Havasu Cycle and Watercraft burns to the ground in CA wild fires

[SUPERJET-113]

Havasu Cycle and Watercraft (http://www.watercraftpartsonline.com) that used to be located here in Havasu and moved to San Diego about 5-6 years ago has burned with all its inventory in the California wild fires. This was one of the largest and longest running PWC salvage houses in the US. The new owner had no insurance.

A friend of mine that owns the largest rental company here in town and buys tons of stuff from them told me. He had a FX-140 motor with 10 hours and some FX-140 body pieces that were ordered and were suppose to ship out and never made it because of the fire.

[toofastkx]

that's really does suck. He helped my nephew out with a stator in an emergency.

No other place we called had one or wanted to answer the phone. He was the only guy that would and even waiting around on saturday so we could pick it up.

[JM-Team]

Whats with not having insurance??? Espescially in California...Wildfire and Earthquake capital USA

[EvanB85]

The new owner had no insurance.

Ouch... and no fire sprinklers either.

Too bad. Hopefully there is some sort of insurance floating around there somewhere.

[Shonuff]

Whats with not having insurance??? Espescially in California...Wildfire and Earthquake capital USA

That could be why. Insurance is probably through the roof and how do you value salvage items.(?)

[SKItarist750]

that's really does suck. He helped my nephew out with a stator in an emergency.

No other place we called had one or wanted to answer the phone. He was the only guy that would and even waiting around on saturday so we could pick it up.

Wow that's terrible. Did Brandon Lauzier still own it? He helped me out on numerous occasions: stator, flywheel, starter, bendix. Last summer my 750 had the gremlins bad and he always had quality stuff at basement price...

[hangtime]

It's hard to imagine having a business without insurance .
I hope he gets back on his feet

[#ZERO]

Well look on the bright side, they still have a nice looking web site.

[SUPERJET-113]

Ya, I noticed that the other day. I wonder if they rebuilt or relocated.

[SKItarist750]

Ya, I noticed that the other day. I wonder if they rebuilt or relocated.

I called and talked to Brandon today, and he said that even though they lost most of their inventory and the shop, they're "back up and running." Hopefully he can recoup his losses. I assume that means they relocated

[SUPERJET-113]

Thats great news! Glad to hear it. You can never have enough used PWC parts houses.

[havasuwc]

This is Brandon from Havasu Watercraft. I bought the business in January of 2007 from the previous owner Dan. I worked there for about three years before I took it over. The business was located way out in the sticks in a small town called Ramona. The plan was to run the shop there for one more summer just because I didn't have enough time to move such a place when I first took it over. I estimated it would take about two months to move our inventory with a couple of friends and about 100 trailer loads. haha. I knew I couldn't get insurance where our previous location was. Just like shonuff stated "how can you set a value on salvage watercraft parts". That is exactly what every insurance company told me. After the cedar fire almost took out the shop four years prior to the witch creek fire there was just no way. Basically me and the ex owner just hung it out there and went for it. Just when we thought we were in the clear and made it through the fire season one last heat wave and the most powerful winds decided to start a fire two miles away from my shop. I will never forget that day. I was on my way home from the desert on Sunday and we were stopped by cops and had to turn around because of the fire. Right then I knew there was no way my shop was going to make if through this one. I never saw such a terrifying site in the sky. The most frustrating thing was not being able to get out to my shop and at least loading up a few trailer loads. I lost just about everything. One of the only things that made it was my flat bed trailer with two tigershark ts 1100i's on it. The one thing that made it was surrounded by dry brush on both sides and nothing burnt on them at all. I thought that was classic.

Now we are located in Escondido, Ca and have insurance. We were back in business about two weeks after the fire. I did whatever I had to do to locate parts for customers and will continue to do so. I have Parted out almost 100 ski's already. Havasu Watercraft is in full stride again. I can't believe how many parts I already have acquired. I want to thank everyone for the support and business. Without you guys I wouldn’t have been able to recover from such a loss. We now offer service and usually have around 3-4 skis for sale. We have a very good reputation in the used parts business which is our specialty. Next time you need a part don’t hesitate to give us a try. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed in out services that we have to offer. I am a dealer with Hot Products, WSM , and Lynn Vick Products. It usually takes me a day or two to get new parts. We ship ups everyday and we also ship international orders. The best way to get a hold of me is call me at 800-680-6621. I am there Monday-Friday from 7-6 and Saturday from 9-4. You can also email me at watercraftsalvage@live.com. I am looking forward to your business. Thanks
Brandon

[WILKEY]

damn dude glad u are back on track.....will deff.keep u in mind.... god bless