Spares club/group for unobtainable parts

[TedTaylor]

As has been mooted in the past ...... and I have been reminded about again recently ...... that I (and others) have suggested a club/group to organise the re-manufacture or location of unavailable spare parts.

Aimed at members of the Triumph 2000/2500/2.5 Register and Club Triumph where because of legal restrictions with these clubs Charitable and Limited Company status sales have to be restricted to club members. An independent spares group/club gets round this problem. I have passed these ideas on to a senior member of the Register and CT in the past so the clubs should know what is happening.

Suggestions

1. We need anything to involve the two main 'parent' clubs (Register and CT) if it is to work to enable there to be viable numbers involved, - possibly allow other club(s) structured as these two are (i.e. non-commercial because this is not envisaged as a profit making activity per se) to be involved but not Clubs who already have their own spares set up because of potential clashes of interest.
2. Set up a Triumph 2000/2.5 Spares Group/Club/?? to be run as a separate organisation, limited to members of the ‘participating’ clubs but wholly independent of them - it is noted that there are problems with the ‘parent clubs’ charitable status and payments involving non-members.
3. We make sure our key 'independent' suppliers (e.g. CW) know what we are doing and that this is not being set up in competition to them, in fact we can offer parts for them to buy in small/large quantities as appropriate. The organisation will not hold stock but will just be a facilitator and supplier against pre-paid orders.
4. Options of one or more:
- A small joining/annual fee for the 'club'
- We can have a system where people become a member once they have bought something (e.g. all windscreen purchasers would be members)? There could a small admin charge added to each purchase as a form of membership fee/subscription as I did with the re-manufacture of windscreens.
- People put a lump sum/shareholder stake in (£100/£200 etc) which would allow them a percentage discount on purchases. Money to be able to be withdrawn after a notice period (1/2/3 months)
5. As I did with the windscreens we would
- identify items that need re-manufacture
- get prices
- get an idea of numbers
- decide on viability
- take prepaid orders if we decide to get the item made
- see which Traders want to take some as stock
- order just the number to satisfy this.
Things that have already been identified as being required are heated rear screens, seat diaphragms, MK2 front wings or repair sections. No doubt other items will be added to this list as time progresses …… or this may be the lot!
6. There MUST be a proper small committee to handle everything - if this is to continue I cannot do it all by myself. This would also entail an annual meeting to review the management of the 'club' and oversee the financial administration.
7. While not planning it, if other non-specialist Triumph clubs are involved such as CT we may need to build in an option to have sections handling spares for other Triumph models but this is only an idea for the future and only if it is wanted.
8. We must have at least the tacit support of the 'parent' clubs because it will help with promotion of the scheme.

THESE ARE JUST MY IDEAS .......... however it might all fall flat on its face with no support!!!!!!!!
WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK ........ OTHER IDEAS?

Jim Berriman has already offered to be involved in sourcing, and in the past there are other people who may still be interested but don't want to put them on the spot if circumstances have changed.

I have set up a poll to see what happens - hope it makes sense. Vote for one of the first four options plus the fifth (shareholder stake, amount/amounts to be decided) if interested.

This is all just to gauge interest and much would need to be knocked into shape if it happened. If it looks viable I can sort something out about setting a meeting up for interested people though I am aware that it may be a small group starting things up for others to follow. For information I have considerable experience of setting up and running Clubs/Associations.

This is also on the CT Forum

DO NOT VOTE IN BOTH THE REGISTER AND CT POLL ....... THEY ARE IDENTICAL. I will combine the results and report back as we go along.

Ted

[JimB]

I'm in, apparently

Ted: not sure about regular 'admin', since I don't have committee/club experience, but I'd certainly use my professional skills and knowledge to pursue suppliers and open up sources

[BillTwoTriumphs]

Ted,

Copied from my post in the CT forum:

In a word -- yes. I would have no problem making a minimum financial commitment of order of magnitude you suggest to participate in such a scheme. I hope that you would recognise from my response to your heated windscreen endeavour that this isn't just bluster on my part.

You already covered the one point I would have made, which is the need to work co-operatively with existing specialist suppliers.

If such a scheme gets us the parts that are becoming desperately needed to keep these cars on the road then I'm all for it.

[jimd]

Ted

I'll happily support any such venture.

Jim

[mikew]

Ted,

as you know "I am in" - don't really want to duplicate posts made on the CT forum.

I floated this as an idea a time ago, but never followed it up. It really needs a letter publishing in Six Appeal and Club Torque, as there are many members who don't visit the forums. This is the point which I didn't follow up last time, due to work and other issues. I am sure this will gather a great deal more interest.

I will also try and mention this in my blog next time I update it, as there are a significant number of foreign 2000 owners who read this (judging by the blog stats) and that may help spread the net wider.

mike

[englishbull]

Yes Ted

I up for this but as Mike as mentioned on the CT Forum is to be aimed at a particular model eg MK2 or estate or is it to cover all models.................meaning the MK1's?.

Sorry if this sounds selfish ( not intended) but I wouldn't benefit from being in the scheme if it was just to be MK2 repairt sections..........

I know most parts are still available for the MK1's, but are becoming scarce eg rear wing repair sections and front valances.

Still excellent idea................."hat's off"

[TedTaylor]

Sorry I had assumed both Mk1 and 2 but obviously not clear - probably because I had highlighted Mk2 wings which are a current problem.

It would have to be for all models of our cars, wrong to differentiate.

While some parts would not interest some people if specific to a particular model unlike windscreens which are universal, taken over a period of time both models should benefit.

Ted

[englishbull]

Sorry I had assumed both Mk1 and 2 but obviously not clear - probably because I had highlighted Mk2 wings which are a current problem.

It would have to be for all models of our cars, wrong to differentiate.

While some parts would not interest some people if specific to a particular model unlike windscreens which are universal, taken over a period of time both models should benefit.

Ted

Apologies if I had not read original post correctly re the models

[TedTaylor]

Sorry I had assumed both Mk1 and 2 but obviously not clear - probably because I had highlighted Mk2 wings which are a current problem.

It would have to be for all models of our cars, wrong to differentiate.

While some parts would not interest some people if specific to a particular model unlike windscreens which are universal, taken over a period of time both models should benefit.

Ted

Apologies if I had not read original post correctly re the models

No apology required.

If there are ANY possible confusions or queries it is important to get them out and cleared up at this stage before we proceed.

Ted

[leesellars]

Ted You have a PM

Lee