V-Twin Boycott on Chopperweb
Trent Rekker's Biker Metric
"It was brought to our attention that several of our members, all highly respected and well-known individuals, both on this site and in the industry as a whole, have been seriously mistreated by V-TWIN MANUFACTURING (also known as Taiwan Ted). They have gotten away with it for too long, and it's time we stood up as the community that we are, and take action!
The Problem
V-TWIN MANUFACTURING is well-known for its wide selection of restoration, replacement and aftermarket parts for Harley Davidsons. They don't have a web-presence but have a wide dealer network. The issue that has sparked this boycott is that it turns out that V-TWIN MANUFACTURING is having unique and exclusive parts outsourced to Asia for cheap reproduction. These are all parts that were developed by American individuals through hard work and many hours or labor. V-TWIN MANUFACTURING buys one of the items, and sends it to Asia for cheap reproduction. Possible quality issues aside, this means that the original creators of the parts are being seriously undercut, and are losing business because of it. Rather than buying directly from the rightful owner of the part, at a wholesale price, they are being outsourced to maximize revenue, as these items don't even sell for much less than the originals. In a time like this, when thousands of Americans are losing their income due to their jobs being exported to booming economies in Asia, how can any business get away with this and not face any consequences?
Aren't there legal options?
Sure, but everyone knows that those are very expensive and time consuming. During the time this will take, the products will not generate enough revenue for it to be worthwhile. V-TWIN MANUFACTURING knows this and it's the main reason they have gotten away with it (in most cases). The only way to put an end to these activities is to let them know (TeddCycle@aol.com) that you feel outraged, and that you will not be doing any business in the future. That's why we're calling for a boycott, on behalf of all the people that have been and will be scammed by V-TWIN MANUFACTURING!
Need examples?
Just in case you haven't read about it HERE, the most recent ripoff was off the brand new, totally unique Hard-Ass Seat from CrimeSceneChoppers. This one-of-a-kind seat is a collaboration between Joe of SCS and Mark van der Kwaak of DBBP.COM:
This seat is available in the '06 V-TWIN catalog (page 825), and is an exact replica which was NOT made by CrimeSceneChoppers, so it offers a much bigger markup for V-TWIN, as opposed to buying wholesale from CSC themselves. And as the seats are offered at a much lower price to the end-users, CSC loses a large part of their sales of THEIR unique product. Any quality issues with the replica seats will reflect badly on CSC, as there is no way to tell the difference. Just by looking at the pictures above, it is apparent that the replica seat is nowhere near the original quality..
These are two recent examples, but the exact same thing has happened to items developed exclusively by Fabricator Kevin, Martin Bros Bikes, Performance Machine (who succesfully sued), and most recently Carlini, who also succesfully sued. This has been going on for a while, and is affecting many small (and large) shops that have worked hard to get where they are, only to be crushed by a large corp like V-TWIN MANUFACTURING.
What can I do?
Spread the word, let Ted (or Ed as he's actually called) know how you feel by emailing your complaints to TeddCycle@aol.com, link to this page or the thread on other sites, and let as many people as possible know what kind of business V-TWIN MANUFACTURING is. Place the boycott logo on your own site if you have one, to show support and spread the word. Don't order copyrighted products from them anymore, and do whatever else you feel you can contribute to the cause. We just can't let this continue to happen to our friends.
Another example are Solutions Machining's Brass Nutz. Those were introduced publically towards the end of 2004, and showed up in the 2005 V-TWIN catalog, as an exact replica.To link the logo, copy/paste this code on your own site:
Let us know if you support our efforts, and we'll add you to our list
Note: In no way are we implying that any blame lies with the manufacturers in Asia. This is not an issue about manufacturing being outsourced to cheaper regions. This about theft of intellectual property for the sole purpose of making profit. It's unethical, immoral and has no place in this industry."
