Someone pissed off Jake & Len, replicating LE heads Options

[davep]

a new thread on Air Cooled Technology:

http://forums.aircooledtechnology.com/show...23001#post23001

it was not a smart move on someones part. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)

[HAM Inc]

I also enjoy that you've just stated that your current products are not your best work, should we all wait until you release your new killer heads before buying?

Wow! How you drew that conclusion is a bit of a mystery to me, as is the controversy that has erupted over this.
Actually what Jake and I said is that due to constant development, no matter how incremental, our current product represents our state of the art for that moment in time. It in no way infers that our previous work is inferior, much less defective in some way. It only implies that it is not as developed as our present offerings.

When I was told that someone had wished to borrow one of my heads to copy, I was a bit amused. But let me tell you that passed pretty quickly. This isn't a game to me. I have a mortgage, bills, and responsibilities just like everyone else. The only source of income I have to pay those bills is cylinderhead work. I have busted my ass to put myself in a position where I can make a decent living doing something I love. I am nothing but grateful to have Jake on the lookout for me, as I am not the best at that sort of thing. And in the long run everyone whho may one day wish to purchase state of the art cylinderheads should be too. Do you really think that someone who would just copy another guys work is going to be committed to R&D? If the market gets flooded with knock offs I will have no choice but to redirect my focus to another market. Don't want to sound arrogant (I'm actually a pretty humble guy!), but I just don't see anyone else pushing themselves to produce the best heads possible out there.

I had a plan before I started this business. The plan was based on my belief that there was a market for superior value added service in the aircooled cylinderhead business. Ofcourse I knew that plenty of other shops are more than capable of throwing seats and guides at castings and shoving them out the door. To succeed I would have to have a healthy committment to R&D and pour every resource I had (have) back into the business. I have been doing that for over 1o years now, so it is natural that I would be proud of the fact that my head technology has advanced to such a high state. It is also natural that I would want to guard my trade secrets. Jumping down Jakes throat for being aggressive in his defense of these secrets is a bit obnoxious in my opnion. Jake has played a HUGE role in the development of the heads. All of the tricks are mine, but all of the feedback comes from him. For that reason the LE heads are only available through the T4Store. Which means that Jake has a stake in them too.

Yes, it's true that Jake is blunt, frank and sometimes comes off as an asshole. But the fact is he's a nice guy who just doesn't like being crossed. Some folks shrug off being (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sheeplove.gif) , even at their own expence. Not Jake, and I respect that.

Without Jake paving the way there would be a huge void in my business and the overall development of T4's that so many board members now take for granted. Make no mistake, the 914 (as is the conversion market, and now the Boxster market ) is much better off for his efforts. Consider this; even our competition knows where to look for the cream of the crop.
Damn! I can't believe I just typed that much!