Arai to halt Online & MailOrder Sales..?...

There may be another reason helmet manufacturers are becoming reluctant to have their helmets sold outside of the traditional dealership where it can be proerly fitted. There have been lawsuits involving head injury/death while wearing a motorcycle helmet, that claimed(I have been told by people in our industry), among other things, that because the helmet was sold mail order it was not properly fitted and that was the reason the person was killed while wearing that helmet. Improper fit = loss of protective ability in the event of a crash. I heard the settlements were huge, and at least one of the suits was against Arai. These are not facts I know first hand, but the information does come from people who should know. Does anyone else have information they can share about this?

Newsflash - Marietta Motorsports/ 1888fastlap.com will be importing a line of high-end helmets from Europe, first shipment to arrive around Jan 30. There will be an annoucement very soon about it, but you heard it first right here. We are going to offer a substantial contingency program for racers. Because most of our business is not from local racers/customers, I have been VERY concerned about the lawsuits involving mail order helmets, and would appreciate any info anyone has on the subject.

 

Thanks Paul, I was afraid it was coming to that, but I have yet to hear of any cases.
I wouldn't mind faxing a copy of my license to purchase slicks, but the fit of a helmet seemed different to me.

A rider fell on a trackday out west with a well fitted helmet, but he personally enjoyed a very loose strap so he could just pop it on & off. He tankslapped over the crest of a hill, on the 2nd bounce his helmet came off and he didn't survive his resulting head injuries....just to save the time of buckling it right. At some point it is the solely the responsibility of the rider to act in a safe manner. Who controls the throttle when your midpack in Turn 1? The rider, not Dad, not Ed Bargy, not anyone else except the rider. The rider must accept responsibility for their actions, but must be empowered to act. Are you for throttle stops or HP limits on Novice Racers?...although I don't see the results for the "A-Superstock Novice" class,...'cause it has been decided that those bikes are too much for most Novice racers.(and YES, I think this is a good decision).

I said..

Anrew said..

What does holding a racing license have to do with the fact that it is my decision to race?...and where did you make up the garbage about me forcing my way onto the track. NO ANDREW, I paid the gate fee, I paid the Org, I provided my credentials and then I enjoyed the track day, no problem. I have attended enough different trackdays to know that many offer schools that require no credentials, not even a DMV license. I didn't say anything about anyone forcing their way into anything, what kind of tangent was that?

It's my life. It's my responsibility to secure my helmet, gloves, boots,..they can all fly off in even a moderate crash allowing more injuries.

Flagrant disregard for club/track rules may be visible to the org, and when they see infractions, they act to enforce their rules. If pit-out saw the chinstrap loose, I'm sure that they would've stopped him. But it's not the pit-out worker who chose to expose that rider to racing.

 

I said...
"If I needed help, I would ask for it. "

So Andrew says..
"Are you Valentino Rossi posting on here or do you dislike assistance or advice from other people."

I am replying...
"Why the angry defensive response? Why not something like asking if I make my decisions with others input & advice? The answer is yes, but if I feel comfortable with my decision, then I don't need unsolicited advice. I don't mind people offering advice, but requiring that I listen to their advice is different. And track/org policy is not advice or a recommendation, it is the rule. When Arai requires that I visit a shop & consult with a trained rep, that is no longer a recommendation, but a requirement for purchase. If that is their plan for the future, then I feel that anyone selling over the phone violates Arais intent for a face-to-face consultation."

I am realistic enough to know that lawsuits drive many business decisions, but then be upfront, respect us as intelligent customers and tell us the truth.



[This message has been edited by Joe (edited 12-08-2001).]

 

I live in Syracuse, NY and I have yet to see an Arai lid on any shelf. All the off brands with cool, prety colors. So I call MARMO, order an AGV lid, it fits my balding head just fine, and life is good. I see the top guys wearing all kinds of lids and I'm rather certain they wouldn't be wearing them if they didn't feel they would protect them, regardless of any "contract".

Arai has, in my opinion, just did a great service to their competitors! I'd buy another AGV in a minute, and I's even try a Sunomy (?), but $600 bills for the "label" is something I'm not willing to do. I'd buy from the local shop as well, but the only one "near" me is about as friendly as an ex-wife, has an attitude that YOU owe them, etc., etc. I'll buy from MARMO, SpeedWerks and folks that support our racing, everytime!

 

I appologize if I misunderstood or misread your post. What i have learned from all of this is that You seem to care about your business and I care about mine and we both care about the sport HUGELY. I also figured out that you seem to give very good customer service with a personal touch. That is not the norm for mail order and from what I have been reading dealers are not very liked. So what I'm am going to do is nothing at all I will keep doing my business and support the ones who are willing to help support this facility. i truly am amazed how disliked this business is maybe I should go back to the car business and triple my income and not give a rats ass what people think. At the same time shut down all retail facilities fire the 32 peopel that work here and do everything mail order.
I thank everyone who has said nice things about how I do business but I really am amazed how bad things are my head is out of the sand and I will be paying attention.
If I stepped on any toes don't take it personally, but I have worked my ass off to try and take care of everyone I have come in contact with to the point I use my own money to help people out. I couldn't begin to count the number of times I got a phone call on Sat. needing brake levers, spare rims, clutch baskets, foot pegs, wind screens, face sheilds, brake rotors delivered to the track so they can race on Sunday. I have never charged a penny for the above items it was just my way of giving back to the sport hell I have lent my bikes out for people to race. If saving $35.00 or even $100.00 is worth losing that have at it.
I have said all I'm going to say on this subject. Their are NO hard feelings towards anyone I just feel like I had the rug pulled out from under me. I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a happy New Year.

 

I am sorry if it appears that I am hounding you, but it confuses me when a question like "do you support tiered licensing?" gets a reply of "they do it in Japan"...but I was asking as a point of discussion if yourself and others want our community to enact such restrictions.(I personally hope it doesn't happen here.)

I've made more than one statement to clarify that I am not trying to bash yourself, your business, or my local shop, and I've tried to be very clear about my expectations & experiences of my local shop.

No hard feelings , we can agree to disagree, have a nice day, au revoir, adios, auf vederzeihn (sp?).
[UGADAWG - begin whacking.......NOW! ]

 

Hah!

 

Did you guys ever consider that the manufaturer can to do whatever they want with their product? Arai is a successful company; they'll do what they think is best for their future.
In the mean time... WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

 

That's exactly what I said above. "Arai is doing what's best for Arai's bottom line." No one said they can't. But they will lose customers in the process.

 

Thanks but I found a shop that sponsors us – Schiets Motors in Fremont, Ohio (close to Sandusky).

I can call them up from work and have my order at my door in a few days. They gave us some $$ to put towards parts and a good discount.

I used to drive a hour to a place called State 8 (where the Starboyz came from) because they were the only place that were into sportbikes. When the owner of the parts shop left, so did I.

At the local bike shops (Schiets Motors isn’t local to me), you either have to know exactly what you want, or browse through a bunch of parts books at the counter as thick as a phonebook to see what is available. Then you have to have the parts kid look up the price and see if it is made for your bike.

A place like Kneedraggers has all that stuff online, in an easy to use format. And I can do my shopping on at work on company time, which doesn’t hurt.

In 2000, Kneedraggers was hooked up with Team Pro-Motion and had a racers contingency program. They paid $ based on your finishing positions. As a WERA Novice I earned over $500 credit to use in their store (which I used to buy 2 Arai helmets).

If Schiets Motors can’t become a Dainese dealer, I plan to buy 2 back protectors from Kneedraggers.com before next season.

 

If ARAI really cared about their customers, they would make it easier and cheaper, not harder and more expensive to get helmets on the heads of kids in states like Ohio that don’t have helmet laws.

 

I agree. I just felt it sounded corny when they said it was related to noise from poor fitment. If lawsuits threaten anyones business, I am not in any way against them protecting themselves, just be frank with us as to why the change. I don't think there is any shame in stating threat of lawsuits is a factor in making this decision.

Maybe Arai is the first of the mfgs to take this protective step. Maybe the others will follow as litigation demands them to do so, or risk losing all that they have worked for,..& nobody wants that.

 

I think Arai's excuse that they're protecting us from ourselves sounds just as sincere as Philip Morris telling kids not to smoke, or beer companies telling them not to drink until they're 21.

 

Not exactly, not always. IF Arai carries through with this, I'm sure that the ambulance chasers will get in line to sue them for restraint of trade, the "former" dealers will get in line to sue them for restraint of trade, and someone will get in line to sue them for having helmet hair.

Auto manufacturers publish MSRP but can NOT control the price that the dealers get for the vehicles. This is an established precedent of law.

(I am not a lawyer, but I have spent nights in Holiday Inn Express parking lots.)

BTW, has anyone seen this letter published anywhere butt on this BBS?

------------------
Bob AMA #162726 LPR #54 (with AT LEAST 80% Nitrogen in all my tires)
A little slower in the "here and now"
A whole lot faster in the "There I was..."

 

I think ARAI will reconsider when they look at the sales they will lose.

I sent them this:
Dear Sirs,

I am writing to express my disappointment in ARAI's recent decision to stop selling to mail order and internet distributors. I am a road racer in WERA's southeast region, and I've worn ARAI helmets in the past (a Wes Cooley replica). I currently wear a Simpson helmet that will need replacing this season, and I had hoped to replace it with an ARAI signet model. I like the fact that I can buy ARAI shields from the trackside vendors. Nobody seems to want to stock Simpson shields anyway. I had hoped to buy my ARAI helmet from Kneedraggers.com or MAW, but it seems you are discouraging this, because you want to have fitting issues addressed at my local dealer. Well I can tell you that Motions, my local dealer in Marietta GA, has horrible customer service, and could care less about actually helping a customer. Most dealerships around Atlanta are like that as well. What does some high school dropout punk at the parts counter know about helmet fit that I don't know? I know the correct size for my head. Does the fact that I would pay a mail order house $350 rather than my local dealer who mistreats potential customers $550 for the same helmet even concern your bottom line? No! In fact, it is irresponsible for ARAI to take this stance. Don't you think you will miss the revenue generated by not selling to these mail order distributors? Well if this is how its going to be, there are still SHOEI, BELL, and others who will be more than happy to make me a helmet I can buy online. I hope you will reconsider your stance. Thank you for your time.

 

As a former parts counter guy,I was once told that Arai was not interested in making more helmets than they were making at that time. This was about two years ago and the reasoning behind it was that they didn't want to spend the money to expand the facility, "knowing" that the market would eventually contract and then they would have too much capacity. So in my estimation, they are making enough money with what they now sell quantity wise and don't care about market share increases. This came from a rep for one of their distributors.

 

oil....local auto parts store(autozone) I have read to much info to pay the extra for pretty bottles that get tossed in the trash.

spark plugs...if i can, cross ref to N-D or get the NGK's from autozone. else go to the local dirt bike shop. (MB motorsports(frank) used to use autolight plugs in his BIG ex500+ engines)

the local franchise has a real nice SNELL85 arai for $160... i saw this as I was trying on a Shoei RF-900 solid color for $367.00....i'll be shopping elsewhere, but i know i need a MED.

 

At this point, this is almost "off the subject," but I want to go back to the problem with local shops. The only shops in my area are very emphatically uninterested in racers. In fact, the one really big dealership, Sloan's' is really not very excited about motorcycles at all. I've spent a few thousand there in parts and service, and can't get a break from them for anything, ever. And their prices are high. So I have no intention of supporting my local dealer if I can possibly avoid it. Just as he has no intention of supporting or helping me. Now, I don't want to start another war on the BBS, but anyone willing to offer a mid-pack racer with no prospects for a top 5 finish (and who regards most of his fellow CORC racers as youngsters) a "racer discount," feel free to email me off line, 'cause I'm tired of paying retail. I'll be happy to give you some space on my new race plastic and on my van.

Oh, yeah - on the Arai thing - so many of my 'tard row mates have had to buy new lids that I became conscious of how expendable they are. That prices Arai a little out of my personal market. I just got a new Shoei. With 2 spare face sheilds for the price of one Arai face shield.

 

Bad I: I'm surprised what you said about Sloans. I too have bought a couple of grand worth of parts from them and was always treated fairly. I also buy stuff from Marietta and Street & Comp. But at S&C I have to pay the damn sales tax AND freight so not such a good deal.

Sailboats? What kind and where?