[gary osborne]

Sumyred1

Now before you get all cranked up about being “attacked” sumyred1, here is what got ME started. YOU wrote “Gary, you must be a friend too. You said you never heard of Dean yesterday, then today you know all about him. Wow, that's odd.” You also “attacked me when you said “So you too add no value to this conversation also.”

Let’s see. I have been on CC since ‘99 or 2000. You have been here for what….7 posts? I have had the same SPF car for 9 years and put around 50,000 miles on it. You on the other hand have had your car for how long and driven how many miles? Oh yeah…..I remember….ZERO…Nadda….Zip. I have a set of the pipes in question and know one of the principals very well and your experience with the parties and product is….ah…..well…..again… NOTHING. And YOU have the stones to question what I might have of value to add? You are a complete laugh.

As for knowing or not knowing Dean, YOU have that all screwed up too. You said "you never heard of Dean yesterday, then today you know all about him.” Nothing I said was contradictory. I said originally that I had nothing good or bad to say about Dean because I had never heard of him (by name) before. My comment had to do with not knowing “Him” “Dean” as a person and or businessman or as a partner. I did NOT say that I was unaware that someone was doing the fabricating of the pipes other than Ron. I had no expectation of Ron huddled over some pipes doing the welding. I hire people all the time to do things I do not have the time or inclination to do. That does not make one better than the other. It just means “we” (me and them) bring something different to the table. I had no idea if Dean was a partner or hired help NOR did I care. I knew that Ron had someone (now known as Dean) doing the fabricating. My story has not changed.

YOU say [color="blue"]“As far as farming out product, your (should be you are or you’re) implying that everybody does it so it's ok. Maybe, but when you only have one product it's different.”….. [/COLOR]The real reason people outsource is because it is cheaper plain and simple.” I don't see what product line has to do with anything. I would venture to say that small businesses often job out more things than large businesses simply because they are small and do not have the infrastructure to handle everything in house. Does that mean it is cheaper? Maybe. It might also mean it is better or more convenient or necessary due to efficiency or access to materials or has geographic advantages or any number of other reasons. It has been my experience in business that sometimes it is MORE expensive to outsource but it just makes more sense. I never said “everybody did anything”. However, I outsource a LOT of things in my business. One of the big issues in this election is that “jobs” are going out of the country. To pretend that outsourcing is anything less than commonplace just demonstrates a total lack of understanding of how business runs in America.

Then you say “There is a group of people trying to discredit Buckshot on here” I have NOTHING against Buckshot nor have I said anything to discredit them nor have I seen anyone else unless someone like you tried to twist the words around (well…OK….maybe PJ but not even him until the attacks started). I even chose not to argue the point when Barnwindow said that I had Buckshot pipes. Perhaps one could argue (and I am not… but I’ll give an example) that saying “we have all of these patents pending and we are the original yadda yadda” may be claiming credit but that is not Ron or Craig or me talking. BTW, I do NOT believe that was meant to discredit Ron or steal credit either. Just something I could twist if I chose to stir the pot with innuendos like you. All I did when I originally posted was differentiate between my pipes and what is available now from Buckshot by referencing that my pipes were the first generation pipes. I do not know if Dean has done something different with the pipes since I bought mine from Ron and the partnership broke up. It was not intended to start a *****slapping contest or push business in another direction. It was simply a matter of answering a good question accurately by fully disclosing that what I bought a couple of years ago may or may not be what someone would get from Buckshot today. Had I NOT disclosed that, then someone somewhere would say that I was trying to pass mine off as something they are not….they SURELY would have done so had I said something negative about the pipes.

You are right. I AM a friend of Ron’s….well kinda. I have known Ron for a long time but we live in different parts of the country like so many of us here on CC and so I have not spent a lot of time with Ron. However, I have been through a number of long distance experiences with him. Some Cobra related. Some not... but enough to say I know him and the caliber of person he is. That said, I do not remember saying one word to “defend” him. So in answer to your question “Why do you need to defend someone?”…I don’t. Ron’s reputation is flawless and speaks for itself. Why do YOU need to defend Buckshot when you say you do not know them nor have you done business with them nor has anyone attacked them? Hmmmmmmm

You also say, “People come on these forums for help and then people chime in with stuff that is not factual per se in defending someone.”. Again, I did not say anything to defend or accuse anyone. But where is this “not factual per se” come from. I certainly was factual. I know Craig was 100% factual. I think the only one throwing uneducated comments around is the novice in the group….and that would be who again? Oh yeah….YOU.

Then you say “I can get 10 of my friends post on here to and say how great I am but what's the sense. Does it prove anything? It proves something is not right and there must be more to this story then what is being told.” When you ask if that proves anything, the answer is NO. Nor does it prove that “something is not right”. You may be right that there is more to this story than either Ron or Buckshot or anyone else is saying but maybe the fact that they are all taking the high road and not cutting each other down says something about us while your pot stirring says something about you. Maybe the “more” that you are referencing is just no one's business.

You ask with the normal sumyred1 insinuation “how did you get a set of headers made for your car when Ron said he only specializes in parts for his car? His motor is a FE motor while yours is a 427 RDI motor. Wow, that's odd too.” Responding to a question about the Hurricane, Ron said that he specializes in the SPF. That is not odd. Ron is a Cobra hobbyist just like the rest of us. He happens to have some engineering skills that he used to make his car better and then made his design available to his SPF friends. Perhaps he will one day venture out of that specialization but until he does there is no reason to question his integrity. Engine choice is not the issue. There is more to designing pipes than matching headers. There is a whole alignment / body clearance issue and his pipes are specific to SPF. Why would you challenge that remark other than out of ignorance?

And then you throw in “As for the price, they can be marked up about 1/3 to 50%. That is a general rule in business.” This reminds me of the old Saturday Night Live “Point – Counterpoint” satire on the 60 Minutes segment by the same name. Dan Ackroyd would proclaim to Jane Curtain after her argument on some subject “Jane, you ignorant slut”. I have to wonder what planet you are on. That mark up comment could be the most ridiculous comment you made so far. Some companies operate on margins of 4 or 5 percent. I know of companies that mark things up 500% in order to make a decent profit. Mark-ups and margins are painfully different from each other and from industry to industry and there is no “rule”. Ask for an aspirin at the hospital and see what it costs you….probably several dollars more for a dose than a large bottle at the Walmart.

I could go on but my fingers are getting tired. So I will end with, you say “Thats what I don't understand either....” Well, you finally hit one on the head……you don’t understand ANYTHING when it comes to these cars or hobby or pipes or businesses or people or…..oh…..I give up. I am sure you have more mindless BS to share so let’s have it. Drivel on about all the stuff you know nothing about. You are not worth the energy to debate. One cannot reason with an unreasonable person and your methods and motivation are surely suspicious. You are either a Buckshot Buddy and lying about your identity or a pot stirrer and having a blast at other honest people’s expense or just plain stupid. No matter which, you are to be pitied but not taken seriously.

I won’t hide behind an alias either. I use my real name each and every post. It is easy to grab a beer, slide in behind the keyboard and post idiotic babble when one is hiding behind an alias….or lying about their identity. If someone likes or dislikes me for my opinions, so be it. I at least say what I mean and mean what I say. I could easily create a new moniker every four or five posts and spew stupidity all over cyberspace… but for nine years on CC I have been Gary Osborne. So at least I spew my own stupidity openly and honestly. Since you don’t own a car and have no intention on buying one and have no dog in ANY hunt on ANY subject that would pop up on THIS forum, maybe you will go away soon…..I certainly hope so.

Gary