Anyone having trouble with delivery on Motorvation Engineering Contracts in 2014?

 

Interested in any recent experieces with Motorvation. Am beginning to research sidecars - for install on a new Rd Glide.

 

Smith16809, sent you a PM with some details.

 

You must not have PM accepted.

Check your User CP Visitor msg.

 

We are waiting to hear back re: delivery/install date estimated to be 4 months from 05APR2014. "We are a little behind." phonecon late AUG2015.

WE found a Yelp post about a couple who ordered a unit in July 2013 and as of June 2014 they did not have it or any idea of when it would be done.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/motorvation-engineering-sibley

 

GearheadGrrrl - 12/1/2014 2:43 PM

96flgeez, sorry for the delay and hope you get your hack soon. I live near Motorvation and visit frequently and can verify that they are indeed still building sidecars and working their way through the long list of orders. When an option like a matching wheel, turn signal, etc. is ordered they have to order those parts and wait for them to arrive, then fit the sidecar into the production schedule when all the necessary parts arrive. Same with custom paint, especially if it has to match an older or rare bike. If you want faster delivery, it's best to buy the sidecar in the quite durable black or white gelcoat and limit your options to what Motorvation has in stock.


GearheadGrrrl,

Welcome to the Forum as a 'New User'. Hope to hear more from you soon on the Forum to increase your post numbers. As well as another respondee to this thread. I have noticed an increase in FB correspondence monitoring, by the Vendor, to remove tracks of my questions and their responses about delays and BBB ratings and complaints.

I really would like to hear from the Motorvation Engineering if any options ordered are delaying my contract commencement and completion, but that time does not seem important to the them. Some kind of simple response from Motorvation Engineering to our emails about what is now a 4 month delay, would be greatly appreciated. Email and telephone activity seemed to be important in April of this year when ordering, but after July's questions about delivery, communication has been scarce.

'A bit behind' and '...half way through the pecking order' as emails and telephone responses do not offer any consolation to a simple question. When. There has never been any indication the options would delay delivery, even at the time of initial deposit. At that time with options, a 4 month estimate with the condition of 32 previous contracts was offered and ACCEPTED.

The delay in completion is not the primary concern, but the lack of correspondence in reference to "A" delivery and the appearance of stonewalling. Something that has been mentioned in online discoveries by others in dealings with Motorvation Engineering. If a non standard component to Motorvation Engineering, a Harley Davidson wheel as an example, is delaying commencement of the build by it's lack of availability, then a simple change to an order could have helped resolve the delay in even beginning a build.

If you visit Motorvation Engineering again soon, PLEASE extend my sincere desire to the staff to successfully completing this contract and simply let us know what is going on.

 

From an interested neighbor on United SideCar.
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Actually, I'm not really a new user- I've been on this board several times over the years, but spend most of my time over at advrider.com and the various airhead forums. I also put out a blog over at www.GearheadGrrrl.com .

Back to the trials and tribulations of custom building sidecars, and for that matter custom building anything. The sidecar market is a small one, and that small volume is split between a half dozen or so manufacturers and importers just in America. So small a market that I doubt any manufacturer is selling more than a few hundred sidecars a year, with the exception of Ural. With these low volumes some manufacturers and importers like Velorex and Texas sidecar go with a basic model or two... Which simplifies inventory and speeds production. Most manufacturers custom build to a degree, some to the point where there is no standard model and every sidecar is a one off and long delays in production are to be expected. I believe you mentioned 48 orders ahead of yours... That translates into over a hundred thousand dollars of inventory just to build those 48, never mind stocking parts to build any other combination of options and custom parts the next customers may order. As you can see, there's no way a small business can maintain that kind of inventory, nor keep enough staff to deal with the avalanche of orders that come every spring and then dries up in the fall. There is also frequently a need to engineer custom requests and find parts vendors- Even if they've done it before, sometimes parts sources disappear and they have to find new ones or substitute a different one. I've worked most of my life in the trucking business and it was the same way- even though my employer bought hundreds of trucks a year, even a fairly standard truck took 6 months from order to delivery and something custom like a step van with a diesel engine often took a year or two- In fact many times Ford, Freightliner, etc. would build a special model for us and it took a couple years to engineer it, get all the DOT and EPA certifications, procure all the parts, assemble the chassis, and have the body installed.

Actually, we're fortunate that Motorvation can build a sidecar and mounting hardware for many motorcycles without our having to leave the motorcycle there- Some of the other manufacturers require that you leave the bike there for them to work with. In fact, Motorvation can build a sidecar and ship it to you, with no need to actually travel to their shop, and with their excellent instructions they're easy to install. BTW, have you had a chance to visit their shop yet? I'd highly recommend it!

And no, I'm not a "shill" for Motorvation, just a happy owner of a Spyder and Formula II who has no financial interest whatsoever in the business. And while I've been waiting going on a year for a new seat, when I've seriously needed repair parts they've promptly supplied them or directed me to a vendor for them... Can't complain about that! Both of my Motorvation sidecars are over 20 years old, and one has over 100,000 miles on it... What's a years wait, when your sidecar is going to give over 20 years of riding satisfaction!


***********What's a years wait, when your sidecar is going to give over 20 years of riding satisfaction!*************

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2 posts and this one is #2.

 

***********What's a years wait, when your sidecar is going to give over 20 years of riding satisfaction!*************


It's now 18JAN2015. Two more months without a reply, by email or phone. My dog won't last 20 years. I won't last 20 years, at my age.

Use own judgment before you take the leap. Check out all you can before you invest your money.

#crank/ old/and lots to spend to make sure this do not happen to you.

 

Anyone else here have a suggestion as to where else this info might be considered valuable?

Been here in 2006.

# old/cranky/andjustgeneralllypizzed

 

IndSlim - 12/5/2014 12:56 PM

This is the most mature response to all this yet. Yes, it is frustrating to not get a response from anyone, but to take this to the point of venting on more than one forum and having pointless long winded responses by someone out of the blue is disappointing for me as a new member here. Perhaps I am expecting too much by looking for civility. BTW, posting in all caps is considered to be rude.

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From another Forum...
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I am trying to respond to each with as much civility as possible.
Please reply if I have misquoted you or anyone. It will matter somewhere down the road.

I will "Vent " anywhere it can help make someone make an informed choice. My goal is to receive services as offered. Nothing more, nothing less. If those services are not offered in honesty, then a higher authority than you or me may have to intervene. I do hope not.

Please accept my apology for disappointing you by voicing my opinion.
We may be beyond opinion here.

Facts are what they are.

No response, other than to friends.

Business is as business does.