Hi all and Merry Christmas,
First off, I want to tell everyone that has per-ordered a starter kit from me that I am not only terribly sorry but extremely embarrassed that this has taken so long to complete these kits. I know that this is not acceptable and bad business. It has caused much agony and frustration for so many of my customers and for myself as well.
This forum and its participants are very important to me. I do not do as much posting as I used to do but check in on a regular basis. I consider it a sort of extended 'family' with people from all walks of life with a common interest and passion for the machines that I dedicated most of my life to work on and support. Never thought it would become what it did when I started doing it for a living in 1997. I have since the inception of cNw always tried to meet or exceed custom expectations and this last year has been really bad in that regard to say the least.
Due to the my closeness and the importance of the people on this forum, I certainly owe some explanation why things have turned out like they did in 2023. Some of it is a bit more personal but also a reality that I need to share since it had a major impact.
Please understand that I am not trying to make excuses but rather just to tell you what caused so many things not to fall into place throughout the year.
Some of the issues is in regards to a production delay, almost a year late. This for the major components of the kits. I kept being assured it was right around the corner to be completed and this is the information I passed onto my customers. Every month it was pushed out but for reasons I understood. It was not because I was put on the back burner but several things that were causing the delays. The kits started showing up in smaller batches this last summer and I finished and completed kits as fast as I could to fill back orders.
Between vendors and machine shops, there are about 10 involved with supplying all the parts that it takes to build a kit. Some are major and some are quite small but all are needed. In October one of my major suppliers, not only for e-start parts but many other parts I use in my shop, went out of business. This without any warning and they even left their employees in the dark. This was a major set back as I was not able to get parts I needed for several kits that I offer. Again, being able to complete the e-start kits came to a halt.
It has taken 2 months to establish accounts with new suppliers (5 total) and companies in order to get back to some kind of normal. I huge one (as in the level of impact it has) was just wrapped up last week and that was a tremendous relief because its a major part needed to complete the kits. These parts have been ordered and are incoming. There is one more account pending, but hopefully it will be in place as the new year starts.
One more thing that made the year incredibly challenging is the fact that my step daughter, Codi-Page, suffered a major stroke. She is only 30 years old and this event has turned our lives completely upside down and much of it has been a roller coaster. While I wont go into details, the fact is that it forced me to be away from the shop for more time than I could really afford in order to keep things moving forward on bike builds, service work and parts orders. We have made adjustments and are getting back to some kind of normal but unfortunately for Codi, this was life changing and left her with permanent brain damage and she is slowly trying to re-learn some things we all take for granted like speaking, reading and writing.
The impact all this has had on the e-start kit is major. While this is just one part that I offer, it is the most involved and complicated that I have available. Its also quiet popular. If it wasn't that impact would not be as great.
So all this said, is there any good news at all ??
January will be a major month for being able to complete and finally start shipping to those people that have patiently waited for their kits and to make them whole. While delayed by a ridiculous amount of time, I certainly hope that once installed and being used on a regular basis, that it will somehow have been worth the wait.
Sincerely,
Matt Rambow / Colorado Norton Works
