Posts
1515
Joined
1/13/2016
Location
NJ
US
Fantasy
335th
Edited Date/Time
6/29/2020 8:10am
This may be interesting news to some people:
The parent company of Bel-Ray, Calumet Specialty Products, released an update a while back with this tidbit of information buried about halfway in the release: "Closure of the Farmingdale, NJ manufacturing facility"
Looks like the manufacturing of Bel-Ray products is totally outsourced to Calumet's other facilities or to third parties now.
Link to full news release: Calumet Update
The parent company of Bel-Ray, Calumet Specialty Products, released an update a while back with this tidbit of information buried about halfway in the release: "Closure of the Farmingdale, NJ manufacturing facility"
Looks like the manufacturing of Bel-Ray products is totally outsourced to Calumet's other facilities or to third parties now.
Link to full news release: Calumet Update
Calumet owns Bel Ray, they're consolidating their manufacturing
Calumet is Royal Purple, they own Bel Ray
Bel-Ray and Royal Purple held the same status within Calumet, subsidiary entities within their finished lubricant division. RP was just bought about 18 months prior to BR. Calumet is far more than just Royal Purple or Bel-Ray.
I had a great time there while it lasted. We had a great team that brought it back into the public eye with all of the racing we were involved with. Certainly a great time.
I spoke to their sales manager a couple of months ago and told him to make sure he cleaned out the "skating rink" before they tore the building down. There was so much memorabilia with old ads, photos, books, trophies, etc. in that room I would hate to see it gone forever.
@MotoTribology I hope you are well.
The Shop
This was a sad development for me, but I can't say I didn't see it coming a ways out.
I remember when the stickers used to say "Total Performance Racing Lubricants"
Which was later shortened to "Total Performance Lubricants" when they venture beyond racing
1st real MX bike in '79...YZ125 that I raced once.
The week before Labor Day, 1980, I went down to Gilroy and picked up a VERY "Marty Smith" looking CR125R. Went racing on Labor Day and got me a HOLESHOT.
It was ON.
I remember all those points you made about the decals...I, also, remember how easy it was to poor a little white bottle of MC-1 into a 5 gal and be ready to go.
Good Times
Good ‘ol Watsonville Manny circa ‘86 (with my ‘83). 👍
So many people worked tirelessly to turn the brand around. It was truly a team effort, from the sales team on the road to the guys like MotoTribology developing the products. And hats off to the original management that gave us the resources and $$$$ to work with the teams and riders to get that logo back out there. I was just the marketing guy that people saw at the races and shows.
Unfortunately, sometimes businesses are run by spreadsheets and accounting and they lose sight of the core that built the business from the beginning.
Agree or disagree, it is what it is.
I appreciate the opportunity I was given to meet and work with some of the best people in the business and am grateful I remain friends with so many of those people today.
Had Bel-Ray decals all over everything too. (I did use it for premix) My friends and I would make DG stickers out of blue kitchen cabinet contact vinyl because none of us could afford any trick DG parts so we made our own decals.
I still use the synthetic with Esther blend in my 350. Will that be a thing if the past ? Or are they still making the products ?
Pit Row
https://www.calumetspecialty.com/
I think the NJ facility was built back in the early 60s so it certainly was no longer state of the art.
Mostly the maintenance/support products being consolidated with the main oils and greases still there. I've been out of the loop for a while now though, so I'm not sure what the current status/future of the line is looking like these days.
The founder, Bill Keifer, ran an industrial lubricants company that worked in foodservice, mining, and the military. It was his son Kurt who thought it would be a great idea to make a motorsports offering in the '70s. Kurt loved MX and was the champion of the motorcycle racing side of the business but was killed in a car crash. The family kept the motorcycle business going for decades in deference to him.
Helping bring the brand back after the let it go away. The first year with 22 Motorsports was amazing.
We had a great group of people all working on making it the best out there. So much fun.
Those first couple years were amazing, Scott. I find myself missing it a lot.
When Bel-Ray eliminated my job in December 2016 Dave stepped in the same day and asked me to come work with him. Since then we've grown the brand, added a couple of new distributors, 2 new products, and are working on some other cool new things.
Honestly, although I miss the people, it was the best thing to happen to me.
Post a reply to: Original Bel-Ray Facility Closed