Foretravel Owners' Forum

ok, I'm at it again....
Maybe topic should read "Keith Risch IS MOT. ??!! Don't get me wrong....there a lots of fine technicians and sales/service folks at MOT. We are here, and again, we were VERY fortunate to have Keith work on our coach. He started working at Foretravel in 1980. He has the knowledge, experience, temperament, ability and ethic that puts him in a class all his own. He obviously takes pride in his work. We are here for a windshield replacement, slide adjustment and some other " minor " issues. MOT's lots are BOTH packed.....lots of Newells across the street and unusual number of Country Coaches near the main office. Lots of SOB's too....LOTS..... you know the brand names. We did see a used Prevost, for just under $900k, that Miss Amy kinda liked.....sorry, hon.
We also got to meet and chat with Amanda and Douglas, who happen to chum with Rudy and Roger/Susan. Real nice folks. Hope our paths cross again.
IF we could only clone Keith and Rudy, I would feel much better. There's gonna come a day when Keith decides to " hang up the cleats"......I hope there is a new wave of talent out there, who will be able to take the kind of care I am getting used to, when such a time comes.
Anyway.....here's to YOU, Mr. Keith....I am a BIG fan......Thanks

I went thru the Prevost, loved the outside but interior is for someone else . Oh well it saved me nearly a million.. Someone will come thru that the interior was meant for.

Keith is a treasure.

Never met or saw the guy but it sounds like he's not texting every free moment of his life.

I met Keith after hours in NAC at an auto body shop that he uses for his fuel polishing sideline. Not only is he a true gentleman and a heck of a nice guy to boot, the man has an incredible work ethic! After working all day at MOT, our coach was the second in line to get the polishing treatment. He was thorough and in my opinion, doesn't ask enough for the fuel polishing service and his labor for doing it. I said as much and gave him $20 extra. He seemed to feel bad that there wasn't hardly any crud in my tank, compared to the guy who went just before me. I saw the last 30 minutes or so of that fuel polishing service, and there was a lot of stratification in the sample jar as well as dead micro organisms. On our coach there was almost nothing but clean diesel and the 5 micron filter sock was much less clogged when done than the previous coach. I considered it worthwhile expenditure just to see that my biocide treatment regime and filter changes had successfully addressed the two cr@p loads of fuel that it has been my misfortune to encounter. One thing that was clear, Keith loves these old coaches and is always seeking to expand his knowledge about them. I can tell that he likes his work and likes being of service.... not just in it for the money!
Don

I see Keith every time we are in NAC, once a year or so, sometimes twice.  He always has time to chat a bit, answer questions, tell me about his plants and fix everything that has needed attention.  And he does that telling me how and why it is done to the point I think I could do it myself.  He is generous with his time, courtesy, knowledge and friendship.  He is worth getting to know and another amazing part of the Foretravel community.

We actually hire him each year during times of other work for two hours, no agenda.  Just look things over.  No check list.  Amazing what he finds.  Some trivial, some major.  Worth every penny, well, dollar.

[If you interpret this as a way they/he gets more work, finding problems that are not, I shoulda taken more time to explain but you probably do not want to read all about it..... just trust my process as another accolade for Risch.] 

And you can add in Sanson and Lee and Davis as cornerstones.  But there are also junior level folks that we value and I hope some of the freshmen type newbies learn all they can from the seniors.  Some of these come from other RV businesses, a few from other careers. 

I got to thinking about this more today and it would be unfair to them and misleading to folks that may consider service.  A key to service IMHO is the service writer.  In MOT, they have James Johnson who worked in and was a professional senior tech in the shop. So when I describe what I think is wrong or needs service, he brings great knowledge to define what I need, may need or do not.....I do know what it is like to have a person without that depth of knowledge and it is vital to my pocket book and peace of mind that the issue is understood and appreciated.  (He may talk baseball with you!  His son is a pitcher in high school)

And the service manager, Eric Barnes, is a key manager of the senior management team there.  You may recall that Mike Rodgers and Keith Davis were once in that job.  It burns people out.  Eric had experience in automotive service manager and another industry.  Great resource, high praises for him too.  Another reason to go there.  (He will educate you on the finer points of fishing.)

To be fair, the Whitehead brothers at Nacogdoches Motorhomes are both well regarded, they each held key jobs at MOT before going out on their own.  David had become manager of the make ready department.  David and Seth worked on our coach many times at MOT and I imagine they are dedicated to pleasing customers, doing that same good work.

Regarding Don and Tys experience with the fuel cleaning done by Mr. Risch.....

In the past he was, and still may be, collecting samples during the cleaning process.  He kept them in mason jars.  All lined up on a shelf.  He interviewed the customer to see how they had managed their fuel.....kept tank full?  What additives?  Where travel.  His goal was to try to match fuel management.......filling, additives....with the tank conditions.

(He did the same with bulkhead repairs, gathering data and viewing outcomes, trying to find best practices for protection and repairs)

Typical of him....always learning, quietly analyzing.  And we benefit.

Where is Keith Risch located and how would one reach him?

It's in the title of the post,MOT,Motorhomes Of Texas,in Nac.

He works for Motor Homes of Texas

Didn't see you David

We left yesterday morning and came right back. Then we left again and came right back. There was a problem with the alternator that finally got resolved late in the day, so they put us up in the new facility. We finally got on the road today.

Ditto for me!