While attending the Big Twin West show in December I spoke with several players in the industry, ranging from micro-sized independent shops to large parts and accessories distributors. One observation surfaced over and over — that the feeding frenzy for high-end custom bikes is losing its appetite.

Opinions ranged from there being too many custom bike builders to choose from right now and only a limited number of high-rollers to buy all of the bikes being built. Or that $30,000-plus custom bikes are losing their sex appeal. Or that personal income has gone flat or is even seeing a downward turn. And I think we have to also consider the effects of the CARB hammer out west (see story).

The Eternal Question

Whatever the cause, the question for shops building custom bikes has to be this: What do we do now?

Some might say Jon Pendleton, service manager at H-D and Thunder Mountain Customs of Charlotte in Matthews, N.C., is greedy. After all, he does sell $30,000-plus Thunder Mountain Custom motorcycles. But scratch the surface and you'll discover his service department is up 40 percent year over year. He trailers four Thunder Mountain bikes to more than 70 events every year to bring the product to the people. That's not greed; that's working smart.

The answer is pretty obvious. When I was at Big Twin West, I asked Anna Steinhauer of Tedd Cycle (aka V-Twin Manufacturing) how business was going. "Great!" she exclaimed. So I asked her why Tedd Cycle is doing so well when others in the business are struggling. She told me it was because Tedd Cycle focuses on providing accessories and repair parts for everything American — from vintage Harleys to late-model customs. And she added that Tedd Cycle doesn't rely too heavily on sales from the custom bike-building business.

Then I ran into Herman Gould, owner-operator of Herman's Underground, an independent shop in Palm Springs, Calif. Gould said his shop was doing so well that he was considering opening a second location.

Gould told me that only about 25 percent of his business is in custom bike building; rather, his bread and butter is in accessorization and routine service. Gould also invests a lot of his time in maintaining customer relationships, even at the expense of having to work long evenings to make up for the time spent during the day conversing with customers. Strong customer relationships and service diversification were the reasons he was so successful, he said.

Change Your Mentality

Tedd Cycle and Herman's Underground have a garage — not a greed — mentality. They're both willing to make a little less per customer turn and not put too much emphasis into big-ticket sales like you would hope to get for a ground-up custom. They're willing to work a little harder and diversify to keep sales flowing steadily.

They're doing what every successful, long-running business has done: They focus on good customer service, adjust to the trends and provide goods and services that millions of people need every day.

In 1972 I thought everyone was supposed to be riding a chopper. I was wrong; the market changed and shortly after this picture was taken choppers became less popular than customized stockers.

It's a stark contrast to the businesses that have jumped into the market in the last few years and totally focused on building righteous customs in the hope of making big bucks on every sale. That's a greed mentality, and it can kill a business if the market takes a serious siesta.

Remember the housing market? When it was a seller's market people were fighting over houses, and a realtor only had to facilitate the paperwork. Now, realtors who want to stay in business have to change their tactics to survive — and you may, too, if you're focusing more than 50 percent of your business on building custom bikes. You're taking a mighty big chance of losing your shorts if you don't diversify.