Michelin tires at VIR Weekend

[fatboy122]

i run dlop takeoffs from dwire and robby..i can always count on them being at the track with a sufficient amount of tires for my choosing..i like cake and ice cream too..thats how i got my figure.. BTW, where is the plastic cup that where suppose to be chasin and what kind of bike does is it on..it takes a real douche bag to shoot off with the lip like that..i would take business elsewhere..

[Headdog122]

"i like cake and ice cream too..thats how i got my figure.."

I thought Traction Control was illegal under CCS rules....  Damn....  Boy....!!  

[fatboy122]

"i like cake and ice cream too..thats how i got my figure.."

I thought Traction Control was illegal under CCS rules....  Damn....  Boy....!!  

When your as fat as me thats all you have is traction control..no tire spinning here.. :-)

[MotoHick]

The Michelin man sold more than 6 tires at Summit two weeks ago. I was there, in line with others patiently waiting to get my tires mounted - so I know that's a bit of a tale. When I asked if he had what I needed (PRC front PR5 rear, his reply was - I'll have to check). Red Flag, Red Flag!!

Fast Forward to Friday night 11:30 at VIR. Mr. Dunlop and Mr. Pirelli had been there all day mounting tires, but Mr. Michelin was just arriving. Saturday morning at 6:45 am the door went up on the Michelin truck, because of his "I'll check" comment at Summit I was the first in line at VIR to get my tires.

Here's my point, until these last two weekends at Summit and VIR I never had a worry about whether the Michelin man would have my tires on race day. I expected to roll up, throw him some $$$ and receive my new shoes. The key word is expected. As Customers, once our expectations are set, any deviations from them are sometimes intolerable. If this is the way Michelin wants to conduct business than they should inform us of so. That way we as customers can be proactive and either utilize another brand or pre order.  Makes no difference to me, just set the standard and let's get it on!!

[Headdog122]

Shit...  I'll just run Eric's "Take Off, Take Off's"!!!!!  The only thing holding my bike up is the doooode in the seat..!!

Jamie...   

[gonecrazy]

I just want to let some of you know that these vendors have to buy the tires up front also, but point being made that they should have had a good supply of tires

[fatboy122]

Shit...  I'll just run Eric's "Take Off, Take Off's"!!!!!  The only thing holding my bike up is the doooode in the seat..!!

Jamie...  

Shit you dont want my takeoffs..there gone when im done with'm..i have a hard time selling them to the street guys afterwards because they are so pathetic looking..lol  :-)

[stickboy274]

As a long time tire vendor I can tell you it is a hard gig just like Leon said. We do a lot of thinking on the fly. Here's an example of a crazy week I had earlier this year.

I was set to do a WERA event on the weekend that CCS was at Barber. I was trying to let everybody know what was going on, I believe I even posted here I wouldn't be there. After several calls and talking with CCS HQ, I went out and found a guy that had the tools and could show up. I found him on Tuesday before the race. I then had to order an extra $20k in tires. I knew he wouldn't sell that many, but I didn't know what would be needed so I had to send a little of everything.

So in about two days I had to find help get tires and get the word out. Things didn't go exactly to plan and I got some feedback from people at the event.  My customers asked for something, and I had to deliver. That weekend cost me money, but saved me customers. In the long run, customers are who I need to pay the bills.

I don't feel I should ever run out of tires. It bothers me a lot more than it bothers most of you guys. If any of you even need Bridgestone help call me. Even if it's just to check to see if there is a stock problem in the country.

[rogers1323]

Thanks for the response Stickboy.  Though I'm a Michelin rider, I've heard nothing but good things about you and your service.  To follow up on your last comment, the distributor that was at VIR carries both Michelin and Bridgestone.  I believe that his claim was that Michelin was 8 weeks backordered and Bridgestone was 12 weeks backordered.  Are you aware of any problems with Bridgestone stock in the country?  This info could shed a lot of light on what the situation truly was......

[stickboy274]

There are some shortages, but I was able to carry over 200 tires to VIR that same weekend. The only thing I didn't have was 180 slicks, and soft front slicks. I still had mediums though.

Now that could be because I run such a high stock to make sure I don't run out. I usually can't carry all of my tires with me because I only have a 24' trailer and the back of the truck only holds 70-80 tires under the cap. 

I also plan my inventory for at least a month out. That way if things go better than expected I still can cover 2-3 events without trouble. It kills my cashflow, but that's what my customers need.

[STT-GUY]

I actually did call Monte Lutz, who i THINK is associated with Quinten mize for the NE distributors but got no call back. Had they called and said they were comming i would have still been SOL as i doubt they would have sold me the amount of tires i wanted for 8 races. I picked mine up directly from my local guy Frank Kinsey on the way up. Im sure the Michelin USA will be looking into the matter of getting tires to the races and helping out however possible... pretty hard to pomote the new stuff comming out if the riders can only get tires some of the time.

Thanks for your assistance Leon, it is great that you help out and wont put another brands tire change at the back of the line. The many changes you did for me is much appreciated. Leon sells EBC BRAKES!! they rock as well.

Greg - The email I  sent to you said Michelin would be there and it also advise dyou that an up to date list is always available at Bibmen.com...  As far as the amount of tires. Mize sets his inventory levels as he thinks demand dictates, obviousely he was way off.

[MELK-MAN]

Monte, don't know if you had another email for me or not but i never got an email from you prior to or just after the VIR races. If you replied to my initial email i do not know why i would not have recieved it. I do check emails trackside and evenings during race weekends. THanks for the info however. Hopefully things can get better for the trackside vending up there. .