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Corbin Motors is Bankrupt: "Hollisters version of Enron"

15507 Views 52 Replies 27 Participants Last post by _searcher_, Apr 17, 2003

seruzawa

Discussion Starter · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

I can't imagine that there would be any market for this thing except for the tiny demographic of bad British secret agent movie parodyists and henchmen.

As far as the investors go, well you takes yer chances, too bad. Darned thing stood no chance to begin with. You'd have to be able to sell ice to Eskimos to sell many of those things.

1 - 20 of 53 Posts

21684

· #2 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

I was out at Sturgis a couple of years ago and talked to one of the head honchos of Corbin motors about their Merlin. He tried to talk me into buying shares at $4 each. I liked the look of the Merlin but couldn't get myself to buy into the idea that 1000's of people were going to lay out 20K for a 1 seat oddity. I mean, you wouldn't even be able to give a chick a ride in the thing since it had only room enough for one person. A motorcycle can at least carry a passenger. Thankfully I steered clear of investing. I'm sure all the unfortunate investors will get stuck in the rump on that deal.

21684

· #3 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Ron Huch

Ron Huch is the guy I talked at length to at Sturgis 2 or 3 years ago. Apparently he is a shiester.

Buzglyd

· #4 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

You mean you aren't surprised that the Eco-Wackos didn't start ponying up the dough for this machine? They sure talk a big game at awards events and on talk shows.

Why didn't the tree-huggers buy this? This supposedly is the car of their dreams.

theDuke

· #5 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

Ah, I guess the end of the Electric Vehicle mandate by the California Air Resources Board last week was the final straw... While Corbin would not have been affected by this law, the end of the mandate also means the end of any state support for EVs.

To be fair, the state, while mandating zero-emission vehicles, gave no meaningful support to any of the manufacturers anway. They do like to talk the talk, though.

What a bunch of maroons.

seruzawa

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

You've forgotten the cardinal rule when understanding Eco-Wackos. Overpriced electric cars are supposed to be used by the masses, you know, the riff-raff, like us.

The Eco-elitists themselves, being fully enlightened and superior intellects, deserve the full luxuries of society as their just reward for their guidance.

After all, have you ever seen a big opponent of "Urban Sprawl" like the President of the Sierra Club give up his big Marin County spread and move into a small apartment himself? Fat chance.

I've yet to see any big mouthed pol that gets bent out of shape about "urban sprawl" give up his or her own home in the 'burbs.

seruzawa

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

It's a good thing to see THAT mandate go. Recharging an EV to go 50 miles creates more hydrocarbon emmission at the El Segundo Power Plant than you'd get just driving a modern efficient gasoline powered Tercel 5o miles.

When you let people without the slightest understanding of science pretend that they can force scientific progress you get at best a clusterf**k.

_searcher_

· #8 · Apr 14, 2003

Necessity is the mother of invention

Or - engineers only work with a gun to their head. It's not the responsibility of the government to pay car manufacturers to produce cleaner vehicles. It's the governments job to create laws and force car manufacturers to produce cleaner vehicles.

It's called a level playing field - right now, SUV's are exempt from laws cars must abide by - why? Government corruption because SUV's offer substancially higher profit.

The point? Corbin Motors made an ugly car that has NO market (I'd love to have read the market research on THAT). I can't believe anyone put a dime into what I saw in that picture (I have seen some on the road at UCD).

The other point? Requiring cars to be fuel efficient and clean burning is only going to hurt car manufactures if there are loopholes that certain manufacturers can take advantage of that others can't.

KPaulCook

· #9 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

Good point. I agree I grew up near two large coal fueled power plants. We would always laugh when folks said electrical is clean.

KPaulCook

· #10 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

Excellent post man. Here in the Peoples Republic of Seattle we see a lot of Eco-Wackos elitists. The freeways are like parking lots during rush hour and Boeing, Kenworth etc want to leave because of the traffic mess. But no we can't build anymore roads cause that would Eco-unfriendly. Meanwhile the blue collar folks and us techies have to move cause Seattle doesn't like the "dirty" industries that built the city.

desertroad

· #11 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

Does this affect Corbin's seat business? Does this mean that I might now own a genuine classic saddle?

6144

· #12 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

Serves Mike Corbin right. I have bought several seats from his company over the years and finally determined that I am masochistic. Every purchase was a new lesson in frustration. It was clearly the worst run company I have "ever" delt with. If the motor side of the company was run anything like the seat business, I can more then understand why it didn't make it. Hopefully someone with some business sense will pick it (the seat business) up on the courthouse steps. Also, regarding environmentalists....they can kiss my polluting a$$ (no baffle included).

Non Shareholder

12881

· #13 · Apr 14, 2003

It Wasn't Demand, It Was...

...bad management and maybe worse. Corbin Motors had more than enough orders to make the business viable by now. The big problem was that every vehicle they shipped had to be returned for repairs, primarily because they didn't engineer them correctly from the start.

Don't get me wrong--I wanted the company to succeed. But it's hard to in effect ship two cars when you only sell one. Compound that with their inability to deliver cars that were paid for, and with inexperienced management, and the bankruptcy is not surprising, but still disappointing. It's still to be decided if management was just incompetent or worse.

banda

· #14 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

Amen. Like an ass, I paid top dollar for one of their ill-fitting, poorly-covered, heavier-than-a-wet-bag-of-dead-cats custom "saddles".

All I really wanted was the damn backrest for my passenger.

Took 17 weeks for them to fill my order. During WWII, it took less than 40 hours to build a Liberty ship. Will someone tell me why, in the name of all that's metric, a fscking hunk of fiberglass covered with foam and leather should take 17 weeks to make?

Their bankruptcy is likely due to gross incompetence and inefficiency.

36219

· #15 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

Sargent seats Rule!

Travelling_Fool

· #16 · Apr 14, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

This specifically says "Corbin Motors" and the website corbinmotors.com references it, but corbin.com doesn't.

Are these independantly set up and run organizations? If so then no impact on the motorcycle business (even if they deserve it).

KR

The_Aerodynamic_Head

· #17 · Apr 15, 2003

Balls.

Big, rubber, bouncy balls. The kind that kids buy at Wal-Mart to play dodge-ball with.

The kind that Mike Corbin has.

One of.

This pulsing hematoma on the Great American Motorcycle Industry has gotten precisely one half (SAE method) of what he deserves. Oh, he started out alright, making aftermarket "seats" to replace the Masculine Saddles that the Motor Company saw fit to provide to the True American. But The MAXX is not harsh; The MAXX understands that some people qualify as 'male' and desperately want to participate in the greatest Lifestyle known to Man not recognized for spousal benefits in the People's Republic of California. That's riding a pounding, thundering twin. Even if they aren't really Men. Not True Americans. That's okay. Mike Corbin makes "seats" for those poeple. It takes one to know one, The MAXX supposes.

But then Mike Corbin started thinking with his bright red bouncing ball. All might have been well if he had continued thinking with his crotch, the way True American Men do. But alas! no.

Mike Corbin started with a worthy copy (but still a copy!) of the only real motor, and then commited a mortal sin, a capital offense: he covered it in plastic. And compounding his treason, he added a wheel, not in the back, as befits an aged Warrior (SAE Method: trike) but in the front. And adding to the list of charges: cowardice in the face of the enemy...a steering wheel.

The MAXX has friends in MO places. And they tell him that the car was engineered poorly. The MAXX smells metric. And Corbin's "Customer Service" has blown chunks for years, he hears. That means that Mike "The Ball" Corbin has been hurting his brothers who ride (even if they don't really understand.) That is unacceptable.

The MAXX believes that the punishment should fit the crime, so he does. His mother used to say, "You made your bed, now lie in it." The Ball should be made to drive one of his cages (for that is what it is), with no Motor Company Big Bore kit. He should be made to have one of his own "seats" installed. He should be made to wear tighty whities derived exclusively from the unwrapped foam of said "seats." And let us then see how much support they provide. For the Ball.

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33129

· #18 · Apr 15, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

I, personally, was glad to see Mike Corbin try something innovative. (I think the machine is goofy, but I think scooters are goofy too.) That type of entrepreneurial spirit made this country great. The balance of trade is so far out of whack that I applaud any effort to produce something in this country. (Don't get me started on the Chinese or the two-faced American perspective about buying from them.) One of Mike's troubles appears to have been in hitching his wagon to a governmental mandate. Keep your focus on poorly met or unmet customer needs and you have a chance. Another trouble spot is that he needed venture capital. Unfortunately, it looks like a loss of control came with that cash infusion.

Good attempt Mike. Anyone else have the stones to try? Go ahead; try to start a business. See how far you get with your own cash reserves, then try to leverage those funds to secure bank debt. If that isn't enough, then, go get investors. God bless you at that point, for you enter the realm of divergent goals.

There is, however, no excuse for poor quality. The buying public will not tolerate that.

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Buzglyd

· #19 · Apr 15, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

Don't forget the billions wasted on "light rail." In San Diego we now have a subsidized boat that goes from Oceanside to San Diego and back. I think it holds maybe 150 people (which really cleans up those freeways!) and if the swells are up, only takes an hour and a half to go 30 miles.

The politicians love it of course.

Buzglyd

· #20 · Apr 15, 2003

Re: Corbin Motors is Bankrupt:

So THAT's what happened to you.

Cough cough.

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