Here's another exciting (at least to me) article for ya'll to ponder. I am in my 11th year of business here at Strokers. To
you new guys in the industry I know that seems like forever, and to you longtime industry legends (Arlen Ness, Don Hotop,
Donnie Smith, Dave Perewitz, etc.), 11 years in business makes me one of the FNGs of the industry.
Either way you view my 11-plus years in this fine industry, I have seen lots of changes. Here are some of the changes I've
seen, along with some worthless commentary.
First of all, what's with all these new shops opening up every week? Just in my local DFW area there have been several dozen new shops open up this year alone. Where in the hell are all these
new cats coming from? They all think, "Hey, I'm gonna open me up a motorsickle shop so I can kick back, have some fun and
make some big dough!"
It doesn't take them long to figure out that the "motorsickle" business is a tough business. So they come and go. I remember
when I was one of only a handful of custom shops in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Now lots of places are calling themselves
"custom" shops. I call them NFL (not-for-long) shops. They come in, muck it up for the rest of us, and then they go out of
business. I wish these guys well, but what are they thinking?
Another big change is in the customer base. When some people buy a bike, they let it sit in their garage and don't ride it much. Sure, they have the intention of riding
when they buy the bike, but then they figure out that it cuts into their golf game. So the bike sits, and somebody will eventually
make a good deal on a low-mileage used bike.
On the other hand, I have also seen people who buy a bike and it totally changes their lifestyle. It becomes their life. That is cool to see and be a part of. I get to see it all the time — we sell a guy a bike and then we see him
here every weekend. He makes new friends and enjoys his life more now than in the past. That's always cool.
I have also seen more women get into bikes over the years. I think it's because more guys want their women to enjoy the sport of motorcycling that we have enjoyed for years. I think
that's a great thing. Women just seem to add a little class that we can all use.
Also, more young people are getting involved in riding bikes — all kinds of bikes. Since we baby boomers are getting older,
we need the young people to carry on the tradition. I see the young people buying bikes more now than they did a few years
ago. That's a really good thing for the industry.
The motorcycles themselves are changing. When I opened my shop, companies like Big Dog Motorcycles and American IronHorse were brand-new, and nobody knew what to
think of them or what to expect from them. Would the buying public support an American-made motorcycle that wasn't a Harley?
I signed on with Big Dog after Sheldon Coleman gave me a visit. He said, "Come to Wichita, tour my plant, ride my bikes and
see what you think."
Well, I did just that. I was impressed with Sheldon, Nick Messer and the entire Big Dog operation. I was also intrigued with
the philosophy that another American-made motorcycle could survive.
I have to admit, those were some mighty trying days back then. The first thing we did every morning was wipe up the oil and
brake fluid under the bikes before we opened the doors. When a customer wanted to hear a bike run, we would pray silently
to ourselves that the damn bike would start!
Big Dog has come light-years ahead of where it was back then. It now manufactures a motorcycle that you can ride anywhere
in the country and not worry about it breaking down.
