Staff Diary
A word from Spectrum and Best Wishes for the Season
We have had a rollercoaster year as many of you would have had. Who would of thought things could get so bad.
When the crash occurred someone said to me that people concerned with Motorcycles were more concerned about the weather that economics.
Since the World Currency crashed at the end of 2007, is has been a continual uphill battle to keep things going.
Alot of you have stopped buying from overseas and tried concentrating on your own local markets, trying to keep afloat and trying new things. A few of you will have crashed and had to cease operations.
Many of you continued to buy, or try too, and many of you have succeeded in beating the worst market place we have seen for many years.
Spectrum has to thank all those who kept trying and kept on bidding in what was in the middle of the year an almost impossible scenario. Without you people Spectrum would have crashed and burned.
Many of you will have noticed that Chris and Darren are no longer with us. In addition to Chris and Darren, Spectrum had to cut 6 other Staff in order to make the economics work. This is a very sad time in our History, and we need to remember these people especially during this time of the year.
Now is the time to look to next year. We need to make our personal goals, our company goals, family goals and think of our dreams for the coming year. Its the Year of the Tiger in the chinese calendar next year. In the East, the Tiger symbolizes power, passion and daring. **Some other beliefs regarding the year of the tiger are ;
"This is definitely an explosive year. It usually begins with a bang and ends with a whimper. A year earmarked for war, disagreement and disasters of all kinds. But it will also be a big, bold year. Nothing will be done on a small, timid scale. Everything, good and bad, can and will be carried to extremes. Fortunes can be made and lost. If you take a chance, gamble for high stakes, but understand that the odds are stacked against you."
In the Bike industry? It has been said the new VFR1200 V5 will make its debut, this is good we definitely need new sport tourers on the market especially in the mid 250cc to 400 range."
In Business? The word is that things will be better in 2010. I guess at the end of the day its all up to us anyway. I said at the End of last year that I will never submit to doom and gloom. I certainly will not next year either.
So From John, Des and the Spectrum Team in Japan we wish everyone, and your families all the best for the Coming year, and a Merry and safe Christmas.
Best Regards
John Fearon
Spectrum Japan
2009
Chris' Stats and Facts
Name: Chris G B Fearon DOB: 1985/03/04
Location: Ibaraki Japan First Came to Japan: 2005/08/24 Cars owned: 1982 Holden Commodore, 1978 Ford Escort, 1976 Ford Escort 1300 Sport, 1982 Datsun Sunny, 1990 Datsun Sunny Truck, Many Paddock bashers. Motorbikes owned: XR125, Suzuki 50cc scooter, Dio Major Interests: All Motorsports, Rugby, Cartoons, Hunting and Tramping and relaxing with a beer and a BBQ.
While growing up in New Zealand I never really gave Japan any real thought. Even having an Uncle and family here never really made it cross my mind. I guess when I was offered a chance to come here and work I really didnt know what to expect. I had an interview with Desmond and he asked me if there was anything that was keeping me in New Zealand at that time, it was a very informal interview and I had my girl friend of the time with me. I looked across at her then looked at Desmond and said "No". Looking back at it now and I think I had made the right choice to come here alone and have not looked back since. I started out by working at the office studying Japanese and how the auctions worked then once John was confident I moved out to Spectrums Warehouse and started to check bikes we had bought, this included both checking them and photographing them as well as updating all the comments. Once I had done this for a few months John and Desmond then allowed me to go to the Auctions to see how the bikes were bought and what went on. This was the most mind blowing thing I have ever experienced to this date. The auction had so many motorcycles and we had to check so many as well. I followed John around at the auctions for the next 3 months taking all I could in and learning all I could about different models, what made different models different and also the biggest one how to tell a full powered bike to a non full powered one. When the day came and I had to check bikes by myself oh boy was I nervous. I didnt sleep all night and I all I could think of was reading over and over my notes I had taken over the past 6 months. Luckily I had the best support team around me and my first day alone (well checking bikes alone) went well. The first bike I ever bought was a ZX-9R "C" it was green. I will never forget that day. Since that first day alone I have gone from hill top to hill top. I started to do the damaged auction alone. This was and still is my favorite auction of the week. You need a good imagination to think about what might have happened to a bike when it has crashed and well I have a pretty good imagination. You also had to put at the back of your mind with some bikes "what happened to the rider?". Other highlights of the past 3 yrs have been, being given the opportunity to train new staff, to see new auctions added to the Spectrum website, to see new and old customers start to bid. See one of the auctions out grow their auction house and build a new state of the art auction house with of course the support of both Spectrum and Spectrums customers. Found a rugby team in Japan to play for and to make the 1st division of The Tokyo Cup. And also meet many of Spectrums Customers along the way. I wish everyone the best of luck and as I like to say "Work Hard and Ride Harder" Chris Fearon
Nationality: New Zealander
A Few Words:
When you fall down you dont give up
IMPORTANT MESSAGE
In this harsh economic environment, and uncertain times, many people have lost jobs, lost businesses and even lost families. No one is exempt from this environment. Every one has been effected to some extent.
However, this video gives us a great message. Even when things seem insurmountable, with more effort we can overcome problems. The Message is clear. Dont give up. Keep trying and SOMETHING will happen. Positive action produces positive results.
What is this Blog about?
There are many times we come across items of interest to our customers, and the creating of this blog is to get the message out. Interesting events, articles and customer feedback. What is happening in the marketplace and with
If there is anything of interest you want to share please let us know. I love the fact that the world is so global. I am sitting here in
We will be use this blog as much more then just a place for my meandering thoughts, so keep an eye on the articles we add.
Desmond