Need advice

[leatherhead]

Hi everyone need some help on this . I customize bikes and paint and fab and do all my own wrenching and leatherworker (still learning) When i visit this site i really feel like a novice . I dont want to sound like a egomaniac but i like to do everything myself. Well every time i come up with a paint scheme or a fab idea i got a bud that will go do it before i do . ( i know why tell him ) the only thing i have one up on him is my leather that drives him crazy when people react. Hes the same as me when wanting to do everything himself i can respect that !....but he likes to take my ideas alot !! and then his buds think i copy him. We only been friends about a year or so but seen him at bike shows for a while. So he ask me to take a look at a seat pan and what he wanted on it, but wants me to show him how to do everything he wants to do it. Now i know we want to keep the tradition going but im the only one that does this around here and i've biult a small bizz just started doing motorcycle seats for a well known bike builder, but my names not out there im still behind the scene . I learned the hard way on my own i had wanted a Paul Coxs seat but knew i wouldnt be able to afford one. thats when i decided to give it a try and got the bug ! Then found you guys. My question is do i just teach him what i worked so hard to accomplish I really feel like im being selfish but i know he going to take it and run with it ! Man i've even lost sleep over this sounds crazy but i dont want to be a ass and not do it, but with the paint schemes and other stuff it drives me to disbelieve that he cant be more self creative . I know i'll be teaching my future competitor ! is that wrong ? Any advise well be appreciated thank you !

[Timd]

Buy him a basic leatherworking kit for Christmas (or just to get him off your butt), and encourage him to figure it out. Tell him everyone learns differently, and you don't want to teach him your(snicker) bad habits. Then start distancing yourself from this guy.

[Luke Hatley]

I have had the same experience..If you teach him exactly what he wants to know......

That Snake will Bite you in the A**.........

I spent 2 days teaching a guy how to do some leather work....Then what was said

"Look what a "guy" in showed me what to do". and i do have a Name....

[McJeep]

Simple - get a new bud and stop hanging with boneheads ;0) If he isn't giving credit where credit is due, when people look at his work based on YOUR ideas, then he's disrespecting - as above, distance is good ;0)

Edited November 26, 2009 by McJeep

[Johanna]

There comes a point where you need to look someone in the eye and say, "Look, I'm glad you like my work, and it's flattering that you want to copy it, but if you don't knock it off, I'm gonna kick your..."

I like the lucky 7 tool set for Xmas idea. Tell him: Good luck with that, dude! hahahahaha

Johanna

[Hilly]

I also like the idea of the lucky 7 set. Also, tell him that if he wants to learn, he should become a member of this site, ask questions, post photos, and learn the same way you did. Tell him to buy leatherworking videos and books. Make him waste a 55 gallon barrel of leather like we all have, learning by our screwups.

Just a question... have you told him how you feel about him stealing your ideas? Maybe you need to tell him in no uncertain terms to STOP DOING IT!

Edited November 26, 2009 by Hilly

[Johanna]

Just a question... have you told him how you feel about him stealing your ideas? Maybe you need to tell him in no uncertain terms to STOP DOING IT!

Exactly. If you haven't complained to him that you don't like it and want it to stop, he is interpereting your silence as approval. If you have expressed yourself directly to him, then it's war, because he doesn't respect you at all.

~J

[terrahyd]

Webster said the word friend means HE HUME I INVITE TO IMPOSE ON ME..............univite NOTA FRIEND, ''MY FRIEND "'..........and get some sleep......been there done that.........DOC............ P.S.  I SIGN AND DATE MY BUCKLES. FOOD FOR THOUGHT.............

Edited November 26, 2009 by terrahyd

[leatherhead]

Hi everyone thanks for your opinions you said what i was thinking. Thought i might of been dissed for not wanting to teach him. I knew everybody has heard " how do you do that i would like to learn " Then your in that awkward moment yea Hilly i never have told him how i feel ,he has a way of coming back over and tells me whats hes going to do like he forgot where he heard it from . I think he's told so many people he forgot whos idea it was or is convinced it was his ! CRAZY drives me up a wall . So one day he told me about a rag he gets so i pull it up on the site and bingo there is his latest creation so that tells me he has no creativity . Luke & Mcjeep you guys are so right when credit isnt given when credit is due ! I guess i have to learn to stop being a nice guy when my 6th sence is kicking in. And Timd PERFECT the beginner kit and just in time! and with Christmas right around the corner AWESOME !And Terrahyd thanks for the words of wisdom .And Johanna i think your right on theres a time and its over do . Your not going to believe this i just now as im typing he calls me, asked me where i got my engraver WOW WOW still cant believe this, nows hes going to engrave his aluminum parts on his bike LIKE I TOLD HIM I WAS DOING and have done some already . And engrving is not my invention but what i was going to engrave is. See this has been a 4 yr project because i want it done the way i want it i have my everyday rider so i can take my time plus (money) but now he has used every idea i have told him so Mcjeep your so right i need to stop hanging with this bonehead.I've been covering up my bikes when he comes over now i gotta start getting in his head start f****** with him thanks everybody were on the same track that makes me feel more welcome in here ! Thanks again Raleigh

[JRedding]

Would you normally hand a guy a stick if you knew in advance he's going to hit you in the head with it ?

Edited November 27, 2009 by JRedding

[okiwen]

A parting of ways is LONG overdue. Sounds like an ass kick'in is long overdue as well. You will have enemies that will treat you better than this guy.

[terrahyd]

RALEIGH, WE ARE PLEASED YOU FEEL WELCOME HERE BECAUSE YOU ARE, SOME TIMES WE NEED TO SHARE MORE THAN JUST OUR SKILLS WITH EACH OTHER, most times we all can say ''''BEEN THERE DONE THAT''''''' PS.....invite him over ,let him read your post and our coments,,,that could do it......

Edited November 27, 2009 by terrahyd

[leatherhead]

Yea Jredding only if i have a bigger stick in the other hand behind my back ! lol and terrahyd thought about when i turn him down he'll probably google leather work and find this site anyway you know if he does and starts like we did good for him i got a few years ahead of him . Really dont think he has the patience he's like (quick Carl does everything fast) my friends always say you have to much patience I tell them its a stess release on the fun stuff but now when as you all know when you have orders it can be stressfull but still rewarding ! i love it love the smell of the leather always did.Thanks terahyd for the added friend you guys are all great and from all over the place . Told the wife we go out west or down south i would like to time it where i could take a leatherworker class who knows could run into any of you. okiwen your right its long over do ! Thanks everybody !

[8thsinner]

I am sorry you have had so much annoyance with this guy, I haven't been there before, but I feel like I have with other people using my ideas and claiming themn as there own.

I did soon part ways, and at one point that wasn't such a good idea as I was regarded as a cold hearted SOB.

But that fact is, you can't walk through life always being nice no matter how hard you try.

So my advice is make the hard decession now, blurt out all your feelings with a large bat or other suitable prop.

And be happy with yourself knowing your doing the best thing for YOU. and YOUR wellbeing.

And if you are aiming to make money from your talents, then you have another reason to tell him to walk.

[UKRay]

Raleigh, the world is full of people who want to 'get rich quick' and who will steal your money in one way or another. This guy is no different, he wants to steal your ideas, simple as that. Just remember: Intellectual property theft is stealing.

Whatever you decide to do, be sure you will feel good about it afterwards.

Ray

[pete]

"But that fact is, you can't walk through life always being nice no matter how hard you try. "

uh...... why not?

pete

[wildrose]

Because there are times you have to firmly put yourself first. Of course, you can be nice while doing it. But I think the point was more that you can't always be nice to people in a way that would lead to them walking all over you. Think of it like Patrick Swayze in Roadhouse, where he's telling the bouncers about being nice (great scene!). I guess it's in how you view nice...

Wow, that was as clear as mud! But hopefully someone got my point.

[kevinhopkins]

Hi.... Be nice to the guy... only teach him what he already knows... don't voice ideas that you don't want him to exploit... Ask him lots and lots and lots of questions. What's happening? What are you working on lately? Got any cool ideas you want to share? I'd probably guard my work from his eyeballs if I could... I've got a guy in my shop that takes credit for every single idea that comes along. But in the long run, the truth always comes around to haunt people like that.

A famous man once said, "as far as it depends upon you, be peaceable with all men" But he didn't say you had to share all your business ideas with them.

Best wishes!

Kevin

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

Leatherhead, I am surprised at all the comments here thath would cut this guy off at the knees, especially since so many post here with help and suggestions. I wasn't going to post, but; what the hell! From my prospective, we all have to have learned from somebody. Whether we simply appreciate others work or actually learned from someone. Many of us are self taught, and others were lucky enough to study under masters from ths past, but; we had to get the idea from somewhere. At the end of the day, he will rise to the level of his own competance, with or without your help. The most satisfying feeling is to watch a student surpass the teacher, especially if it is your student.

Bondo Bob