The Demise of BME

[KrisW]

Well, I guess it's official.

BME is shut down, out of business, off line, no longer doing stuff.

A lot of people are familiar with what has transpired over the last 4-5 months. No contact, no phone, no emails, no responses, no new engines, and rumors that the business is being sold. The website has now been down for at least 3 days as well, and I have it on good authority that the deal to sell BME has been signed off for a few weeks now. Since I was contacted by several separate business entities who were investigating the purchase of BME, I have a bit of insight as to what was going on behind the scene with the sale of the company (shhhh top secret stuff), but all of those entities backed out of the deal. I'm also pretty aware of who the final owner is, but I'll let them come forward when they feel the timing is correct.

To all the owners of BME engines, I can only say I'm sorry we are ALL in this situation. Perhaps the new owner will cover the older engine designs, perhaps not. If you need repairs, I'd suggest contacting Ralph Cunningham (rcign) since he's a really good engine repair guy, or myself, since I am starting a business aimed directly at supporting the older BME engines that are out there, since Keith really dropped the ball on all of us by shutting down like this.

There are a lot of concerns about what has transpired. A LOT of people had pre-orders with BME for engines, that were never filled, or sent him engines for repairs or upgrades which they have not received back yet. If you have such a situation, please contact me via email or pm, so I can get a list together. I am speaking with a lawyer at the moment concerning ways to recover pre-order payments and other considerations due to Keiths allowing this situation to get to where it is without informing his customers (many of whom have 3 year warranties on their engines and parts) beforehand or having a smooth transition to a new company that would be covering these issues. All dealings on this subject will be kept PRIVATE and confidential. Basically I'll be taking a list, and handing it to my lawyer so that they may contact you.

Concerning the new owners of the company's assets (since I do not know if they will actually call it BME) I hope they make a go of it. I hope they have a way to cover warranty and other issues with the BME line of products. I hope they are successful in every way possible in the model engine business and can turn a decent profit and remain in business for a very long time.

If the new owners need advice on the engines, I'd suggest they talk to Flyingrazorback, myself, RTK, RCign, Todd Blose or several other people who have been closer than most to the BME company for the last 5-8 years. I'm sure we can all give solid advice, insight and assistance. There are several mistakes Keith made, both in marketing and engineering, that they should NOT repeat. I'm sure we'd ALL be happy to help them get a foot into the hobby, a pat on the back, and support for their products when they come out. The basic design considerations and niche target is still the same. Making the product RIGHT, and keeping the customers happy, are all that is necessary to see the new company take off and quickly become profitable and a force in the RC Engines market.

So, to the new owners, I say GOOD LUCK!!!

And to Keith Baker, I say .. you'll be hearing from us, hopefully with an amicable outcome.

Thanks guys. Please keep all responses civil, orderly, and in the best of gentlemanly behaviour. No sense in bashing and flaming. . it's not going to do any good anyway.

[ULTIMATE1]

Thanks for the info you probably just saved my a s s as I was just about to make a deal with a guy on a BME 115 Thanks Brian

[tonyc9075]

As a new owner of the BME 115. I guess I was lucky that mine was shipped last September just before everything went down hill. But I have to tell you that I am not concerned about my engine. I have just had the upgrade done by your company and I know that my engine will run right. What else is there to be concerned about? If I have a major crash perhaps I will be out of luck replacing a crank or piston or cylinder. But I bet these parts are out there. Are these parts available by your company? If they are then there is really nothing to worry about. I am only sad that future BME 115’s may or may not be available. I hope they are. These motors are a work of art. I hope we will see more in the future.

[KrisW]

	Quote: Originally Posted by tonyc9075
	As a new owner of the BME 115. I guess I was lucky that mine was shipped last September just before everything went down hill. But I have to tell you that I am not concerned about my engine. I have just had the upgrade done by your company and I know that my engine will run right. What else is there to be concerned about? If I have a major crash perhaps I will be out of luck replacing a crank or piston or cylinder. But I bet these parts are out there. Are these parts available by your company? If they are then there is really nothing to worry about. I am only sad that future BME 115’s may or may not be available. I hope they are. These motors are a work of art. I hope we will see more in the future.

Well, thanks Tony. Parts. . I can't do jugs, pistons, or crankcases. .everything else is available or can be custom made pretty easily. The bearings are off the shelf items, and can be replaced as well, so the only thing a person doing repairs is going to have problems acquiring is the actual crankshafts and pistons, crankcase (which get broken how often??) and cylinders.

Here's a short list of parts, off the shelf, for the 110/115:
Bearings
Rings
Piston pins, top rod bearings, and clips
Cylinder base gaskets
Reeds (custom cut to size)
Bolts
Hubs, washer, and stud
Ignitions, plug caps, plugs
Sensors

Proprietary items, unavailable:
Crankcases
Crankshaft assemblies
Pistons
Cylinders

75% of repairs involve the first list. . about 25% involve the second list.

For older engines, like the 5.8, 102, and 105, the pistons and cylinders are available as well. 50cc engines use parts directly from Echo, as do the 44's. 85's and 95's also use the Echo parts, with BME crankcases and crankshaft assemblies.

I'm really hoping the buyers of BME can get on line quickly and have things in place to keep the customers happy and satisfied. That is, after all, what the company is for, right?

[krayzc]

Chris,

Thanks for all updates you have provided to us. I am still the owner of the BME-111 that Keith took care of for me. I will be at your door step if she starts acting up in the future. For me is usually just a part that goes bad over time as I have been forture I am not knocking parts off of motors like I did back in the day with those ground plants for planes and motors. I think the new onwer/(s) will be great for all of us BMerrrrrsssss......

[Hammbone]

Kris,
Keith told me that a partnership was buying the business and taking over, and that they intended to provide BME service that was on par with DA service. Keith also said they were keeping him on as a consultant. It all sounded very positive to me. I asked Keith if I could buy some parts, because I was worried about parts availability in the future, and he said he would sell me some if I wanted, but that parts would be available in the future through the new owners.
It all seemed very positive and seemed to be a good thing, now you are painting it as a bad thing. Why? What do you know that I don't?

Jim

[KrisW]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Hammbone
	Kris, Keith told me that a partnership was buying the business and taking over, and that they intended to provide BME service that was on par with DA service. Keith also said they were keeping him on as a consultant. It all sounded very positive to me. I asked Keith if I could buy some parts, because I was worried about parts availability in the future, and he said he would sell me some if I wanted, but that parts would be available in the future through the new owners. It all seemed very positive and seemed to be a good thing, now you are painting it as a bad thing. Why? What do you know that I don't? Jim

This is true Jim. part of the contract for sales is that Keith has a consulting position for a month or so, perhaps a little longer. Whether they keep him on long term, something that I was given to understand he did not desire, will determine how much of HIS baggage they have to carry as they move forward.

I'm not painting it as a bad thing, just being pragmatic due to the many factors involved. Given the history Keith now carries, being involved with this product line, I seriously doubt I would want to do business with a company that had him on staff. The blatant engineering and design negligence of the 115 series of engines give me all the reason I need to say that if Keith is involved with the company in the future, the likelihood of problems with the engines designs is pretty much a given. There is the spectre of unscrupulous actions on his part that can only make his presence a problem for the new company. HE may be positive about it, because that is what he is paid, and needs, to portray. . I have strong reservations. The last 4 months are a good indication of what can happen. I see no sense in repeating that sort of mistake, do you?

FWIW, the 58 is not the all fired monster people thought it would be, and this will be the basis for the new company's initial sales, as will recreating the 115. Unless the designs change, considerably, I'd be pessimistic on their ability to be sold.

Look at it this way. . the guy who is making money fixing the mistakes of BME is telling you that there are issues with the design, engineering, and weight of the concept over practicality and long term longevity of the engines. Things have to change, drastically, to fix the issues.

[madmax]

Chris. I'm closing this thread until we hear an official word on who actually purchased BME, and the status of the company, from an owner. With all due respect, you're trying to start a business to fix these things, and I'm not seeing any solid information about the company it'self. Feel free to send the owners, whoever they are, over here for an explanation. I think this type of news and information should be coming directly from a BME representative, and not from youself. These guys have keyboards. Sorry to hear what's going on with BME. Hope they fix everything.

Thread closed.

MD