Well the shocks really are on their way, and only a little more than a set of stock '11s. I exchanged a number of E-conversations with Tom @ Works, the last I thought I'd share with the forum:
Bill,
In reply to your comments, we are certainly well aware of the estimated lead time issue. We have been battling it for some 38 years! You'll notice, if you look back to our initial correspondence that I state a 2-6 week (approximate) lead time. While this is not what either we or the customer want, it generally is the case and in the scheme of things, some orders will go out before and some after the estimated lead times, with the bulk falling within. I would love to be able to quote a firm delivery date, but in the custom built suspension world, that is just a dream.
We base the estimate on an "average" order completion time. There is no way for the sales person to know whether all the components required for a particular order are in stock or not at the time the order is taken. The parts bill of materials (BOM) is not created until the build sheet is completed further down the line in the Tech. Dept. and a part number is generated for the order.
The estimate is rarely spot on, but is often less than estimated and, unfortunately, sometimes grossly underestimated. This is always due to component availability. Works is a unique company and the only company who custom builds to specification, based on the specific needs of the customer, on the large application scale that we do it at. Our application list is for over 4000 machines spanning some 30,000 part numbers. Because we custom build to order and do not stock finished product, we are constantly machining components in house. In addition to what we do in house, we have long time vendors who produce our many different springs to specification, plate and anodize our machined parts, do custom welding, produce rubber components like bushings and bumpers, supply a myriad of seals and o-rings etc.. The list of parts to be made by both us and our vendors is exhaustive. Our task is a complex and often frustrating process of the production of many and varied specific components, compounded by the lead times of our outside vendors for supply of many more varied components. We do not have an automated assembly line in the conventional sense. Each order is built by human hands.
When I come in to work each day, I will speak to customers from all over the country and often, customers in other countries around the world. Each of these customers has a specific need. My first call may be from you with a need for Spyder shocks. The next call is from someone in England with a rare factory road race bike from the 1950's,; the next for a custom bike for land speed racing at Bonneville; then a customer with a Gyrocopter, or someone from the movie industry who has an atv fitted with a camera platform that needs to carry 6 people and a camera rig requiring multiple shocks to damp both the movement of the vehicle and the camera boom apparatus. The next guy has a Harley, weighs in at 360 pounds and has a 250 pound passenger and tows a trailer. We do not stock shocks for these applications. Each one requires a different product specific to their application and chassis geometry. You can begin to see how complex this business gets!
We have been in business as a custom suspension company for some 38 years producing not only motorcycle suspension but also products for a wide range of other custom applications. We build the nose landing gear suspension for the Predator series of unmanned drone aircraft. We suspend some of the rides for Disneyland. We are currently designing and building a shock to damp the chain lash of a 14,000 pound drive chain on a coal slurry pump being used in the coal mining industry. These kinds of applications require the design, scheduling and manufacture of parts that do not exist until we make them. The production of these parts is blended with our normal production of motorcycle, atv and snowmobile shock components. If you want to lose your hair, step into the production managers shoes for a few days!
Anyway, I hope this gives you a little insight into the complexity of the process involved in producing many and varied complex products on a custom, one order at a time basis. We are not and will never be on par with McDonalds nor do we claim or want to be. While we may indeed be the "Chinese restaurant" of shock absorbers in terms of our vast and varied menu, you will not be able to step up and order your suspension, wait five minutes and pick it up at the end of the counter. However, the product you get is first class in looks, materials and performance and in my opinion, after 16 years of experience at this company and having used Works products on my own bikes for over 20 years, is well worth waiting for. No one makes a better product than we do and we stand behind it with a performance guarantee.
I hope this gives you a little more insight into the nature of the company and the products we proudly make with American hands in the USA. We may not always do things at the speed required to keep everyone absolutely happy , but we are still here plugging away for our customers after nearly forty years!
If you have the desire, you can probably get on the net and ferret out the Speed Vision episode that was done on Works Performance several years ago.
Kind Regards,
Tom
