ride your own bike, go for it. Call and sign up for the course. They provide the bikes and if you pass the course it makes it a whole lot easier to get your M1 endorsement.
Support the female riders guys, after all it is the 21st century.
FTF
Ride free.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
FRIENDSHIP
It's a funny thing isn't it? Friendship. Being new to things like Facebook it took me awhile to get used to people using the term "friend" when in reality most of those people barely know me. Some of my Facebook "friends" don't even know what I do for a living it seems. Others are people that I would consider friends in the more conventional sense of the word, at least my definition. To me a friend is someone that's part of your life. Share some common interests, hobbies, etc. Someone you can talk to when you need to vent or need some advice. Someone you can lean on if you need to, or can lean on you when the going gets tough. Someone that has your back so to speak. So I guess looking at the term "friend" in those terms I really have a very small circle of those types of friends.
I have some friends through my shop, people that are in my industry and we have a common bond being in the motorcycle biz. Those friends I am very loyal to and always try to help and support whenever I can. In most cases they have been my friends for a long time, some even before I actually started my first shop.
I used to think I had a lot of "friends" that were our customers too. I think I still do in some cases but I realized most of them really aren't "friends" as much as just true customers, different relationship in most cases. Those people tend to be less loyal I've found. I remember back before I started in this biz and I had some friends that owned shops. I would never even think about taking my money to anyone else, these people were my friends. Not the case anymore. Too bad. Building a relationship with your local shop guy has it's advantages. The issue is when the local shop guy realizes you're not very loyal with him, then the relationship can become tough to deal with. I mean this is how some of us feed our families, pay our car payments and mortgages so when we find out people we thought were our "friends" have been supporting our competitors in a very highly competitive business, well, it's not so good.
See to me friendship requires a few things. It needs to be a two way street. You need to be supportive and should expect the same in return from a friend. I go out of my way to help my friends. I'll make calls or send e-mail on their behalf for numerous reasons. If possible I'll do whatever I can to ease my friend's burdens. I don't keep score about how many times, when I did it or how things turned out. I do that for people dozens of times a week and I guess I expect it to go both ways. I don't ask for anything in return either, a thank you is more than sufficient for me. It's not a huge inconvenience for me to help them out.
If I had a friend say in the tattoo biz and I wanted a tattoo done. I'd never even think about going to anyone except my friend as long as he could do the work I require. Now if he happened to own a motorcycle then I'd probably be within reason to think he'd support my shop just as I had done for him. Seems my thinking is out of date anymore I guess.
Another example, if I had friend in the body shop biz and my car had been clipped or needed to be fixed. I'd support my friend before supporting anyone else's shop, right? I mean if he's a friend he'll look out for me and maybe go that extra step to make sure my car or truck or whatever is fixed properly. Makes sense to me. Maybe not to others.
I have "friends" from outside the motorcycle biz too. They come from various walks of life. Funny thing about them. One that I thought was somewhat of a close friend just reamed me because she thought I was somehow disrespecting her and trying to make her look stupid. This after she went out of her way to make a phone call on my behalf one day. First, I am a smart ass, 100%, always have been. The things she thought make her look stupid were a joke, nothing mean spirited about them at all but I guess she took them the wrong way. That or she just has no sense of humor. This person says I am mean to her and never thanked her for that phone call she made for me. Well now I have thanked her and told her we don't need to be "friends" any longer. I have better things to do with my day than get bitched at by a woman I don't have to wake up next to in the morning.
Recently someone that I never considered to be an especially close "friend" said she thought I was a good example of a friend and someone who lived his life by a certain set of ethics. I thought that was a very nice thing to say. So someone that I knew, liked and work with although I never thought noticed how I conducted my life made a difference to me. That's a friend.
If you have a true friend, let them know about it. Support them and let them support you when you need it.
FTF
Ride free.
I have some friends through my shop, people that are in my industry and we have a common bond being in the motorcycle biz. Those friends I am very loyal to and always try to help and support whenever I can. In most cases they have been my friends for a long time, some even before I actually started my first shop.
I used to think I had a lot of "friends" that were our customers too. I think I still do in some cases but I realized most of them really aren't "friends" as much as just true customers, different relationship in most cases. Those people tend to be less loyal I've found. I remember back before I started in this biz and I had some friends that owned shops. I would never even think about taking my money to anyone else, these people were my friends. Not the case anymore. Too bad. Building a relationship with your local shop guy has it's advantages. The issue is when the local shop guy realizes you're not very loyal with him, then the relationship can become tough to deal with. I mean this is how some of us feed our families, pay our car payments and mortgages so when we find out people we thought were our "friends" have been supporting our competitors in a very highly competitive business, well, it's not so good.
See to me friendship requires a few things. It needs to be a two way street. You need to be supportive and should expect the same in return from a friend. I go out of my way to help my friends. I'll make calls or send e-mail on their behalf for numerous reasons. If possible I'll do whatever I can to ease my friend's burdens. I don't keep score about how many times, when I did it or how things turned out. I do that for people dozens of times a week and I guess I expect it to go both ways. I don't ask for anything in return either, a thank you is more than sufficient for me. It's not a huge inconvenience for me to help them out.
If I had a friend say in the tattoo biz and I wanted a tattoo done. I'd never even think about going to anyone except my friend as long as he could do the work I require. Now if he happened to own a motorcycle then I'd probably be within reason to think he'd support my shop just as I had done for him. Seems my thinking is out of date anymore I guess.
Another example, if I had friend in the body shop biz and my car had been clipped or needed to be fixed. I'd support my friend before supporting anyone else's shop, right? I mean if he's a friend he'll look out for me and maybe go that extra step to make sure my car or truck or whatever is fixed properly. Makes sense to me. Maybe not to others.
I have "friends" from outside the motorcycle biz too. They come from various walks of life. Funny thing about them. One that I thought was somewhat of a close friend just reamed me because she thought I was somehow disrespecting her and trying to make her look stupid. This after she went out of her way to make a phone call on my behalf one day. First, I am a smart ass, 100%, always have been. The things she thought make her look stupid were a joke, nothing mean spirited about them at all but I guess she took them the wrong way. That or she just has no sense of humor. This person says I am mean to her and never thanked her for that phone call she made for me. Well now I have thanked her and told her we don't need to be "friends" any longer. I have better things to do with my day than get bitched at by a woman I don't have to wake up next to in the morning.
Recently someone that I never considered to be an especially close "friend" said she thought I was a good example of a friend and someone who lived his life by a certain set of ethics. I thought that was a very nice thing to say. So someone that I knew, liked and work with although I never thought noticed how I conducted my life made a difference to me. That's a friend.
If you have a true friend, let them know about it. Support them and let them support you when you need it.
FTF
Ride free.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
INTEGRITY PT. 2
As most of you have probably read, I am a pretty outspoken person and tend to speak my mind. One of my issues has been the lack of integrity in my industry. I think it's become a very short sighted industry where everyone is out to screw everyone else, in most cases. Not always though. I always try to support those people that I think still have high standards for quality as well as integrity. The people I buy parts from and have do work for me all fall into this category in my opinion. I'm a loyal person and wil support those that have supported me. I feel friendship and support are both two way streets so I always try to remember those that have supported me in the past. For those I feel have somehow done me wrong I do tend to hold a grudge and will remember that in kind.
This brings me to one person that I have dealt with in the past. I won't bother to give his name, he doesn't need to get any free press. He actually contacted me as a potential customer. He wanted me to do design work to build a custom bike for him. He spoke to me numerous times and seemed like he was actually serious about the project. I have started to weed out the real customers from the tire kickers so I hopefully won't be wasting my time if the project isn't really going to move forward. This person asked me to put together design ideas for what would be a very expensive, one off project. I did as he asked and spent countless hours tracking down his requests and working out designs that would actually work in the real world. Some of the items he wanted were very high dollar and in some cases we would have had to make one off pieces for the project. After doing the design work and showing him our ideas he suddenly disappeared and wasn't answering our inquiries about moving forward with the project. This happens, it doesn't make me happy to have so many hours wasted but it does happen. I've tried to minimize the times it happens but every once in awhile someone sounds serious when they really aren't.
Several months goes by and this person calls me. He wants to know if I'd be interested in joining his team for some project he has cooking. I'm not. Basically what he's done is taken my design ideas and is having someone else use them. He also plans to try for some speed record at Bonneville and since I started that idea almost two years ago he seems to have tapped into the same sponsors I have. So while this isn't plagiarsim in it's truest sense it is close to me. He's using a lot of my ideas and design ideas that he got from my spec sheet, cost to him, nothing. He's also managed to talk some really good people into donating their parts to this project when in reality it looks like he's building his personal bike. I guess if you can talk people into "sponsoring" your personal bike build then all the power to you. It does piss me off when it effects my friends though.
Yesterday this person sends me an e-mail saying he doesn't think I like him much. I don't. I don't care for people that waste my time just to get a spec sheet from me. If he wanted me to do the design work I would have but not for free. Time is money to any business owner so this guy wasted my time and money not to mention has "borrowed" my design ideas. I spoke with one of his sponsors that happens to be a good friend of mine. My friend says this person has told him he wants him to build parts for his production bikes. This guy doesn't have the capability to produce bikes nor is he really going to be building more than this one bike. Again, wasting people's time and money. The bike he wants to build isn't something that will set a speed record anyway and I'm not going to tell him where he went wrong. He can spend his own money to try and figure it out. Not sure who his builder is but he doesn't know much about speed record bikes. I hope to be there if and when he does get there to try though, it should be interesting.
Some people really don't get it.
FTF
Ride Free
This brings me to one person that I have dealt with in the past. I won't bother to give his name, he doesn't need to get any free press. He actually contacted me as a potential customer. He wanted me to do design work to build a custom bike for him. He spoke to me numerous times and seemed like he was actually serious about the project. I have started to weed out the real customers from the tire kickers so I hopefully won't be wasting my time if the project isn't really going to move forward. This person asked me to put together design ideas for what would be a very expensive, one off project. I did as he asked and spent countless hours tracking down his requests and working out designs that would actually work in the real world. Some of the items he wanted were very high dollar and in some cases we would have had to make one off pieces for the project. After doing the design work and showing him our ideas he suddenly disappeared and wasn't answering our inquiries about moving forward with the project. This happens, it doesn't make me happy to have so many hours wasted but it does happen. I've tried to minimize the times it happens but every once in awhile someone sounds serious when they really aren't.
Several months goes by and this person calls me. He wants to know if I'd be interested in joining his team for some project he has cooking. I'm not. Basically what he's done is taken my design ideas and is having someone else use them. He also plans to try for some speed record at Bonneville and since I started that idea almost two years ago he seems to have tapped into the same sponsors I have. So while this isn't plagiarsim in it's truest sense it is close to me. He's using a lot of my ideas and design ideas that he got from my spec sheet, cost to him, nothing. He's also managed to talk some really good people into donating their parts to this project when in reality it looks like he's building his personal bike. I guess if you can talk people into "sponsoring" your personal bike build then all the power to you. It does piss me off when it effects my friends though.
Yesterday this person sends me an e-mail saying he doesn't think I like him much. I don't. I don't care for people that waste my time just to get a spec sheet from me. If he wanted me to do the design work I would have but not for free. Time is money to any business owner so this guy wasted my time and money not to mention has "borrowed" my design ideas. I spoke with one of his sponsors that happens to be a good friend of mine. My friend says this person has told him he wants him to build parts for his production bikes. This guy doesn't have the capability to produce bikes nor is he really going to be building more than this one bike. Again, wasting people's time and money. The bike he wants to build isn't something that will set a speed record anyway and I'm not going to tell him where he went wrong. He can spend his own money to try and figure it out. Not sure who his builder is but he doesn't know much about speed record bikes. I hope to be there if and when he does get there to try though, it should be interesting.
Some people really don't get it.
FTF
Ride Free
NESS SHOW
On April 18-19 the 3rd annual Arlen Ness show was held at the San Mateo Expo Center. This was a new venue for this show and in my opinion a better venue in most ways. It's much easier as an exhibitor to get your truck and trailer into the venue plus there was actually trailer parking available for the event. In past years there really wasn't any trailer parking and the load in and out was a nightmare to me. I did the first one and then skipped last year. I decided to give it another shot at the new venue so we had a space there. The other downside to this venue is they don't allow you to ride your bikes into the building. If I wanted to push bikes in and out of shows I'd be in the bicycle biz. It's a motorcycle show people, that means we want to or should want to ride our bikes into the building. I will say the vast majority of the bikes I saw coming in and going out of the building were never even started. Do they actually run? My guess is not very well. To me they should have to ride the bike up to the door or they can't compete. All of the hot rod shows I've ever done make you prove the bike runs and will move under it's own power. I guess the motorcycle biz has gotten to be too damn soft for that type of a show. I mean why would anyone want to build custom bikes that actually run, right? I actually watched numerous baggers being loaded onto trailers to be trailered home after this show, now that's really BS to me. No trailer queens. I guess I'm too old school for that shit. Ride the damn thing, especially a bagger.
My other issue with this show is the people that run it. It's not Arlen or the Ness family. They just license their name to the promoters of this show. The promoters are there to take your money but I never once saw anyone from the show for the rest of the weekend. They charge way too much for the patrons to come through the doors too. Over the course of this show I also realized that loud pipes are no longer the big deal anymore, it's loud stereos on these baggers. The entire weekend was peppered with bike show entrants blasting their various bike stereo systems. I'm a fan of music too but come on guys, that was bullshit. The problem here is the people trying to do business at this event like me really couldn't because we had to scream at our customers just to be heard over this noise. Did the promoters tell them to stop? Nope. They're allowing the show entrants to drown out the people that paid a lot of money for vendor booth spaces, again, bullshit people. I had to take off my bike builder's hat and put on my event security hat(I also do that as a second job by the way). I did my best to get these discourteous and rude people to shut down their loud stereos, something I shouldn't have to do as a vendor. The security company working for the venue is one of the worst in the industry so I knew they weren't gonna say anything. They were too busy telling people they couldn't bring in any outside food or beverages. Another downside to this venue. They want you to be forced to buy their over priced food and drinks, I won't even go into the quality of their food.
The attendance was barely worth being there by show's end. Most vendors I spoke with were extremely unhappy with the turnout. The people that did come in really weren't spending any money with the vendors either. They were there to see the bikes and kick tires, not buy anything. It's partly a sign of the times I guess. The economy is tough for everyone.
I will say the actual show part of this event hands out a truckload of trophies. That's probably the sole bright spot of this event to me. So now after doing this event a couple of times I'm thinking maybe I'll just enter bikes into the show to compete and save my money. It's a lot cheaper to compete in the show than buy a vendor space.
FTF
Ride Free
My other issue with this show is the people that run it. It's not Arlen or the Ness family. They just license their name to the promoters of this show. The promoters are there to take your money but I never once saw anyone from the show for the rest of the weekend. They charge way too much for the patrons to come through the doors too. Over the course of this show I also realized that loud pipes are no longer the big deal anymore, it's loud stereos on these baggers. The entire weekend was peppered with bike show entrants blasting their various bike stereo systems. I'm a fan of music too but come on guys, that was bullshit. The problem here is the people trying to do business at this event like me really couldn't because we had to scream at our customers just to be heard over this noise. Did the promoters tell them to stop? Nope. They're allowing the show entrants to drown out the people that paid a lot of money for vendor booth spaces, again, bullshit people. I had to take off my bike builder's hat and put on my event security hat(I also do that as a second job by the way). I did my best to get these discourteous and rude people to shut down their loud stereos, something I shouldn't have to do as a vendor. The security company working for the venue is one of the worst in the industry so I knew they weren't gonna say anything. They were too busy telling people they couldn't bring in any outside food or beverages. Another downside to this venue. They want you to be forced to buy their over priced food and drinks, I won't even go into the quality of their food.
The attendance was barely worth being there by show's end. Most vendors I spoke with were extremely unhappy with the turnout. The people that did come in really weren't spending any money with the vendors either. They were there to see the bikes and kick tires, not buy anything. It's partly a sign of the times I guess. The economy is tough for everyone.
I will say the actual show part of this event hands out a truckload of trophies. That's probably the sole bright spot of this event to me. So now after doing this event a couple of times I'm thinking maybe I'll just enter bikes into the show to compete and save my money. It's a lot cheaper to compete in the show than buy a vendor space.
FTF
Ride Free
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