UUUUm .. having spent some time wit vinnie ,, and the cyclespace team ,,,,,i've come to the conclusion that it came down to.....too many self proclamed "Douche Bags".. no really,every one of those guys are raging ego-manical freak's... (im mean that in the nices way possible ,)_, what really pissed me off about vinnie .. is that he gave to much of his time to that team , almost running his self into the ground for it ,what he brought to the table is probly way more that any team at the level has had acess too ,,, and aso... that he's an ass hole ., just ask him ,, he'll tell ya .... J
Wow ,, sounds like you know things no one else knows..... so you around the team much , at the shop , ,, gotta name , maybe i met ya at the tack or in the shop ,, :down:
so did you lose your bike ??? P.S. when i first met vinnie , years ago ,, i was selling a salvaged titled bike i rebuilt from oregon.. he went over it with a fine tooth comb ,, i was almost affended by him ,, but then after talking to him ,, i relized i was a CYA deal for him and the guy buying my bike ,,,,,,,,,,good on him ,,,,,,,him working with the straight line bike's too ,, had to be extra careful ,,,,,,,,cause to many of those bikes are stolt,,and it his ass if those bikes are in his shop if the cops show up ,,,
I do not know Vinnie that well, but any time I needed help from him, he was right there. Running VIN's, I do it on just about ever bike that comes through my shop. Although my shop is right next to the police station. I've seen some of the shit that he had to put up with, and I'll leave it at that.
my response Well first off I would like top say I never intended to have the press release piss anyone off. (or I would have added a bunch more BS that actually happened) It had only came about after some badmouthing from the team made it back to me ALL THE WAY FROM MILLER. ( I have some family out there) Secondly I had warned the team (KEITH) in particular. That they would need to find a new mechanic as of the WARA round at Barber. I had no intentions on leaving until Keith and Clint were involved in an ALMOST physicsal argument. It did not seem to be a safe work area. I stuck it out until the week before Road America. This is where it gets tricky. My obligation to the team was to operate the team as best I could using limited funds. I, AS A SPONSOR/OWNER WAS giving up free labor on all engines DYNO TIME and dealer cost on all parts I provided to the team.ALL the driving and maintenence prior to each event(all by myself) thats almost everything but riding the bikes. Any funding we had recieved was to be spent on ENTRY FEES AND TRANSPORTETION TO THE RACES. When Mike EMBRY came to the table all the traveling expenses were covered. At that time we AS A TEAM agreed to use the transport budget(which I had made for each event) on spares and necessities to run a team. I was NEVER SUPPOSED TO PUT UP ANy $$$$$ MYSELF. SO LOOKY HERE I never said that The team riders did not pay or anything like that. I just said the financial responsibilities were not met. ALL this means is that when the team runs out of funding( we were paid every 90 days) the riders picked up the rest of THEIR expenses. NON of these expenses weRE to be reimbursed. All too many times I have found myself putting up funds to cover the riders(KEith did as well for Skip) BUT I was supposed to collect from the riders the extra expense. INSTEAD I was told to use the team $. Which was not correct to do. Prior to the AMA round Keith refused to pay for his machine work on some pistons/rear rotor and a head. He had refused to pay until he gets a receipt. WELL how do I get a recaipt if I dont pay for it. I explained that I did not have the funds to cover the costs. So I used my personal $ to pick it up when I was able to do so. Keith was not going to pay until he feels like it... So I was not about to leave for 30 days traveling for the team if I was not going to have any $$$ to eat or even stay at a hotel/campground to shower. This is when I contacted CYCLE SPACE telling them I refuse to work with these riders any more. They asked for more time to make a decision along with the team expenses. Everything was given to them(even though the contract with cyclespace says that they do not wish to be involved with team management.) The check book was gone over with by JEREMY WOLF and myself for over 2 hours via phone. EVERYTHING WAS PEERFECT. in fact I left out a bunch of receips I later found for rags, cleaners,ect... after 2 weeks I found that Cycle space was going to stay with The riders and not with Pro-Line. (who the original letter of intent and payments were made to). I had agreed to separate properly leaving all the team entact so our sponsors are not let down my the dismanteling of the team. That was it until all the BS that came back to me about how I quit and stole from the team. I had to make a press release at that time. I apologize if it offended anyone on the team but IF YOU CAN BADMOUTH ME SOOO MUCH WHY WOULD YOU STILL WANT ME AFFILIATED WITH THE TEAM? As far as the stuff Keith said on the RRW I was told to not comment. It will be handeled legally. BTY SCOTT QUICK (the guy I pissed off) My shop along with many others in orlando and Seminole county was getting raided because of a ton of stolen bikes. MY friend and your teammate was at my shop all the time. YOUR bike was 100% contraband. I had been through the ringer my self(similar situation) and was covering your ass and my ass. If your bike was not powder coated or had a FL inspecdtion sticker or hell anything that says it was replaceced (stamped or etched) I would not have said anything. If I called the OPD they would have taken your bike...
Sounds like it's time to go on your own Vinnie. Sorry to hear about the bullshit you are going through. Good luck!!
This is pretty much the same thing I've heard from a dozen or so racers. Producing receipts for work never done and false expenses. Getting receipts for things you don't pay for is simple. Kind of like playing dumb is simple. Just what I heard, mind you. From about a dozen racers. I don't know him personally so this is gossip. I do know the guys on track in question here very well.
Well...in my line of business...there are things called QUOTES, and INVOICES! They are there for a reason! Use them guys!:up:
Not sure what you're saying here but embezzlement is against the law. If that is what happened, of course. Turning in invoices for compensation when the product or services were never provided may be how I treat the IRS, but not the way to deal with motorcycle racers/ teams if you don't want half the paddock to out you. And NONE of the people who I know for sure that have had a bad experience are posting in this thread. Why do you think that is?????? It's a very good reason. None of my business, just looking out for my friends. Back to work now
John, Something I thought to myself when I read the press release, and again when I read the response was "Wow, this is going to get legal real quick!". So knowing it was going to get ugly, and involve possible legal issues, why even post the crap (which obviously wasn't checked into by anyone) on your sight? To me this makes your site look like the place to air dirty laundry, not the professional publication it should be. If people want to throw rocks at each other let them do it somewhere else, you should stick to real news. Let the internet forums be the place for shit slinging
Chas, when I realized it was getting ugly I went back to RRW.com and couldn't find the original release or follow-up. I think RRW took swift action. Honestly, I thought Vinnie's release just had a very curious tone and begged of a more telling story. I never saw the reply that was posted (too slow I guess). Nothing about this seems irresponsible on RRW's behalf.
Joe, The original post was on the fence (in my view), but the reply was basically falling into the irresponsible realm of reporting. The main thing is it makes RRW look like a forum for people to argue with each other, and not what it should be. An informative, responsible publication for Motorcycle Road Racing. I think swift action wouldn't have been needed if the reply wasn't posted, and the original press release was removed until the two parties deal with their disagreement in decent manner (or brought it to an internet forum near you, for our entertainment of course ).
My comments were based solely on MY dealings with Vinnie. I am good friends with the Cyclespace team. I am not biased one way or the other. I have never had to deal with Proline with $$$. Skip I fuken love ya man. Keith, your my boy!!!! Like I said before money and racers= problems. I hope this all gets worked out.
I didn't see the second post so I'll trust your opinion. The original release from Proline seemed pertinent to the racing community although not very professional. Still, this is a member of the racing community and any unintended impression the statement leaves is really their problem IMHO. I'm assuming Proline went through all the trouble to submit the release so it seems they really wanted to get it out there. Now Chas, let us retire to the sidelines and let the mudslinging continue without our commentary.....
I know Keith, and have met Skip a couple of times as well. I only ment...that before saying can we get this done, or have this done...get a quote! If work was done there should be an invoice made prior to paying. If work was done, and and it matches the quote and a invoice has been made then payment should be made. Now if the work that the said Invoice said was not done...then that's a whole other story and I agree it should be dealt with the highest priority.
