Stark VARG

[phoo]

If you're interested, I can find the thread and either point you to it if you have facebook, or summarize it here. It includes the affected states and mentions the PA dealer that was able to move the order from JT's.


~Patrick

[phoo]

tl;dr -- MD, CA, and PA can't sell Stark Varg. Stark will work with dealers to change where the bike is shipped when in this situation. One dealer that had success is DHY Motorsports in Deptford, NJ and the process was straightforward and fast. YMMV at other dealerships.


From "Stark Future VARG MX" group, one of a couple I'm in --


"Update for anyone who had their preorder route through a Maryland dealer and nothing is happening. I called multiple dealers and found one who knew what was going on. The state of Maryland currently won't allow Stark to sell there. There is no word on when dealers will be able to sell Starks in MD. I have a call to a NJ dealer (I'm in PA} and working on getting my order switched to them. If it works I'll update and pass their info along to anyone who wants it.
UPDATE: My order has been transferred to Bill @ DHY Motorsports, 1300 Clements Bridge Rd, Deptford, NJ 08096 I'm now ready to send money and start the counter on delivery.
Bill listened to my issue and contacted Stark to take care of the transfer which took less than 5min. I highly recommend him and hope this helps fix more orders."



From "Stark Varg Electric Motocross" --


"I received the email from Stark saying my dealer will contact me soon since my bike is ready for production. My dealer contacts me and says Stark doesn't have distribution rights in CA, PA and MD so i cant even get the bike"


~Patrick

[smdub]

Hmm, I was wondering if I can just have it delivered to a non-dealer (aka residence or pick up at freight terminal) in VA or WV. Trading one dealer for another isn't much of an upgrade.
But its very interesting that PA, MD, and CA don't allow delivery. It also begs the question as to WTF do those dealers have demos? Especially multiple bikes!
Thanks for the info!

[phoo]

My guess is they were made dealers and shipped demo bikes before they discovered they weren't going to be allowed to be sold in those states.

Regarding "Trading one dealer for another isn't much of an upgrade." the document I received from Stark was very clear about "no dealer fees, those are built into the price you already paid" so I think (hope) that Stark is paying dealers directly and you can (and I've seen) tell dealers who try to charge extra to "go screw."


~Patrick

[davej]

I hereby volunteer to accept delivery of any and all starks

[phoo]

I got an email from Stark that they're boosting production.

Here's someone who's listed their enduro mods to the Stark. And the videos of him riding are exactly the type of riding I wanted to see. Interestingly, he effectively said that he recommends going much softer than Stark's recommendation for suspension if you're doing enduro instead of motocross. I don't think I'm going to go down three, but perhaps I'll go down two instead of just one.

[phoo]

New emails from Stark last night --

We are writing to inform you that Stark Future is still working hard on obtaining the final regulatory approvals in Q1/2024 to distribute in the following U.S. states:

California, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

And we know as a customer in these states it has been affecting your delivery dates significantly, for that we are really sorry.

We will reach out to you as soon as we have the final approvals in these states to coordinate the delivery of your bike.

Thank you for your understanding and your patience. We hope to see you riding Your VARG soon!

and also

We want to remind you that deliveries in your State are possible now and inform you about the new process for our US customers, to get your Stark VARG order XX12345 delivered.

As you may already be aware from our previous communications, it is imperative for us to fulfill all orders for our U.S. customers through an authorized Stark Future Dealership.

Here are the next steps:
We will contact you to confirm your order, assist you with configuration, and address any questions you may have.
Our team will locate your preferred dealer in your area to allocate your order.
Once we have received your payment, your bike will enter production and is expected to be delivered in approximately 10 weeks.
You can also confirm your order by reaching out to us:
via Call, SMS, or WhatsApp at +34 672 36 88 46
via email at sales@starkfuture.com

Interesting because it was more States than I'd realized, and it seems progress is finally being made.


~Patrick

[smdub]

New video from ECR comparing the UltraBee vs Varg. Some pretty interesting insights. The hill climb about midway though is backing up my feelings. UB was easy and they struggled on the Varg.


I'm honestly thinking about passing on the Varg whn they finally get the MD delivery options worked out. Someone noted on another forum (paraphrasing): 'You can throw some money at the UB to give it more range than the Varg and enough power. There is no amount of money that will shave 60# off the Varg.'
That is the same opinion I'm coming to. Need to get back onto the UB fork project. There are already upgrades avail but I'm going to try to do it on my own. (else just going to throw a KTM E front end on it!) On the power front, it's been a couple months since Nucular started working on a UB harness. Will hit them up again to see if its done.

Edit: And the non-swappable barrery on the Varg is a real downer. I'm come to love having a spare batt on the KTM-E. Will surely get one for the UB once I get it to a better state than the KTM.

[phoo]

I think it's easy to find videos that support whatever viewpoint you want. I think it's even easy to watch the same video and come to whatever viewpoint you want. I came to a different conclusion watching that hillclimb section and the final remarks section is clearly in favor of the Varg when they ignore price (and humorously the Varg is cheaper than the UltraBee (as tested, with bigger battery) when you remove the $1k 80hp upgrade on the Varg that they never used and when you realize that when he said the UB is "up around the $13k price range" the price was actually $13,800).

But the real question is, "is the Varg that much better than the UltraBee to get a Varg when you already have an UltraBee?" And for me, that answer would be "no" and I can tell that's the answer you are looking for, as well. :) I thought your UB was amazing when you let me borrow it at Mountain Ridge (thanks again!). I know I would need to wear that out before I replaced it, but I also know you're much more inclined to jump to new tech than I am.

Holy crap, though. The final conclusions section has me more pumped than ever to get mine. DAMN, this video was expensive to watch...!


~Patrick

[smdub]

FWIW, I think the battery they used is both overpriced and a waste w/ their setup. The stock battery would do everything they are doing (and it did in the other bike.) They didn't make an apples/apples comparison.

Even if you do include a 2nd battery, you still have the original. The range w/ swapping would be ~2.5x what a Varg is. For the same money.