I decided to order a new Bell K1 Pro helmet in the red circuit design. I thought it would look nice with my new red GT350 and it has a SA2015 SNELL rating. Bell announced their new SA2015 helmets in November and originally stated they would have product in Dec and Jan. The shop where I ordered the helmet has been great in keeping me up to date. This week they forwarded the email below to me. Wow what a mess Bell has on their hands. I know many of you are business owners out there and it amazes me how Bell could go for months with no product to sell. They discounted and sold their supply of SA2010 helmets last fall.
Anyway if you're thinking about buying a new Bell helmet you'll want to read this. The way this looks I'll be lucky to have my helmet by Memorial Day weekend. :
Dear Valued Customer:
In October 2015 we released a product introduction timeline for SA2015 and in December we debuted the 2016 Bell product line at the PRI show in Indianapolis. During our dealer meeting we informed customers that in addition to the new models and updated Snell homologation, we are transitioning manufacturing from Bell’s production facilities in Asia and Italy to a new facility in Bahrain. In addition, we are also transitioning the method of production from hand lamination to compression molding for a number of models. Long term this will improve our supply chain and delivery. Short term this has created a number of product shortages.
Prior to closing the Asia and Italy facilities, we produced some SA15 inventory which we started shipping on October 1st 2015. At this time we have sold through the majority of the initial Snell SA2015 inventory produced at the Asia and Italy facilities and have a large number of backorders for new and transitioning products. We are certainly making progress with getting full production on-line in the new Bahrain facility but have experienced some production delays which will cause us to revise our delivery timeline. Based on the revised timeline, we are going to utilize air freight to minimize the delay in transit time for Ocean shipments for the next several months and fill backorders as quickly as possible as we know there is a large customer demand for the latest homologation.
The updated timeline for production in Bahrain to produce additional inventory is as follows (new models highlighted in Red):
January (2016)
Sport Mag
February (2016)
HP7
HP5
RS7
RS7 Carbon
GT.5
Dominator.2
BR.1
Vador
Sport
Sport EV
GP.2 Youth
March (2016)
K.1 Pro (white and black)
GP.3 Carbon
GTX.3 Carbon
M.8 Carbon
RS7 Kart
KC7 CMR
GP.3
GTX.3
M.8
April (2016)
HP9 Rally
Mag-9 Carbon
GT5 Rally
K.1 Pro Circuit (blue & red)
Sport Edge
KC7 Venom Green
RS7 SC
The revised timeline highlights when these models will begin production and when we will start to air ship these products. It may take several months after the initial shipments to clear all of the backorders. Orders will be shipped in terms of priority based on the date received – oldest orders first. We encourage our customers to place orders in advance to make sure they receive products as quickly as possible. We do not expect to have full inventory until June or July 2016. In terms of accessory items, we will air ship backorders as well during this transition. Additional shields and forced air kits will begin shipping in early February followed by rear spoilers and other kits. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience the revised production timeline has caused for you or your customers.
Anyway if you're thinking about buying a new Bell helmet you'll want to read this. The way this looks I'll be lucky to have my helmet by Memorial Day weekend. :
Dear Valued Customer:
In October 2015 we released a product introduction timeline for SA2015 and in December we debuted the 2016 Bell product line at the PRI show in Indianapolis. During our dealer meeting we informed customers that in addition to the new models and updated Snell homologation, we are transitioning manufacturing from Bell’s production facilities in Asia and Italy to a new facility in Bahrain. In addition, we are also transitioning the method of production from hand lamination to compression molding for a number of models. Long term this will improve our supply chain and delivery. Short term this has created a number of product shortages.
Prior to closing the Asia and Italy facilities, we produced some SA15 inventory which we started shipping on October 1st 2015. At this time we have sold through the majority of the initial Snell SA2015 inventory produced at the Asia and Italy facilities and have a large number of backorders for new and transitioning products. We are certainly making progress with getting full production on-line in the new Bahrain facility but have experienced some production delays which will cause us to revise our delivery timeline. Based on the revised timeline, we are going to utilize air freight to minimize the delay in transit time for Ocean shipments for the next several months and fill backorders as quickly as possible as we know there is a large customer demand for the latest homologation.
The updated timeline for production in Bahrain to produce additional inventory is as follows (new models highlighted in Red):
January (2016)
Sport Mag
February (2016)
HP7
HP5
RS7
RS7 Carbon
GT.5
Dominator.2
BR.1
Vador
Sport
Sport EV
GP.2 Youth
March (2016)
K.1 Pro (white and black)
GP.3 Carbon
GTX.3 Carbon
M.8 Carbon
RS7 Kart
KC7 CMR
GP.3
GTX.3
M.8
April (2016)
HP9 Rally
Mag-9 Carbon
GT5 Rally
K.1 Pro Circuit (blue & red)
Sport Edge
KC7 Venom Green
RS7 SC
The revised timeline highlights when these models will begin production and when we will start to air ship these products. It may take several months after the initial shipments to clear all of the backorders. Orders will be shipped in terms of priority based on the date received – oldest orders first. We encourage our customers to place orders in advance to make sure they receive products as quickly as possible. We do not expect to have full inventory until June or July 2016. In terms of accessory items, we will air ship backorders as well during this transition. Additional shields and forced air kits will begin shipping in early February followed by rear spoilers and other kits. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience the revised production timeline has caused for you or your customers.
