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 Post subject: Red Racer Or Not
PostPosted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:51 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 6:28 pm
Posts: 2
Location: So. Cal.
I don’t know if this topic has come up or not but has anybody noticed that when you go to red-racer.com it shoots you to another site called VMX racing? It looks to me that it’s the same people that were running Red Racer, only because the website is set up in about the same fashion. Well anyway needless to say I did some investigating and found out that it might be the same people running this new site. John Vasquez is still the owner of the red-racer.com address and since the red-racer.com kicks you over to the new VMX racing site, I would have to guess he’s doing business under this new site. I just don’t believe John would just hand over the site name to this new VMX racing do you? You would figure he might have sold it to them, but wouldn’t it be under the new person’s name? And why would anybody want to buy the site name after all the bad publicity, I guess John might be trying to pull a fast one, and that maybe no one would notice, oh well just wanted to see if anybody else noticed only because Red Racer stiffed so many people out of there money and I would think that since VMX racing has something to do with the old Red Racer site that maybe people that were wronged could get there money back or at least get the parts that they paid for. If anybody could shed some light on this please do so because theirs only a handful of places to get your parts from, and if VMX racing is truly Red Racer in sheep’s clothing, that’s one place I want to stay away from.

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Bryan Cooper
1973 CR250M
1980 CR250R
1983 CR480R


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:38 am 
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Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 2:21 pm
Posts: 123
Location: Gloucester, England
Is there not a body in the US to which you can go to check out registered companies? This would normally list the Directors and other company details. You may then know the answer.

If this VMX is "spawn of Red Racer" then watch out.
CAVEAT EMPOR. They took me for $110.

If VMX is genuine then hurrah.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:36 pm 
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Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:35 am
Posts: 254
Contact on the web page leads to a New Mexico address. Not that it means anything but I didn't think Red Racer was from there.

Safest way would be to just ask what's the story via the contact.

Rick


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 Post subject: vmx
PostPosted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 7:36 am 
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Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2007 10:56 am
Posts: 4
I contacted them to find out the deal. They have purchased all the molds and a sticker machine from Red Racer. They currently have stock on many items and I just ordered some plastic from them. They have a contract with the former owner supposedly to prohibit them from entering the US market. Although he said the former owner has not returned his calls for a couple of weeks.

However, they seem to be a pretty straight company. Hope this helps. Will let you know when I'm in receipt. I happen to like the old Red Racer plastic because it was nice & shiny like OEM. The DC plastics stuff is nice but has a matte finish.

Hope this helps.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:21 am 
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Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2004 10:20 pm
Posts: 906
Location: San Clemente, CA
In a spectacular piece of irony, I bought a "new" Fox swing arm from eBay and it turned out to be a) a replica and b) from VMX Racing. What chance I actually bought old Red Racer stock? Maybe even the same arm I dropped a $200 deposit on before they went under!

That being said, the product arrived super-quick and is very well made. The pictures don't show that it is painted silver rather than un-finished aluminum which I would prefer. So it'll get blasted and polished/plated at some point. The geometry is very different from the DG replica I have and will make the bike have a rising rate at the back. I have promised myself this is the last upgrade....

I am not for or against any specific vendor, but I do hope that there is enough business to go around more than one, and - say - VMX doing well means DC Plastics drops some of their line etc. etc.

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Michael Stiles
1979 Honda CR250R Elsinore | 2006 Husqvarna SM510R | 2007 Service Honda CR500R-AF


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:49 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 6:28 pm
Posts: 2
Location: So. Cal.
Michael

Did you think you were getting a NOS swingarm or did you know you were going to get a replica? And with that being said do you think its fare that you spend a lot of money on a particular product and find out you need to invest more money to make it right? As far as zman comments go it sounds more like an advertisement for the new company, if the new company bought all of the molds and equipment and has a non compete contract with Red Racer then why is the Red Racer website still in John Vasquez name and forwarding to the new site? You would think if the new company went to the expense of having a lawyer draw up a contract so John Vasquez could not enter into the market again, they would have changed the contact name for the Red Racer website. And even though we all know the DC plastic is the old Maier matted look, at least we all know they haven’t stiffed anyone, or at least not that I know of. Michael, I think in some weird way you did buy an old Red Racer stock swingarm, but I would hate to be giving my money to a person hiding behind another company’s name. I think it’s in all our best interests if we do a little homework on all the companies we want to deal with before we spend our hard earned money with them. Last point, why wouldn’t H.M.S. Motorsports buy the equipment, produce the product and just advertises it under their own website that hasn’t been tainted by bad publicity, doesn’t seem to me to be a good business move. Why would H.M.S. Motorsports even want to be associated with Red Racer after all that’s happened I would want to stay as far away from the Red Racer name as possible. Again food for thought, what do you think?

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Bryan Cooper
1973 CR250M
1980 CR250R
1983 CR480R


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 9:50 pm 
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Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2004 10:20 pm
Posts: 906
Location: San Clemente, CA
With respect to the swing arm, it is true the eBay ad did not call out that it was a replica, and I'll take that up with VMX directly and via eBay. On previous experience I could get a full refund from PayPal and/or my credit card issuer. That being said, I'm happy with what I got, finish included. I wanted to get rising rate geometry, and the other route - Novation swing arm and new shocks - is more expensive. If it had been a NOS Fox arm obviously I would have been ecstatic.

With respect to Red Racer and VMX, I can argue this one back and forth. We simply do not know, and I for one have better things to do with my time than find out. Aside from replacement plastic which I can also get from Vintage Iron or DC I am tapped out on purchases for my bike. Also, because of legal precedent you won't catch me making observations in public about a person or a company I cannot back up with facts or testimony. So far that means VMX states they bought equipment, no other Red Racer connection.

BTW - the re-routing of the URL just means that someone - probably John Vasquez - changed the physical IP address for Red Racer from the web server where http://www.red-racer.com was hosted to the web server where vmxracing.com is hosted. The magic of domain name servers does the rest. The reasons for this move could be fair or foul.

Bottom line for me is that every transaction you do over the Internet has some risk and your best protection at all times is to use PayPal backed up by a credit card. Over 4-5 years and spending thousands in this market, I have been stiffed once for $200. Not bad going.

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Michael Stiles
1979 Honda CR250R Elsinore | 2006 Husqvarna SM510R | 2007 Service Honda CR500R-AF


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:04 am 
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Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 9:06 pm
Posts: 29
Location: Red Bud, MI
Hi All. Here's something that I think all users of PayPal should know. I used this service for a short time and had my doubts. Now all of my fears have been confirmed. If you think PayPal is your "Pal"......think again. Recently they settled out of court for over 12 million in damages for some of their practices. Personally I think the higher ups in the company should be in prison! Spend some time researching, and here's a place to start. http://www.paypalsucks.org I'm sure most of you reading this will say "hey, it's just soooo easy", I doubt you will say the same thing if you do some research. If you are just a buyer it's not as dangerous, but as a seller you can REALLY get screwed. :evil:


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:04 pm 
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Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2004 10:20 pm
Posts: 906
Location: San Clemente, CA
While my limited experience with PayPal has been positive, including receiving a full refund on my one any only bum transaction, this does not represent in any way a universal endorsement of PayPal or eBay. Your mileage may vary.

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Michael Stiles
1979 Honda CR250R Elsinore | 2006 Husqvarna SM510R | 2007 Service Honda CR500R-AF


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:33 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 9:06 pm
Posts: 29
Location: Red Bud, MI
Hi Mike. I'm glad all of your experiences were positive. I can't say I ever had a problem with them myself. I guess I'm just old school in many ways. I'm sure all of you get emails asking for you to update this account and that. These days you never know who's calling. :roll: Just by posting on this trader board you are giving info to all kinds of criminal minds with bad intents. We all know they are out there. Just turn off the security center on the old computer for a few days and see what happens to it...... :? I'll give you an example of the weakness of the PP seller PUNISHMENT policy. Lets say you sell a bike part and PP is used for the transaction. The buyer receives the goods and tells PP it's broken, not as described, or whatever. Your account can be LOCKED DOWN until they investigate! Go read about what they do with your money in the meantime....while you wait to see if you can ever have your money back at all. You can't get any money out of the account until the issue is resolved even if it's for a small amount. The buyer then keeps the part and sends you back a box with a brick in it. He now has a reciept that the item was sent back and PP gives his money back. PP gets your interest earned (this is the secret to why they freeze accounts) and now he has your part........and his money....and best of all you are now on the PP "suspicious list". Under PP's terms, you basically have ZERO way to get your part back. PP claims to try and help, but go look at their record. There is a reason they settled out of court. They have been dirty and they knew it. They would rather it be YOU who loses, not them...even if they are the ones who let the dirty little &%$* into THEIR system. By the way....he now has a new PP account to work with! PP makes it much easier to start an account, than it is to keep one if they suspect you. Seems like they should ask these questions for proof before they let the little %^%## get in. They are ALWAYS protected by the terms you agree to in the user agreement. PP is NOT a bank and is not governed by the rules set up for regular banks. Believe it or not, the good old Postal money order gives you the best hope of not getting swindled.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:14 pm 
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Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2004 10:20 pm
Posts: 906
Location: San Clemente, CA
Thanks for the tips, but I think we are a bit off the focus of these forums....

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Michael Stiles
1979 Honda CR250R Elsinore | 2006 Husqvarna SM510R | 2007 Service Honda CR500R-AF


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