Speed UTV

Danny Hensley is the owner of Freedom Ropes and a big part of the reason Pismo is still open. He is not the kind of guy that would be out to bash another business owner. To me this just shows what kind of guy Robbie is that Danny would be compelled to put this on the internet.
 
Not good! I’ve said it before, the best thing that could happen is Speed hires a CEO to run the day to day and to hire the proper people for each dept.

This would let RG & TR do what they do best which is design the products, but let someone else manage it on a professional level. They have to be burned out trying to run this whole company with a dozen people, and taking direct cell phone calls from customers.
 
NIKAL said:
Not good! I’ve said it before, the best thing that could happen is Speed hires a CEO to run the day to day and to hire the proper people for each dept.

This would let RG & TR do what they do best which is design the products, but let someone else manage it on a professional level. They have to be burned out trying to run this whole company with a dozen people, and taking direct cell phone calls from customers.
Click to expand...
I think the best thing for Speed would be to keep them from responding to social media post. Imagine if they had the dealer network that could be dealing with the customers instead of them.
 
The Best thing that Speed can do is refund Every deposit holder, and then sell the whole company to someone that Knows how to run a business.

Thank gawd I wasn't foolish enough to jump into this f'n mess.
 
Sand Shark said:
I think the best thing for Speed would be to keep them from responding to social media post. Imagine if they had the dealer network that could be dealing with the customers instead of them.
Click to expand...
"Ego" drove RG to the success level they've reached, it will also limit the company to where they are currently stuck.

Bummer to read such a great design is limited by shitty parts quality (wears out too fast for rec user)
 
Sand Shark said:
I think the best thing for Speed would be to keep them from responding to social media post. Imagine if they had the dealer network that could be dealing with the customers instead of them.
Click to expand...
Yep. The only thing that should be posted to social media is the typical "sorry to hear about this, a customer service rep will call you shortly" type thing that Ford and everyone else does when someone bitches on SM.
 
Crusty said:
"Ego" drove RG to the success level they've reached, it will also limit the company to where they are currently stuck.

Bummer to read such a great design is limited by shitty parts quality (wears out too fast for rec user)
Click to expand...
Remember in the beginning of this thread when LOTD and others said RG would never cut corners and does not have to answer to bean counters? That aged well! LMAO!!!!!
 
Last edited:
To be fair, those were Robbys words. He said he was restrained by bean counters at both Polaris & Arctic Cat. He vowed to be different. It was not hard to believe him, especially in the early days as it was legit and he had well known people behind the project. Guys like Weddle said, this is legit and they are putting good stuff in these cars. But in reality with COVID shortages, inflation, the huge rise in cost in just materials. And then he’s contracted with a CM who it sounds like is the one who’s contracting & out sourcing most suppliers, and who is really cutting the cost & corners.

I truly believe RG had all the right intentions, but was very ignorant as to how this works, especially when you don’t own the manufacturing facilities or have prior relationships with these suppliers. If RG could snap his fingers and up the quality on parts with issues, we all know he would.

I also believe the CM is cutting quality & costs that RG does not know or has approved. I’ve been told RG gets really upset when he starts seeing a trend of the same issues that they were not seeing before, and then finds out something was changed that he was not made aware of.

What really upsets me though is the cost of Speed replacement parts. They are twice the cost of the other manufacturers, and unfortunately you have no aftermarket outlet to get many of these parts. $3000 for a primary clutch is insane! But what are you going to do? No one has aftermarket options.
 
I’m sorry, but that original price, with all of the features, the materials selection, the production process, US factory, plus zero parts bin engineering, just wasn’t believable unless there was some serious cost-cutting.
 
Last edited:
NIKAL said:
To be fair, those were Robbys words. He said he was restrained by bean counters at both Polaris & Arctic Cat. He vowed to be different. It was not hard to believe him, especially in the early days as it was legit and he had well known people behind the project. Guys like Weddle said, this is legit and they are putting good stuff in these cars. But in reality with COVID shortages, inflation, the huge rise in cost in just materials. And then he’s contracted with a CM who it sounds like is the one who’s contracting & out sourcing most suppliers, and who is really cutting the cost & corners.

I truly believe RG had all the right intentions, but was very ignorant as to how this works, especially when you don’t own the manufacturing facilities or have prior relationships with these suppliers. If RG could snap his fingers and up the quality on parts with issues, we all know he would.

I also believe the CM is cutting quality & costs that RG does not know or has approved. I’ve been told RG gets really upset when he starts seeing a trend of the same issues that they were not seeing before, and then finds out something was changed that he was not made aware of.

What really upsets me though is the cost of Speed replacement parts. They are twice the cost of the other manufacturers, and unfortunately you have no aftermarket outlet to get many of these parts. $3000 for a primary clutch is insane! But what are you going to do? No one has aftermarket options.
Click to expand...
The price of the parts is because he knows the owners have no other source. Not to mention they probably don’t have a huge stock pile like other OEMs.

RG has no one to blame for the quality control but himself. He teamed up with a company that is not known for great quality.
 
Last edited:
Crusty said:
"Right intentions", "wasn't told", "Changes were not approved"

Come on man....RG needs to own it all. This was his venture, to be different then the big MFGs.
Click to expand...
Never said he does not have to own it. Just stating what I believe and what I’ve heard. I’m pretty sure RG takes this personal. Two years ago at KOTH, he admitted that if he could do this over he would not have done it. It’s that F’ing hard.

You’re right he wanted to be different then the others, and in more ways then we hoped for he is different. In allot of ways the car is still better then what the other have brought to market, but in allot of ways it’s worse then what the others have brought to market. If they can get the reliability under control, it will turn this company around.

Like Sand Shark said his biggest issue is his partnered manufacturer. I don’t believe either side has lived up to what they promised each other. That and I don’t believe RG knows how to put the right people in place and how run everything. Speed will never be successful as long as Robby & Todd are running everything day to day. At some point you need to hire the right people who know more than you.

Just like Tesla, Rivian or these other big start up auto manufacturers. Speeds got a few deep pocket investors keeping this things afloat. Hopefully they can dig out like Tesla, Polaris and so many others have in the early years and be successful. If you don’t know the banks forced Polaris founder Edgar Hetteen out or they were going to repossess and sell off all assets. Thats how bad Polaris was in the early years. And even a few years later after that Polaris was forced to buy back a whole model line up of snowmobiles because they were so bad, and the banks were ready to shut them down again. Eventually they had to sell the company and new management was brought in to turn Polaris around.

If Speed can’t get it turned around they will just be on the list of another failed auto brand like Fisker, Loardstown, Lucid, Rivian or struggling Powersport brands KTM or Arctic Cat that are on the verge of going belly up.
 
NIKAL said:
Never said he does not have to own it. Just stating what I believe and what I’ve heard. I’m pretty sure RG takes this personal. Two years ago at KOTH, he admitted that if he could do this over he would not have done it. It’s that F’ing hard.

You’re right he wanted to be different then the others, and in more ways then we hoped for he is different. In allot of ways the car is still better then what the other have brought to market, but in allot of ways it’s worse then what the others have brought to market. If they can get the reliability under control, it will turn this company around.

Like Sand Shark said his biggest issue is his partnered manufacturer. I don’t believe either side has lived up to what they promised each other. That and I don’t believe RG knows how to put the right people in place and how run everything. Speed will never be successful as long as Robby & Todd are running everything day to day. At some point you need to hire the right people who know more than you.

Just like Tesla, Rivian or these other big start up auto manufacturers. Speeds got a few deep pocket investors keeping this things afloat. Hopefully they can dig out like Tesla, Polaris and so many others have in the early years and be successful. If you don’t know the banks forced Polaris founder Edgar Hetteen out or they were going to repossess and sell off all assets. Thats how bad Polaris was in the early years. And even a few years later after that Polaris was forced to buy back a whole model line up of snowmobiles because they were so bad, and the banks were ready to shut them down again. Eventually they had to sell the company and new management was brought in to turn Polaris around.

If Speed can’t get it turned around they will just be on the list of another failed auto brand like Fisker, Loardstown, Lucid, Rivian or struggling Powersport brands KTM or Arctic Cat that are on the verge of going belly up.
Click to expand...
You mean another failed RG business venture like

1. Energy drink
2. RC Cars
3. Tools
4. SST
5. Wheel company
6. Polaris RG edition
7. Arctic Cat
8. Shock company

I’m sure more. Only way Speed is still surviving is the CCP funding. Heard the Chinese funded $80M to subsidize the company getting off the ground.

Who would have still ordered the Speed UTI if they knew it was going to be built in China?
 
NIKAL said:
Never said he does not have to own it. Just stating what I believe and what I’ve heard. I’m pretty sure RG takes this personal. Two years ago at KOTH, he admitted that if he could do this over he would not have done it. It’s that F’ing hard.

You’re right he wanted to be different then the others, and in more ways then we hoped for he is different. In allot of ways the car is still better then what the other have brought to market, but in allot of ways it’s worse then what the others have brought to market. If they can get the reliability under control, it will turn this company around.

Like Sand Shark said his biggest issue is his partnered manufacturer. I don’t believe either side has lived up to what they promised each other. That and I don’t believe RG knows how to put the right people in place and how run everything. Speed will never be successful as long as Robby & Todd are running everything day to day. At some point you need to hire the right people who know more than you.

Just like Tesla, Rivian or these other big start up auto manufacturers. Speeds got a few deep pocket investors keeping this things afloat. Hopefully they can dig out like Tesla, Polaris and so many others have in the early years and be successful. If you don’t know the banks forced Polaris founder Edgar Hetteen out or they were going to repossess and sell off all assets. Thats how bad Polaris was in the early years. And even a few years later after that Polaris was forced to buy back a whole model line up of snowmobiles because they were so bad, and the banks were ready to shut them down again. Eventually they had to sell the company and new management was brought in to turn Polaris around.

If Speed can’t get it turned around they will just be on the list of another failed auto brand like Fisker, Loardstown, Lucid, Rivian or struggling Powersport brands KTM or Arctic Cat that are on the verge of going belly up.
Click to expand...
We all know that RG will never hire anyone that could actually run the company. Only way that happens is if he sells it or is forced out by his investors, which might happen once those initial deposit holders cars are delivered.
 
Sand Shark said:
We all know that RG will never hire anyone that could actually run the company. Only way that happens is if he sells it or is forced out by his investors, which might happen once those initial deposit holders cars are delivered.
Click to expand...
I just don’t know if it can be clawed back even with a switch. The car is the most expensive in its class by 10%-ish, deliveries are TBD******, QC is a major concern, and new models are already being developed/released while these are still being sorted.

There was a lot of crap-talking in the past on things Can Am/Polaris/whoever did, but they’re still churning out tens of thousands of cars at a profit, winning major races, and have dealer networks that aren’t inundated with repairs. When I was in automotive, I hated beancounters, requirements, and platform sharing too, but there’s a reason they all exist. Bespoke everything is expensive. Someone has to say no to beefy everything in the chassis, or go back to the drawing board on belts, clutches, heims, springs, axles, cooling and engine design (and all the other parts that are failing) because you didn’t keep your initial weight budget in check. Now all the shit you designed for a sub-2000lb car isn’t up to snuff.

Combine all of that with standard CCP bullshit… Yeah.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top