Wilbers USA no longer selling Wilbers products

Post by **TonyT607** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 9:20 am

Just saw this on the New Sweden BMW Riders board (NSBMWR)
(New Sweden, NJ, USA)

Wilbers USA
April 16, 2007
Ref.: Wilbers line of products, manufactured in Germany
Dear Customer:

I am sorry to say that as of 4-16-07 we will not be offering the Wilbers products out of Germany. Orders for Wilbers shocks or springs out of Germany, that have been placed with us after March 1 - 07 up to April 13 - 07, can not be delivered, because the manufacturer decided not to ship our orders, despite acknowledging them in writing. What has happened???

I decided some time ago to expand my business by adding a line of high quality, but more economically priced twin-shocks for the vintage market, the YSS product.

Please understand that I started marketing the Wilbers products back in 2001 without an exclusive contract from the manufacturer, and still do not have one today. Mr. Wilbers came to know about my interest in the YSS products a few weeks ago, and as a reprimand, told me that I am not part of their "preferred" vendor group any longer. As such, the delivery commitment of 14 working days would not apply to Wilbers USA any longer. I would have to wait for the product to be delivered when they are ready to ship it. I swallowed, waited, and told my customers that there is a delivery crunch due to high order volume in Germany, hoping that Germany would ship the pending orders a bit later.

Asking for the delivery time again after about 10 days, I was told that as long as I would invest money with a competitor, I would not be supplied outstanding orders. I asked him to discuss the issue so we could arrive at a solution that would be satisfactory to both of us. He declined, demanding that I would state and commit in writing to be an exclusive Wilbers supplier, not carrying any competitive product, without offering me an exclusive contract. I declined respectfully and again expressed my interest in continuing with Wilbers, but the need to discuss the issue. I suggested to continue the supply of product to the US market and not to "penalize" the customer base because of our differences. I offered to turn the business over to a successor if we would not arrive at an agreeable solution, but to continue serving the market until that point of time. Mr. Wilbers strongly declined, telling me that I would not understand the seriousness of the situation and told me that my orders - all of which had been confirmed - would not be shipped to us.

I am sorry that it came to this, but my business ethics do not allow me to continue dealing with a person or business under those threats. Disagreements happen every day, and can be resolved by discussing them, but they should not be carried out on the back of the people we both need most -our customers.

I have contacted another supplier of High Quality shocks in the Netherlands - HYPERPRO, explained the situation and asked if they would work with me.

I am glad to say that they agreed, and as of today April 17, I am proud to offer the HYPERPRO line of shock absorbers. All current orders will be contacted over the next few days, informed of the situation, and asked whether they want to accept the Hyperpro product, or cancel the order and receive a refund of their down-payment.

We continue doing business under the registered name of Wilbers USA. We continue serving the Wilbers products we sold in the past with warranty claims, regular service, modifications etc. We will honor the 5 year warranty extended to you at time of purchase to the fullest.

I know it will be difficult in the next few months promoting a new product, and basically starting from scratch, but I am committed to do so. Please contact us with your suspension questions and needs, and say hello when you see us at the next rally, show or meeting. It is a long explanation, but I felt you needed to get the full story to understand the situation.

Thank you for your time in reading this letter. I am looking forward doing
business with you in the future.

Sincerely

Klaus Huenecke

jbuzbee · Post by **jbuzbee** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 11:31 am

Ha! I guess this makes up my decision to go Ohlins over Wilburs!

Loree · Post by **Loree** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 6:03 pm

I had ordered a set of lower shocks for my r1150r. Klaus is suggesting I use the HyperPro shocks from the Netherlands instead. Does anyone out there know anything about HyperPro shocks? Are they as good as Wilburs? Thanks, Loree

R4R&R · Post by **R4R&R** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 7:11 am

I wonder how this affects rebuilding the Wilburs shocks? Now that I have Wilburs, I'm concerned about getting them rebuilt. I'll try to ping him and find out.

Post by **owldaddy** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:01 pm

Wilbers are still being sold in the USA. Beemershop in Scotts Valley Ca. is selling, and servicing them. Getting them rebuilt shouldn't be a problem. I was talking to Ted there, and he is saying that Wilbers intends to have many more outlets in the US as soon as they can find folks who wish to carry their products.
Don

Post by **Boxer** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:13 pm

Wilbers are still being sold in the USA

That's the info I have from over at the MOA board as well. Sounds like one disgruntled distributor. Those German Wilber dudes seem really picky about who they do business with.

Post by **challey** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:33 pm

Loree asked:

Does anyone out there know anything about HyperPro shocks? Are they as good as Wilburs?

While I have no personal experience with either Wilbers or HyperPro, a number of folks on the Mac Pac Board (SE PA BMW Riders) had good things to say about them. As the letter says, they are made in The Netherlands and according to some of the posts I saw, are quality components. There was also some mention of a number of racers using HyproPro units.

Maybe some of this forum's members from across the pond are familiar with them?

R4R&R · Post by **R4R&R** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:29 pm

I heard that the guy that owns Hyperpro used to be with Wilburs, and they split off. I heard this from a local board.

Post by **wncbmw** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:18 pm

This guy has been a friend of mine for a very long time and can rebuild Wilburs, Ohlins or Penskes. Hopefully, CycleRob can give a testimonial before long when we arrange his rebuild. He can even upgrade your shocks if you want.

http://www.motocd.com/

He does the suspension work for the Touring Sport BMW race team. He's the guy in red Ducati hat he snuck into the team photo!

http://www.touringsportbmw.com/racing/r ... index.html