stepping over the line?

[teamdns]

As a few of you guys know, my father owned a little mom and pop business called Dick Cepek. We sold, manufactured and supplied offroad accessories to millions. We had 14 retail stores, 4 warehouses in the US and 1 in Japan that shipped to 54 countries outside the US to supply retail and wholesale customers. So when it comes to how a manufacturer sells and distributes his products in a discretionary dollar offroad industry, I might have just a little insight. Enough with my merit badge…..so I came across this thread on the other site http://cr500riders.com/cgi/yabb/YaBB.pl ... 1741910/15


Service Honda (the “big guy”) trying to push a product, they have every right to do so….but when Teem Trubble a small guy on the other side of the country is trying to give a new member some insight on the choices he does have when it comes to a conversion. AJ throws a fit and gets butt hurt over something as simple as having an informed customer…. IF SH was the best at what it does, they would have no worries about the informed customer….what’s next AJ.. lets bag on the guys that have the skill to do their own conversions?

Why lock the post? Is that what $500 a year gets you on that board? Hell are they hard up for $$$$ get back to the basics of that board and HELP the members not blind fold them!

But what really cooks me is the post on the threat: “Mike has a whole forum of posts running my work down. about getting parts from my vendors, etc..”

What happened to friendly competition….. …stop selling inferior parts, is it the bottom line that matters most with you guys? SH, do yourself a favor and have teem trubble motorsports do your frames for you. It would do nothing but leave you guys unstoppable.

I think AJ needs to go to business school.

Since when does SH have the exclusive on FMF and PC products….
I went to both sites and look what I found
http://www.procircuit.com/store/pc/dealersearch.asp http://www.fmfracing.com/dealers/

why don’t they list JUST SH as the master distributor/retailer… how can this be when AJ claims they are “HIS” vendors ..sorry AJ but that’s FUCKED UP!!! I could be a direct distributor for either company if I wanted to do the initial buy in as most manufacturers require. Oh wait I forgot I may not know how that stuff works……

being from the manufacturing, retail, wholesale, service and distributing business, I can tell you I have never ran into a more helpful, professional, skilled, talented, knowledgeable, personal and all around nice guy as mike from teem trubble…if it would have fit me he would have given me his shirt if it help me ride better or make a better choice for my riding experience. Not to mention his frames are THE best aluminum work I have come across, I have seen professional offroad race teams that have unlimited budgets that don’t have the quality that mike has to offer.

Sorry guys for going off but this is NOT how a professional business needs to operate or allow their employees to behave

Desperate measures from a very scared individual.

Ryan Cepek

[Ported&Polished]

After all is said and done, I like Mike more than AJ. I guess I just never understood why AJ gets so defensive about competition and the occasional bash. Does AJ own Service Honda????????? If not, I have NEVER seen or heard of an employee getting so defensive about the company they work for. Mike owns his company, and I'm pretty sure AP never allowed him to advertise on the cr500riders site. If Mike did advertise there, I would GARENTEE that Mike would not be offended by folks posting competion or critiques on his stuff.

[dannygraves]

I have no problem with AJ and I think Mike is tha man, but what it all comes down to is if AJ put out a quality product, he'd have no reason to get defensive!
I welded my frame with a $200 harbor freight mig welder and its my first time welding aluminum and I think my welds look better than off one of SH's $10,000 bikes... just my .02
I just think if AJ stepped up the quality to where it should be he wouldn't have to get so defensive, or assume this site is full of AJ haters because thats not the case. This is a site full of guys who would like to see top notch work from a $10,000 entirely brand new bike!

[ou812]

I,ve said this before and here we go again. There is one SH bike in my local area that I know of, I've seen it. It is what I would expect from a first time home brew job not Service Honda. In fact it is kind of a joke when you think about the fact AJ gets all bent while knowing the level of work he is selling with the name Honda attached to it.

AJ claims they are “HIS” vendors ..sorry AJ but that’s FUCKED UP!!!

Yep.

[AlisoBob]

.....his ( TT Motorsports) frames are THE best aluminum work I have come across, I have seen professional offroad race teams that have unlimited budgets that don’t have the quality that mike has to offer.

Mikes frames are normalized ( before welding) and then brought back to T-6 hardness ( which is defined as Solution heat-treated and then artificially aged) post-welding.

He is the ONLY manufacture to do so.

NOT S/H

NOT T2

NOT MPS

It is the only way to do the job correctly........ period.

Not a bash on S/H, just a fact.

[pstoffers]

[100hp honda]

my budget doesnt have enough funds for a conversion today....but it wont be much longer and ill have the cash. when i do have the cash im sending the frame to teemtruble . his welds was the best i ever seen

[AlisoBob]

His quality resides where you cant see it.....

[ISBB]

as soon as i get the funds mike will be doing my conversion

[teemtrubble]

A quote from MiK329 last year , one of SH's two time repeat customers!

I visited Teamtrubble last week and you guys are crazy if you send anything to AJ without thinking about having Mike do the work instead. I'm going to tear mine down and have Mike do it eventually. I've been to Service Honda and seen the work done there at their barn yard shop..... what Mike is doing is the difference between a Yugo to a BMW.

[teemtrubble]

This was a casual conversation I was having with one of SH's customers earlier today and he wrote to me after reading the posts...

"That's true. Seems to me that you're doing it for the love of it but it's developed into a business for AJ. I guess he used to do it for the love of it. I don't know, to be completely honest with you Mike, I like you both. I've talked to you both for hours and, to me, you're both good guys. You just happen to be much better at what you do. That's not slamming AJ or kissing your ass, it just is what it is."

Thanks brother you know who you are.

[redrocket190]

Mike, if one wants to do a conversion, what is it that you provide and then what does the builder have to do to complete the job - in general terms?

[teemtrubble]

Pm sent

[aloha450x]

reading stuff like this makes me sooooo stoked that im one of a handfull of people that have the first teemtrouble conversions. I believe I might have the first 450frame but not positive. the truth cannot be hidden. mike is the best. period.

[teemtrubble]

So, I feel the need to set the record straight...

Yes I can be an asshole and I want to apologize for letting myself get sucked into this if it offended anybody. I'm better than that and so are the people who are involved with me and my business, and my family at every level. Thanks to Linda for reminding me of that. That's my wife and she makes the wheels turn...

As for you AJ, I've never said anything derogatory about "you" personally. The only thing I've said referring to you personally in any thread was "Good dude" and I'm sorry you feel thats a personal attack. (referring to the jabs you say I took at you).

Have I said anything negative about SH itself? Sure, three different times that come to mind.

1."If our welds looked like that it would go in the scrap barrel"

2.The ignition problem is "bullshit"

3.Called SH three different times about information for covers. They said "Let me have your number and we'll call you back" but they didn't and still haven't and it's been 4 months since my first call.


As for paying Trace to have ad space on the site. Advertising is one thing, paying Trace to give another member an opinion ,as in "You should keep looking before you decide there are better conversions out there right here in Cali. I own one, come see it and ride it you'll see what I mean!" ...that's another.

Am I sorry I said that? Nope, It's the truth! And to clarify, I was referring to my character not yours.

[AlisoBob]

I too have been labeled a "AJ Basher" several times by those at
Traces site.

I have been very consistant on a few points, in no perticular order.....

1. AJ dosent work in the parts dept. If it sucks, that dosent reflect on AJ.

2. AJ is a nice guy.

3. AJ needs, and should, improve his product.

4. No proof has ever been shown regarding the supposed S/H "A/F" trademark. NONE. I even searched the US Patent and Trademarks Office website myself.

5. The "Gen 1 Digital Ignition" does have issues, even AJ now acknowlages this. I took alot of crap over this one.

6. AJ "claiming" any vendor as "His" is childish and screams desperation. I like "In-n-Out Hamburgers". Anyone caught buying one will hear from my lawyer..... Any vendor who refused to engage in freetrade with any financially stable company due to some kind of backroom politics should be shunned (FMF as an example)

I have been supportive of TTM in trying to get his bike to the marketplace. Why? Because its the finest that I know of.

His knowlage of materials, welding, and stress releiving and heatreating learned from years of Aerospace / DOD / Black Project, and "One Off" prototyping is unsupassed.

I think everyone is growing tired of the S/H , TTM debate. Lets let it rest in peace, and let the marketplace decide where to spend their $$$$.

I'm done......

[lewisclan]

I'm done......

HEY,
Thats the kind of stuff that got you Banned from the last site

[lewisclan]

I kinda stay out of the debate seen ......
and will continue to do so

[AlisoBob]

HEY,
Thats the kind of stuff that got you Banned from the last site

Sad to say.... but yes it is....

[MojoScojo]

Maybe I should ban you from here too, eh Bob?

Make you sign back up 3 or 4 times.

[AlisoBob]

Maybe I should ban you from here too, eh Bob?

Make you sign back up 3 or 4 times.

Do I hear a request for CRazy Larry, or Gomez ??

Do a member post search at Trace's site.... some of my funniest shit ever...

[dannygraves]

holy crap, that gomez shit was hillarious!

[Ported&Polished]

I searched "Gomez" all I found was his last 50 posts, and at least 4 of them were him slamming DannyG for posting stuff he didn't think was right. Where is the funny stuff Bob?

[AlisoBob]

I searched "Gomez" all I found was his last 50 posts, and at least 4 of them were him slamming DannyG for posting stuff he didn't think was right. Where is the funny stuff Bob?

holy crap, that gomez shit was hillarious!

[Ported&Polished]

I don't get it.