PlaynGuitar
Well-known member
hey folks;
After reading all the threads about the new Corbin seat offerings for the 06 FJR -- the prevailing comments seemed to be focused on the price of the Smuggler. So, in a moment of impulse, I emailed tha cats at Corbin to 1) ask them why, 2) let them know the general tenor of the remarks wasn't favorable, and 3) included at least one other company intent on providing a similar product for less. I had no expectations for any kind of response -- it was just a rant, but I was pleasantly surprised to receive a reply from two folks at Corbin, including a short response from Mike Corbin. I've added that response at the bottom of my post.
[standard disclaimer] The following is in no way an endorsement of the product or a justification of the price... my intent was to make public the explanation that was provided to me in case it helps other folks make a decision. I have no interest -- vested or otherwise -- in Corbin. This is not meant to provide them free advertising, just disseminating their reply. [/standard disclaimer]
Obviously my email did not result in an offer to reduce the price, but at least I have a better understanding what goes into the product. Jury's still out on whether I'll buy one, but maybe this wil help you decide.
slainte!
Patrick
rcvd 6/20/06:
"Thanks for your candor and for giving us the heads-up on what people are saying. I've passed the information along to all parties including Mike Corbin so he knows what's up. I guess we'll see what happens from there.
Our goal has always been to release these products as inexpensively as possible. We'd rather see hundreds of them on the road instead of just a few. Especially in this industry where word of mouth and checking out other people's bikes is the best advertising available. Unfortunately last year we lost our collective a$$es on Smugglers (and they were only a little less expensive than they are now).
Problem we have right now is the huge amount of labor that goes into them. We're working on new manufacturing techniques, but the Smugglers are currently hand laid fiberglass. Then they are hand finished to remove any molding marks, imperfections and/or flashing from the molds (this requires a skilled body man). After that they are hand painted and cleared (cha-ching!), then lined (more hand work) and assembled.
We are currently working on a roto-molding process that will take out the fiberglass work and much of the pre-paint body work as well. That's a little way out still as the materials need a little tweeking to make them suitable for the life it will live outdoors on a bike. This stuff was originally developed for producing manequins which is a far cry from motorcycle parts. Injection molding which would be the way that Yamaha makes parts has too high of an initial tooling cost to make them that way. It's ok if you're going to make thousands of parts, but not if you're making the numbers that we are.
Probably a lot more info than you wanted I'm sure, but I thought the effort you went through for us deserved a reasonable response. Sorry I can't be of more assistance and thank you very much for your message! "
After reading all the threads about the new Corbin seat offerings for the 06 FJR -- the prevailing comments seemed to be focused on the price of the Smuggler. So, in a moment of impulse, I emailed tha cats at Corbin to 1) ask them why, 2) let them know the general tenor of the remarks wasn't favorable, and 3) included at least one other company intent on providing a similar product for less. I had no expectations for any kind of response -- it was just a rant, but I was pleasantly surprised to receive a reply from two folks at Corbin, including a short response from Mike Corbin. I've added that response at the bottom of my post.
[standard disclaimer] The following is in no way an endorsement of the product or a justification of the price... my intent was to make public the explanation that was provided to me in case it helps other folks make a decision. I have no interest -- vested or otherwise -- in Corbin. This is not meant to provide them free advertising, just disseminating their reply. [/standard disclaimer]
Obviously my email did not result in an offer to reduce the price, but at least I have a better understanding what goes into the product. Jury's still out on whether I'll buy one, but maybe this wil help you decide.
slainte!
Patrick
rcvd 6/20/06:
"Thanks for your candor and for giving us the heads-up on what people are saying. I've passed the information along to all parties including Mike Corbin so he knows what's up. I guess we'll see what happens from there.
Our goal has always been to release these products as inexpensively as possible. We'd rather see hundreds of them on the road instead of just a few. Especially in this industry where word of mouth and checking out other people's bikes is the best advertising available. Unfortunately last year we lost our collective a$$es on Smugglers (and they were only a little less expensive than they are now).
Problem we have right now is the huge amount of labor that goes into them. We're working on new manufacturing techniques, but the Smugglers are currently hand laid fiberglass. Then they are hand finished to remove any molding marks, imperfections and/or flashing from the molds (this requires a skilled body man). After that they are hand painted and cleared (cha-ching!), then lined (more hand work) and assembled.
We are currently working on a roto-molding process that will take out the fiberglass work and much of the pre-paint body work as well. That's a little way out still as the materials need a little tweeking to make them suitable for the life it will live outdoors on a bike. This stuff was originally developed for producing manequins which is a far cry from motorcycle parts. Injection molding which would be the way that Yamaha makes parts has too high of an initial tooling cost to make them that way. It's ok if you're going to make thousands of parts, but not if you're making the numbers that we are.
Probably a lot more info than you wanted I'm sure, but I thought the effort you went through for us deserved a reasonable response. Sorry I can't be of more assistance and thank you very much for your message! "
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