Going Full Time!!

[scotj77]

quote "STAY OFF THE FORUMS except to lurk. You will find less then 10% of your potential customers here. Most will want advice for free."

I don't agree at all. ken has given lots of great advice on here which leads to a future customer. he gave all sorts of good porting advice. i used it to port my own motor and loved the gaines. that left me wanting more so my next jug came straight from kens work shop.

congrats ken on takin chances! life gets boring without them

 

[YZ Otis]

I believe Oregondunes speaks from personal experience and makes good sense but different personalities can thrive in different ways. Good luck Ken! Wishing you the best year ever and hope you continue to hang around the site to share your knowledge and discoveries!

 

[xKroniK13x]

Awesome news man! Congratulations!

 

[brandoz28]

Congrats Ken!!!!!!!


If only I lived closer, I would work really reasonable.....

 

[Oregondunes]

So far there has been like 4-5 people that have said anything about his work. Not that its anything less than what you've expected, but you only represent about 1% of the total $$$ he needs to make to stay alive per year. Unless all 4 or 5 of you are all able to spend $1k per month for the rest of your lives on your bike, you will never be nothing but a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things for him.

Assuming that there are 10 new people joining this site per month for the next 5 years and 1 of those new 10 people each month build a motor once a year with him. (which will never happen............. even 1% of that figure). That would present 1 motor build per month.

Whats the typical rebuild ? $600 $900 if you built a ported motor ? How much profit do you think he makes that affords him to pay his bills and live ?

Right now he has an interest in this sport with these bike probably because he has a kid or nearby kids that race them.

What happens when his kids or the neighbor kids grow up and onto BIGGER bikes ? Will he have the same passion for the Blaster that you have ? Right now the Raptor 250 is kicking azz on the MX circuit, every BIG builder out there is staying on top of the latest craze. Those that dont, dont last long on top. So I would expect him to evolve as well. If you dont your naive as well.

I look at some of you and the amount of time you spend on here, and if you each ask one question a week during his business hours, he would spend 1-2 hours a day answering them. Yet not one of you put $1 in his pocket by doing so.

What does it cost you to live each month (for those of you that live outside your families home) ? $1500.....$2500.....$3500 ?

Do you see my point ?? There is nothing in this sport that any of you have to have and every thing you want. Every dollar you spend is discretionary income. None of you are professional racers where Ken is paid to keep your rides top notch with unlimited budgets. So he has to keep looking for the next customer that needs his services and unless your loaded and want only him to work on your stuff you will never be his bread and butter.

Dont get me wrong. I have heard nothing but good things about his work and successes he has had on and off the track, but none of you will ever be a staple income for him. You here wont even make enough profit each year for him to afford the typical advertising costs of a forum or site like this. Just ask him. Those of you that own or manage a business will be very surprised at the answer.

Dont let me bring you down, dont stop asking questions. Those that share knowledge will be always be the persons that we look up to and for more answers. (i.e. teachers & college professors). Just dont expect it to last forever. He has a business to run now. One that has to make a profit in order to survive. So by giving you FREE advice makes him NO money, how long do you expect it to last ?

You see that I offer my experiences in many of the posts. I do this because Im on the other side of things. I made a great living in another business life after 20 years of doing it. I got myself into a place that afforded me the opportunity to retire at 42. I took what little money I had squandered away in the coffee can in the back yard month after month and purchased a viable ATV builder/repair/service business because I loved the sport and found that I had an above average knowledge of the industry and could do things with my hands and wasn't afraid to try (and had the money to buy the tools to do it right the first time).

Ive found that this sport is actually quite easy to learn. Probably why I found it to be fun to be in as an industry professional. What I learned also was there there were others that too found it easy and were willing to try it out. Those that had no overhead (i.e. worked from their families home) or actual experience. They didn't think or care of the ramifications of their mistakes (death or severe injury) when the product they built failed. As quickly as they were in business, they were gone when things slowed down or things went horribly wrong. Giving the rest of world a bad name and skepticism towards those that have given it their all and needed the business to stay alive in life.

Im not the bad guy (so dont bash me here), but rather giving the guy some real life experiences and expectations to consider. Talk is cheap, but actual results is what will make results (on and off the track) in business. Keep up the good work and keep spreading the word about this site. Every new person that learns of his abilities will be a BIG help to him.

 

[Whitty21]

i suggest u take a look at his site. he is far from just a blaster mechanic, to my knowledge he is a sponser to quite a few riders, not just blasters, the way i see it blasters are his passion, but not just his business. I understand u talk through experience, but sometimes u just gotta take risks, ken has done a lot for me, and i will support him whenever possible

 

[brandoz28]

yup, his expertise seems to be YZ250 stuff.

 

[super noober]

why all the negativity towards oregon dunes :-/? sounds like he has been ther and done that and is just offering up his experiences, he hasnt said anything negative or told ken "not to do it" or anything of the sort.

 

[Oregondunes]

You are absolutely correct. I wish him all the best of luck.

In fact if there was any one thing I would suggest to him is to NOT get into mfg his own products.

Do service work and install others parts. Just keep peoples machines running as quick as you can. Dont get creative.

 

[brandoz28]

hey Oregondunes, you should start a thread showcasing all of those quads you've built so everyone can see them, not just down in the classifieds.



/threadjack

 

[1bad442]

and above all else, STAY OFF THE FORUMS except to lurk. You will find less then 10% of your potential customers here. Most will want advice for free.

i think thats where the negativity is coming from noober

 

[JonS]

was about to chime in before whitty said it first. it seems that ken works on all makes and models not just blasters. i don't think he'll have a problem branching off on his own. best of luck to you Ken and you'll have my business soon enough.

 

[sheeblast]

a little tip to get new customers
1) BANNER: have a catching banner. something that will get people's attention. then have this banner places on maybe websites
2) WEBSITE: have a very easy to use site, make sure it gives out just enough info to help a potental customer but dont give out everything.
3) PROOF: have either your own bike/quad or a "sponsered" bike/quad to showcase your work, this way people can see how well your work is
4) VARIETY: be able to work on more than one type of engine. always expand your capabilities.


from what i have seen, you really dont have a banner, get a good one made and have it put up all over the web.
your website could use a little work
you have done some bikes and i am sure AWK is your showcase bike
i really am not sure what all you do but blaster, i saw on your site you do other engines, but again prove on the other engine capabilities will help bring in new customers.


i am not trying to dog you, just give you some helpful advise.

 

[1bad442]

a little tip to get new customers
1) BANNER: have a catching banner. something that will get people's attention. then have this banner places on maybe websites
2) WEBSITE: have a very easy to use site, make sure it gives out just enough info to help a potental customer but dont give out everything.
3) PROOF: have either your own bike/quad or a "sponsered" bike/quad to showcase your work, this way people can see how well your work is
4) VARIETY: be able to work on more than one type of engine. always expand your capabilities.


from what i have seen, you really dont have a banner, get a good one made and have it put up all over the web.
your website could use a little work
you have done some bikes and i am sure AWK is your showcase bike
i really am not sure what all you do but blaster, i saw on your site you do other engines, but again prove on the other engine capabilities will help bring in new customers.


i am not trying to dog you, just give you some helpful advise.

i would say jordan gibson who races mx is his showcase bike

 

[sheeblast]

i would say jordan gibson who races mx is his showcase bike

ya after talking in the shouter, i found out ken did his engine too.
but like on his website, you should have a page to showcase your work. include gibsons quad and show off the awards he has won with that engine. show off other engines you have worked on and awards they have won. also maybe add a testimony page where people can talk about work they have gotten from you and how they felt about your work.

 

[Awk08]

my bike is by no means the showcase bike for ken oconnor racing, but i am salesman of the year !!!!!! hahahaaaaa
my bike was just a basic, reliable trail/mx port job,
but it rips !!!!!

kens own blaster, especially now since the 240 stroker motor build, soon to be long rod build is going on, is and will be the showcase, along with jordan gibsons, which will tell the tale starting in a few weeks

my promoting him had more to do with the quality of work and service i got, as well as the kind of stand up guy ken is on a personal and professional level, not just the porting/motor work itself, and i now consider him as one of my good personal freinds, not just my builder or blaster forum aquintence

and as for what motors he works on...........the blaster motors were kinda new to him, but he has been building/sponsoring amature and pro riders motors all across new england for over 30 years, and has numerous, numerous wins/championships to prove it, and he has done this as his primary business for years before attaining his current, soon to be ex job, he told me the money was too good to pass up, but seems his roots are calling him, sometimes doing what you love to do is more important than all the money in the world.
plus his shop is more than just a motor building shop, he also does machining of parts for the company he's at, and will continue to do so after his resignation.
rumor has it theres a swingarm coming my way soon for testing purposes, before release to the public,
remember the vid..."if awk cant break it, nobody can" ?????

gonna be lots of new and exciting things in kens future including a project banshee and possibly a drag blaster

but advice, good or bad, from someone who failed at this is always welcome,

BTW....where is kennedy ????
i'm sure he'd have some great advice on how to build a business around a $30,000 dyno and burning customers cluthes out on it

 

[Awk08]

ya after talking in the shouter, i found out ken did his engine too.
but like on his website, you should have a page to showcase your work. include gibsons quad and show off the awards he has won with that engine. show off other engines you have worked on and awards they have won. also maybe add a testimony page where people can talk about work they have gotten from you and how they felt about your work.

i like those ideas shee !!!!!
but i asked him once about posting his prior awards/trophys/championships his riders have won, it's reported to be enough for about 4 pages on here, but i'm sure some website changes are coming soon, maybe an awards page will be one of them, but i get the feeling ken isnt one of those "toot your own horn" guys, he lets his work speak for itself, well.... and me of course, hahaaaa

 

[sheeblast]

ya he doesn't need every single award, just some to help new customers see what his work can do. and get a banner to be put up on this site and other. it would help you out a lot.

 

[OConnor Racing]

Thanks for the advice guys. I’ll be fine. I can build anything from a 5 HP Briggs to a $50,000 extruder head. The manufacture of my own parts is the meat and potatoes of Ken O’Connor Racing and always will be. I’m not the typical bike shop. You won’t find a parts counter, riding gear or a single bike for sale. You will find a rack full of engines waiting to hit my bench and turret lathes spanking out parts. I do a lot with Blasters because I own them. No secrets here. All you have to do is ask. I don’t mind giving advice or talking to customers. It’s not all about the money to me. If it was, I’d clam up like a cherry stone. I’m getting old and 110 hours a week is taking its toll on me. I have to give something up and it’s not going to be my shop. I’m not looking for more engine work. Like I said, I’m a tool maker, not a wrench. I plan on expanding the machining end of the business. If I get more engine work, so be it but I know it’s not going to pay my bills. I build engines because I love to do it. I help when I can because it makes me feel good. I shoot vids because I like to hear myself talk. You won’t be seeing any fancy web site, banner adds or dynos any time soon. What you will see are more vids, new parts, swingers, engine ideas and a well rested, happy Ken OConnor.

 

[J2PUISANT]

I just realized that you are out of ct. Is that true. You are so informative. I live in ny. I would cost me nothing to drive to you and take my quad or engine to you. Not to mention i have a ton of family that live in stamford and bridgeport!!! Would like to continue to chat and get to know you even the more. Congrats. It takes a lot of guts to leave stability and move on to acommplishing your dreams. Your a strong man to do that. Keep your faith strong. I'll keep you, your family, and your business in my prayers. God bless!!!