Michelin tires at VIR Weekend

[Chris410]

I was there when the last Michelin tire was sold...and I knew it was going to get ugly.  I know how much that sucks because I've had the issue where I actually pre-ordered and paid for tires and they were not at the track when I was told they would be.  Lucky for me I already had a spare set and a friend sold me a front. 

I called the vendor and told them this was unacceptable, if I paid...they owed me tires and should have at least called and told me ahead of time that the tires would not be available.

I run Bridgestones and I like them a lot...I'm hoping they learned from this past year and they correct the problems that took place this year.  I don't know the logistics so I won't speak about that but to sit and watch racers come up and find out no tires were available was not cool. 

It's not just the case of switching a vendor but learning a new tire, adjusting the bike for the profile...which in the end "could" put a rider in a bad position.  We all bust our ass to race because it's expensive and most of the cost is in tires so the least we'd expect is good service.

I can say that aside from the one race where my tires did not come in I did get all of my tires and service. 

What I did that worked for me was pre-order and have the tires delivered to my house so that I had them in hand when I went to the track.  Although, with the expenses and prep it would be nice to know tires would be available at the track especially if you've already paid for them!

[stickboy274]

It's not just the case of switching a vendor but learning a new tire, adjusting the bike for the profile...which in the end "could" put a rider in a bad position.  We all bust our ass to race because it's expensive and most of the cost is in tires so the least we'd expect is good service.

This is the whole problem. This is how I ended up running Bridgestone's to start with. The tires I normally ran weren't in the pits when I needed them. The vendor descided to not show up ever again, so now that I'm a vendor I try to make sure this doesn't happen.

[rogers1323]

What I did that worked for me was pre-order and have the tires delivered to my house so that I had them in hand when I went to the track.  Although, with the expenses and prep it would be nice to know tires would be available at the track especially if you've already paid for them!

Chris, I could pre-order my tires from one of several sources pretty easily.  But that would add $30 to the cost of each set.  Add $30 per set to $360 a set and the cost starts to get prohibitively expensive, or at least to the point where it doesn't make sense.  If a vendor is going to have a contract with the racing org to provide tires at a certain track he should be there on time and with enough tires for the weekend.  That's the whole idea of giving that vendor exclusive rights to sell a brand of tires.  If they're not going to do it effectively, someone else should be allowed to.

[cstem]

I am a new vendor too.  There are a lot of good points on here from both sides.  It all boils down to customer service.  And anyone that has worked in retail, knows you cannot please all all the time.

That said- here are some other suggestions and thoughts about your tires:
-I always post on the local forums at least 2 weeks out so folks can contact me.  It gives me an idea of what I might need.  Here we have over 9 different choices for our brand.  As the new vendor, I am still finding what model sells, at what track at what time of year.  Of course you have to have a couple of tires available for the racer who runs something that no one else does too.  The excuse "I don't use the internet, or surf forums" is BS.  It is 2007, technology has changd the way 98%of the world communicates.  The 3 people who don't like technology can send thier carrier pigeon to the vendor with a note taped to his leg telling him what he would need next week.
-At the end of the season, the manufacturers are shutting down the '07 line and starting the '08 line. There is AMA GNC, WERA GNF, Toyota 200, and ROC (not to mention the four regions fininshing the year) within a month.  Not an excuse for any manufacturer- but maybe they need to work on that end of it too. Help yourself if you can.  If you know you need X tire, and only it will do, and you will need 8 sets before season end- let your vendor know.  Most won't make you pay in advance, but would welcome the warning, and a small deposit could earmark them for you too.
-I do not require pre-pay for pre order, but encourage it. It costs no more than at the track if your finances can handle it.  IF a rider reserves a set-PLEASE COME PAY FOR THEM AT THE TRACK.  If your finances wake you up on saturday and you cannot afford tires that you reserved, that is not the vendors problem. Don't burn the vendor who locks up cash for another month on an expected sale that does not take place. 
-I appluad the vendor that makes the midnight run for tires- buy tires from that dude because he cares!
-Planning ahead really helps.  Especially in the east where entries exceed 1000 easily.  Tires are costly to order, costly to stock, costly to transport.  That is the vendors choice when getting into that business- but help him out some.

Have fun over the winter- we got two more weekends to go here!   

[theQman23]

Hello Guys, sorry it took so long to notice this but I've been busy with my tire company, and the new machining section of our shop, and also the new website.  I just registered on this forum today, and noticed this was apparently a hot topic.  Since I am the owner of the distributorship in question, I thought I should reply.

I am not only a competitor, but also a friend of every tire dealer east of the Mississippi river and I can tell you that every single one of us has ran out of tires at one point or another.  I read one tire vendor's humble explanation that he had to buy 20K in extra inventory just to cover his boys sort of thing..... but this same exact individual ran out at Road Atlanta at a wera regional in 2005 and a few Southeast Bridgestone guys were calling me in early 06' because they were so mad about his "lack of inventory."  Moose and the other Pirelli guys have been selling 06 overstock all through 2007 because they couldn't get enough of the new tires.  How many Pirelli converts did I get this year onto Bridgestone and Michelin just because they were tired of running 06 Pirelli fronts in front of 07 rears.  And Dunlop has been telling their B riders all year that there are only enough N-Techs to go around for the A guys.  Now, I'm reading that apparently I'm the only tire guy in the world who ever ran out of tires recently.......  come on guys.......  lets be honest.

If anyone is interested in how the shortage happened, I'll be glad to tell you.  This will get me in trouble with the corporate types, but oh well, it's their fault for not listening to me so they can deal with it.  Here it goes.........  At Summit Point the weekend before sales were pretty light, and we covered everyone from what my employee told me, (again, I was covering another race, at another location) so I was scrambling to get enough tires to do the VIR and the Mid-Ohio events on the same weekend.  As for Michelin's dilemma, they simply didn't get me enough of what I needed soon enough to cover both events.  I sold out of Michelins at both VIR and Mid Ohio that weekend.  And to boot, they had just sent me an email two weeks prior taking 20 or so tires of my preciously dwindling stock to cover, "sponsored riders."   My employee was spat at in Virginia, and I was harrassed and reeled against at Mid Ohio.  As for Bridgestone, there was a NATIONAL SHORTAGE THAT EVERY SINGLE DISTRIBUTOR FELT, AND RAN OUT OF STOCK OVER, INCLUDING EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US IN THE US NO EXCEPTIONS.  There is one Bridgestone guy claiming to have never ran out of anything, but his customers were calling me to buy them from me since he ran out of those items also.  Didn't matter, I couldn't get them either, but that's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but.

The market demand from VIR and north has swayed significantly.  Pirelli used to sell the most, and then Dunlop got everything else, and Michelin and Bridgestone were not even on the map.  So, when I decided to become a tire guy, I picked up the two brands that were doing the best in MOTOGP, and they happened to be available to me in my area.  At the WERA races at Summit Point, Pirelli still has a solid hold, Moose does a good job, he's been around a long time, and he does what he can to serve best he can, same as the rest of us.  But from BeaveRun and north into Nelson's, Grattan, Putnam, the whole Fasttrax series, etc etc Mize Mobile (Michelin and Bridgestone) have outsold Pirelli and Dunlop put together for the past couple years now.  This has led to Dunlop not even showing up for WERA races at these tracks at all.  I know it was frustrating for you guys to not have enough product at VIR, but think of us too to be fair.  We spent the money to make the trip KNOWING that we'd lose money, face financial damage, and publc ridicule.  But we came anyway.  Other tire vendors may have made the decision to not even show up if they were back-ended and forced to face a situation like the one we had in front of us.  At least I sent my employee to SPEND MY MONEY TO COME AND MOUNT YOUR TIRES FOR YOU the best we could with what we had, knowing we were going to lose.  If that isn't appreciated, well, then, you understand why not too many people want to be trackside vendors.

As for my employees unprofessional comment, well, I apologize. Though he is used to working on vehicles that cost more than both of my houses put together, he had no right to make a comment like that, (if in fact he did, I still don't really know,) but I know that if I spit at you guys you'd be making slanderous and negative comments to.  I'm offering a free set of tires to the first person who gives me (with confirmation,) the name of the guy who spit at my employee.  I will NEVER mount, sell, or ship him another set of tires again, that is until I get a written apology for my employee.

To sum up MY apology, let me say this.  Most of the tire vendors who have expressed support or critisicm, (either way) towards us in this issue, have only one, maybe two trucks on the road.  We have three.  Most of them do anywhere from a low of 12 events per year, to a cap of about 25.  We at Mize Mobile covered 47 events this year alone.  With our two brands, three trucks, and growing market base, we are quickly becoming one of the countries largest motorcycle tire distributors.  This comes with HUGE growing pains, mostly from demand being higher than supply, and I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE.  Our CCS presence is not as good as the "yellow trucks" yet but in the Northeast WERA and Fasttrax markets we rule the roost, and it's hard to keep everyone supplied well enough all the time.  Measures have been taken at both Michelin, and Bridgestone to up supply for 2008, and as always, we'll cover 45+ events just like we have since we started.  I was and am still a motorcycle road racer myself, and I understand the inconvenience, and apologize deeply.

May God Bless each and every one of you, (including the spitter,) and forgive us all for our iniquities.  Ride Safely, enjoy the winter season, and I hope to talk to you all soon.

Sincerely,
Quentin Mise
President, Mize Mobile LLC, and MizeMotors.com

[stickboy274]

Be careful who you talk about behind thier back, they just may see it.

BTW, I was at Barber that same weekend and didn't run out. It was a really large event. I was still mounting tires at 9pm Sat.

[theQman23]

Derek, who's talking about you behind your back?  Whichever comment you're referring to by whomever said it must have been made publicly, because you're stating that you can "see it".  Maybe if you were a little more, shall we say.......... honest......... with the public declaration of never running out of something, or of never missing a friday practice, or what have you, the comment that was made "publicly" would not have been required.  It's like this man, you wait until someone gets slammed, and then you talk about how good a job your doing to smooze in on the situation like a hero.  Truth is, you don't cover NEARLY as many events, and have NEARLY as many logistical issues or problems with three rigs, employees, etc etc etc to balance, so it might be a good idea to take a little more neutral position on a negative situation, when a fellow service provider takes a black eye.  You still have a job you work during the week, and that is cool, no negativity there, but some of us have made the full time this is our only bread and butter commitment and  VIR was a tough deal for us.  Yes, we went into a gun battle with a plastic toy knife, but we knew that, and did the very best honest job we could with what we had. 
Using the thread to self promote at a time like that seems a little unstasteful, considering we're supposed to be on the same team.  I just couldn't help but be truthful about your supply issues in the past.  You have in fact ran out of product, more than once. No one is talking behind your back.  I am talking publicly, on this forum, and calling out an untruth in an effort to defend myself.

Oh, by the way, when you took your 200 tires to Barber and didn't run out, I took 115 to VIR, and ran out, and took another 236 to Mid Ohio, and RAN OUT THERE TOO>  That's 351 tires sent out on two trucks, and when we both got back and counted we had a total of 34 tires left, between BOTH BRANDS.  The glass half empty side of this is that we ran out of stuff and some guys did't get what they needed, when they would have liked to have had it, and a pissing contest between two tire guys, one with a bruised ego, (that's me,) and one with an opportunisitic slide, (that's you,) are in piss match now.  The glass half full side of this is that 317 tires were sold, and about 400 mountings were done, for people that needed our help, so we must be doing SOMETHING right. 

Ok, your turn, flog away.

-Quentin
President, Mize Mobile LLC

-Quentin
Mize Mobile

[stickboy274]

I never said that I haven't run out of tires, but I know a little more on the back end of this than you are admitting, but then again you are the guy that looked right at me and said "I'm as two faced as anybody"

I know you go to more events and run more trailers, I still easily out sell you in my brand. I do work a day job, and cover my events, 7am till 8pm+. It would be easier if I just did this. It would cut me back to 60+ hours a week insead of 5am till 11pm seven days a week.

Don't question my honesty ever. I told you that before. You have lied to many of my people. I sent a guy to you at VIR, different event. He called and tried to pay for tires up front and you said you had plenty. He came to you friday morning and you suddenly never had the tires. You stalled just long enough to get the sale and screw up his weekend. That's weak. If you can't sell any other way you need to get out. I have to fix so many of your mistakes that I can predict them now.

The guy you sent to CMP in july with the wrong tire for the front, it would have been fine if it was on a completely different bike with different sized rims. You also sent him with ultra soft front and rear to run a 20 lap race in over 100 deg weather. You really wanted that sale didn't you?

It's not kewl to risk someone elses ass so you can get paid.

God bless, my hipo-christian brother

Next

[theQman23]

Ok Derek,

Shall we continue to banter about this publicly, should I get into your total sales numbers, and my total sales numbers, and embarrass you where your few customers can see it?  Shall I come on the record and disclose why you only have one brand, even though at my suggestion you tried to get two, and failed?

Come on man, you're embarrassing yourself, and it all started when you tried to kick a man when he was down.  Now you've put yourself on the ground next to him.  Your best course of action is taking a hands off approach when someone has difficulty.  It's a true hypochrite that tries to make themselves look good in the face of someone else's adversity, even though YOU HAVE SUFFERED THE SAME ADVERSITY. You can point to me and cry hypochrite, but three of the four fingers on your hand are pointing right back at you.

Either call me and rip my face off personally at 410-437-6611 m-f 9-6 or calm down, take a breather, and stop following my forums activity.  But continuing to handle this on a public forum is not the professional thing to do.

Stand on your own, back off of posts that have to do with me, and stop embarrassing yourself.  Now either call me and talk to me directly, or flog me one more time on this post and we'll let it end.  You can have the last word, I said what I needed to.

As for being two faced I jokingly said that in response to critism regarding my two brands.  You were standing there, and we laughed together.  How convenient for you to turn it on me as a negativity in times of disagreement.  Truth is, my customers know that I have more than one option for them, and that I will not ram the one thing I have on them.  This shows a higher level of honesty not a lower one because it opens up options for them.

hipo-Christian, well, yes, you have me nailed.  There was only ONE that was perfect.  He saw this world, died, rose again, and left to go make us a better place so that where we go, it won't be like this.  But here on earth I'm as imperfect as anyone. My ego can be damaged, and I can get my feelings hurt too, so forgive me please.

God Bless you Derek, I hope for peace between us.  Ever since I came on board in 2004 it's been shaky between us, you have always seen me as a threat to your business.  I wish you didn't see me that way.  I am north, you are south, but we're supposed to be team mates.
-Quentin

[cb186]

Stick, i'll still let you mount up my tires at VIR. 

[stickboy274]