DRP Market Position Dave Dodge - DRP Wed Jul 12 12:52:26 2000 Hi everybody! I saw the discussion a couple pages back and wanted to post a reply directly. First, I would like to thank anyone and everyone for their orders, machine work, and engine jobs. This V-4 market has grown way beyond my expectations. DRP has two segments of business; one is catalog production and marketing for other companies, and two is the V-4 products and services. A third segment is my own racing team, which has been back-burnered because of other obligations. My current work load is "overload". I am working on a 100 page catalog for Carolina Cycle and a 200 page catalog for Schnitz Racing. Both companies offer me distributor pricing that I pass on to customers in the form of discounts for merchandise I make and sell. The V-4 segment has been full-tilt since January. Motors started arriving in boxes at a rate of one-two per week. I am currently building 13 engines for customers (counted this morning), plus I have 7 carbs sets to rebuild, 4 transmissions to undercut, 3 sets of heads to port, more cam sets than I can count, plus oil mods, brake hoses and daily orders (about 5~8 per day) for all V-4 Honda's 1982 to present. Yes, things are doing very well and the V-4 segment is actually a full-time deal for two people now. On top of this, I am developing a complete line of performance engine parts for the 1994 and later Magna. I have been looking at property and buildings to move out of the present cramped location, but do not know when I would have time to move if I found one :-) As for comments made about not having a web site. I work on that project whenever there is time, and there is none. Customer work always comes first, and that's why I haven't raced for almost two years, other than a couple passes on customer bikes. Truth is I don't know how I could possibly handle the extra business that the web site would generate. I already receive 75+ e-mails per day and 25% of those are orders. In other words everything is backed up and it's all I can do to ship the orders I have in house, let alone all that new business. This is a great position to be in, but above all else I don't want to lose the personal connection I have with my customers. So far it seems like word-of-mouth advertising is working great, so for now all I can do is finish jobs in process, make parts, ship orders, plus try to get a few hours of sleep at night. The reason I'm here is because of you, my customer, and anything short of the best products and customer service is not acceptable. Thank you once again for your orders, and I hope to talk to you soon.