New "Kit Sled" idea

[hivoltagesledhead]

If you actually think about it, a lot of us have been doing this for years. Buy a stock sled and do mods to make it lighter,faster,ride better,look better,feel better,etc.
We buy from several different suppliers and pay huge shipping,customs and brokerage fees...this is the downside. If you supply quality parts and options at good prices then I think you will have a market. As it was mentioned before...one stop mod shopping.

Have you thought about warranty issues?

Canadian partner to avoid the fore mentioned fees. I know for me, it is a big deterrent.

Good idea and good luck.

 

[Leaf27]

You would have to have deeeeep pockets to do all the R&D on the kits with the options some are asking for in this thread. The kit would cost ????? $20,000 - 30,000??

Add this on top of the fact every consumer would demand a warranty. Couple mistakes in the design and bang your new company is bankrupt.

Even if you got this to fly, I am sure Ski-doo, Polaris, Arctic Cat, or Yamaha's Lawyers would bury you in a matter of minutes.

Patents..Patents..Patents

Forgot to ask...how do you warranty a product when you have no control over the fabrication? Guy's could screw up putting it together, and your on the hook for damaged parts, injury, ect... You better have some top notch Lawyers on payrol

 

[winter brew]

I would estimate that less tha 5% of us would assemble correctly w/o cutting corners etc.

Similar to buying a Arctic Cat then.

 

[winter brew]

You would have to have deeeeep pockets to do all the R&D on the kits with the options some are asking for in this thread. The kit would cost ????? $20,000 - 30,000??

Add this on top of the fact every consumer would demand a warranty. Couple mistakes in the design and bang your new company is bankrupt.

Even if you got this to fly, I am sure Ski-doo, Polaris, Arctic Cat, or Yamaha's Lawyers would bury you in a matter of minutes.

Patents..Patents..Patents

Forgot to ask...how do you warranty a product when you have no control over the fabrication? Guy's could screw up putting it together, and your on the hook for damaged parts, injury, ect... You better have some top notch Lawyers on payrol

For the right price there may not be a need for warranty... Or a very limited and specific warranty for the engine perhaps. ??

 

[sledfreak89]

I think its a really cool idea but unfortunately as stated above too many litigations that would put you in a deep deep hole VERY quick.

Especially if Ski Doo didnt have their morning coffee one day!

BUTTT then again its all a crazy idea untill it works! Theres definately a demand for it, come one... how many guys on here have over 30k in a sled as it is? More than a couple....

Planning would be the key thing here i think. There are a lot of aftermarket companies that im sure would be willing to work with you for parts assuming the idea would take off.


-Matt

 

[Mafesto]

This as somewhat off of the original topic, but I would like to see the ability to snow check with delete options.
Such as......
Track, suspension components, skis, bars, seat, bumpers etc.

Now keep in mind that you would get nowhere near what you would expect for these delete credits.
Example; say a track retails for $999, dealer cost may be more like $650 & manufacturers cost may be closer to $400 or whatever.
I'm just saying expect well under dealer cost for such a program to pencil out for a manufacturer.

 

[tdblakes]

As far as dealing with Polaris or Skidoo or whatever, would it be a big deal if you were buying the parts from them, assembling at your place, and selling?
For example, you can buy bulkheads and all the brackets and whatever from Polaris and put it together, you can even buy a complete chassis for something like $1500 retail. Then you would work with someone like VanAmburg and C3 to supply tunnels to put on the bulk head, work with other vendors for aftermarket parts such as shocks, rear suspensions, tracks, a-arms...ect

You would have to buy some OEM parts at retail and maybe you could work with aftermarket vendors to supply you with other parts perhapes custom drilled for you and your kits. YOU would then have to assemble the kits to whatever % you plan on selling them. As far as chassis goes, I wouldnt expect any warranty except for a Manufacturer (aka YOU) defect meaning if it came assembled wrong, I would expect that to be corrected. The motor is going to be the hard part. I doubt you would be able to supply eTec motors and Liberty motors, especially with any kind of warranty, BUT what if you worked with Indy Dan to supply Polaris motors and perhapes he would honor the 5yr Warranty he has advertised. Same goes for other aftermarket companies with their own warranty for parts. You'd have to write up some kind of deal between you and the aftermarket company, maybe a slightly reduced warranty or whatever. I would think that could work.

As far as price goes, if its pretty close to the cost of a new "stock" sled from Polaris or Skidoo or whoever, then I'm in. I think that would end up depending on what kind of options the buyer chooses... but assembly would be required so I would think you would save on labor costs making your kits cheaper for the consumer. If you're thinkin of selling kits starting at say $20,000 then count me out.

I dont know how one of the big 4 could come after you because it would be like you're selling "used" parts in brand new condition because technically you're the 1st owner. You'd be selling a "used" mod sled in brand new condition. Kinda like Jkinzer did with some SLP Stage 4 Pro RMKs and called them "Dominator" packages.

I definately think this is worth pursuing, it would just be ALOT of overhead cost for you initially. Sorry for the long post...

 

[AKM208]

Neat idea! I followed one internet thread a ways back about a guy who built his own one seat helicopter from a kit. It arrived in stages and took several years to build, last shipment was the turbine/motor. When it was finished the company who supplied the parts sent someone out at his expense to determine air-worthiness. This particular kit did involve quite a bit of fabrication to personalize it to the owner.
A snowmachine kit could be staged also but might take a couple days at best to assemble.

 

[hivoltagesledhead]

In regards to the engines....how many of us would build a kit sled and install a stock engine? I would do this a go with BB of some kind...then you cut the big 4 out of the pic totally. Just need the BB builders to agree to some kind of warranty...and I am sure that most of them stand by their work anyway !!! Hell, I can give you a list of things that I want for my xp and if you can get it for me cheaper than me buying it from 6 different vendors...I am in...and then there is only one shipping fee and not 6 !!!!

 

[Leaf27]

I dont know how one of the big 4 could come after you because it would be like you're selling "used" parts in brand new condition because technically you're the 1st owner. You'd be selling a "used" mod sled in brand new condition. Kinda like Jkinzer did with some SLP Stage 4 Pro RMKs and called them "Dominator" packages.

Try doing it on a grand scale like is being suggested. To me it seemed that Jkinzer had some ties to a POO dealer and it was only 4 sleds he was (detailing) to sell private.

I do not believe for one second that the greedy corporate monkeys that work for Skidoo, Yamaha, Arctic Cat, or Polaris would sit on thier hands while a company is taking thier technology and name and mass producing "kit sleds" selling them and offering a Warranty. Not a chance.

 

[Leaf27]

Just need the BB builders to agree to some kind of warranty...and I am sure that most of them stand by their work anyway

IndyDan, Big John, Kelsey.....Can I get a warranty on one of you're BB kits????? Pretty Please!!!!

 

[joshkoltes]

COST

if someones willing to pay around the 20000 mark for the parts why wouldnt they have it professionally built by any of the mod shops? then they know its going to run right and have assistance on final tuneing. or put it togather your self and ask the same people how to tune and where do you start? could be a hundred things wrong or out of adjustment or just not functioning. but you get what you pay for situation i guess. put it togather yourself and fight it, or have it built and put gas in it

 

[tdblakes]

Try doing it on a grand scale like is being suggested. To me it seemed that Jkinzer had some ties to a POO dealer and it was only 4 sleds he was (detailing) to sell private.

"Grand scale" would have to be defined, but if this guy renamed it and didn't advertise as Pro RMK kit or Summit kit that he couldnt get away with some of it. I agree that some lawyer is most definately going to have to go through the business plan with a fine tooth comb and these details would need to be ironed out... but conceptually I think it is a great idea.

I do not believe for one second that the greedy corporate monkeys that work for Skidoo, Yamaha, Arctic Cat, or Polaris would sit on thier hands while a company is taking thier technology and name and mass producing "kit sleds" selling them and offering a Warranty. Not a chance.

I agree. How does CMX do it? They've used an Edge platform for years and years and you can't tell me that they have their own tooling and "unique enough" design for a bulk head that Polaris couldnt walk all over them for it...

 

[hivoltagesledhead]

IndyDan, Big John, Kelsey.....Can I get a warranty on one of you're BB kits????? Pretty Please!!!!

So what are you trying to say Fred....BB builders dont stand by their work? Hmmmmm...it sure wouldnt take long for a BB builder to lose his rep...especially on a site like this, if they were putting out inferior products.

I know a guy on here that got an 860 w/rebuilt and balanced crank, 30 miles and took out a crank bearing...warranty or good customer service...call it what you want...didnt cost him anything to get it fixed.

Every situation is going to be unique and must be dealt with in the same manner.All I am saying is that dragonslayer has to have all his ducks in a row so that his customers know what they are getting. Some things may have warranty, some may not....the kit as a whole...probably not. The engine, maybe, the skid..probably,track...dont know,electronics...dont know...other individual pieces....depends on the builder. As long as the customer knows what he/she is getting....honesty up front, written out in waivers...whatever it is...business should succeed if the demand is there.

This is a risky business idea...but if I could get a bunch of good parts in one place...hell ya, I'm in.

 

[Leaf27]

I agree. How does CMX do it? They've used an Edge platform for years and years and you can't tell me that they have their own tooling and "unique enough" design for a bulk head that Polaris couldnt walk all over them for it...

IMHO CMX is selling a highly modified performance sled.

 

[judger101]

id be in just for the fun of it, but only after it was proven to work. i think this kind of business venture would be a monumental task, not saying it cant be done, but you better sure up your whole business plan and make sure you have all your bases covered before you even think about putting money into this.

 

[Leaf27]

So what are you trying to say Fred....BB builders dont stand by their work? Hmmmmm...it sure wouldnt take long for a BB builder to lose his rep...especially on a site like this, if they were putting out inferior products.

I know a guy on here that got an 860 w/rebuilt and balanced crank, 30 miles and took out a crank bearing...warranty or good customer service...call it what you want...didnt cost him anything to get it fixed.

Every situation is going to be unique and must be dealt with in the same manner.All I am saying is that dragonslayer has to have all his ducks in a row so that his customers know what they are getting. Some things may have warranty, some may not....the kit as a whole...probably not. The engine, maybe, the skid..probably,track...dont know,electronics...dont know...other individual pieces....depends on the builder. As long as the customer knows what he/she is getting....honesty up front, written out in waivers...whatever it is...business should succeed if the demand is there.

This is a risky business idea...but if I could get a bunch of good parts in one place...hell ya, I'm in.

I am asking the BB engine builders if they offer a warranty on there BB kits, pretty sure I was clear on my question. A WARRANTY, 1,2,3 year warranty. Totally different than good customer service, your talking about two different things here High. I bet you don't know a guy that has had his BB kit for 1-2 years and it grenaded and had it replaced by the BB builder free of charge.

 

[hivoltagesledhead]

I am asking the BB engine builders if they offer a warranty on there BB kits, pretty sure I was clear on my question. A WARRANTY, 1,2,3 year warranty. Totally different than good customer service, your talking about two different things here High. I bet you don't know a guy that has had his BB kit for 1-2 years and it grenaded and had it replaced by the BB builder free of charge.

Nope...I dont. Good point.

 

[Leaf27]

Nope...I dont. Good point.

It does sound like a good idea, until you start poking holes in the business plan.

Worst case scenario - I buy a kit for $20,000. along with 500 people. My engine blows, or my frame/tunnel has weak points and is cracking, or drive train problems. I try to get warranty along with the other say 250-400 people that also have issues. I could see this ending badly from the word go.

Also logistics would be a killer, I just cant walk into the local Poo shop, or the shop that I chose to build my custom sled and get help. JMO take it for what it's worth.

 

[DragonSlayer1]

Testing

It does sound like a good idea, until you start poking holes in the business plan.

Worst case scenario - I buy a kit for $20,000. along with 500 people. My engine blows, or my frame/tunnel has weak points and is cracking, or drive train problems. I try to get warranty along with the other say 250-400 people that also have issues. I could see this ending badly from the word go.

Also logistics would be a killer, I just cant walk into the local Poo shop, or the shop that I chose to build my custom sled and get help. JMO take it for what it's worth.

Thanks to everyone for their comments, they have been very helpful. I also think that there are many different challenges that are associated with this type of business model. Warranty is an issue that I still need to nail down. Inventory levels would also be a concern.

I agree 100% that the product has to be proven before releasing to consumers. I am sure I won't have trouble finding some guys to test the packages for me.

Thanks again for the comments and suggestions.