Their investigation into this market cemented Big Bear's reputation for keeping vigilant and compliant with federal and state emission laws.

"When we started the company, we did everything slowly. Even the EPA certification, the CARB testing. What our initial idea was we wanted to keep everything legal, keep everything on the up and up," Mona says. It's easy when the various agencies give you a list of things you're supposed to do, she adds.

In contrast to the conventional industry wisdom that emissions compliance is both a burden and nothing short of alchemy, the Alsops say it's been easy to stay legal. When building a bike, there are certain requirements, from lighting down to pollution controls, and builders know exactly what they need to do for each, Kevin insists.

"It just blows my mind when people want to sit there and cry about it when they know what they were doing was wrong. Man up and be men about it; stop being cry babies," he says. "The only people who are saying it's unfair ... are the people who have either a vested interest in seeing it change or got busted and don't want to admit that they were wrong."

The industry's steady drop in sales has more to do with the nation's shaky housing market than with any kind of emissions rules, Kevin notes. Boats, RVs, automobiles — across-the-board —sales are in the toilet.

WORKING TO THRIVE

But the stalled economy has had one upside, he adds. It's helped crush his competition. Customers for the other brands are being driven away by higher prices and a lack of innovation, he says. This ain't exactly the way to butter your bread in a business where customers demand new and exciting products on a regular basis.

"Who's going to survive the game? You better have the best-looking god-damn product out there with the best-looking price on it," Kevin says.

Still, he recognizes that no business is immune from an iffy market and that dealers need to be more flexible in their product and service offerings. In fact, he sees Harley-Davidson's sales decline as a chance to woo dealers not keen on the Motor Co.'s "Our way or the highway" attitude.

Dealers heard in July that it's the company's goal now to take Harley's market share.

The bottom line is that a dealership can't survive with Big Bear Choppers — or most brands for that matter — as its sole product line, Kevin explains. Some can, but they're not in the majority, he says, adding that dealers need to carry Big Bear, Big Dog, Victory and whatever else they can to keep their businesses viable. Multilines are the only dealers that are going to survive this economic cycle.

In Harbor City, Calif., a dealer carries Big Bear, Big Dog, Ural, Boss Hoss and Loncin scooters. Another shop in Woodstock, Ill., sells BBC alongside Polaris ATVs and sleds.

"But there has to be a cleansing first because there's so many dealers out in our world carrying our type of vehicle that are just overloaded to their eyeballs in flooring lines and can't afford to buy a chocolate bar," he says.

While not exactly ecstatic over the state of the market, many of the dealers who attended Big Bear's July sales meeting remarked that the brand is a strong seller. They were also pleased that BBC's management was listening to their business worries and actively trying to address them.

News that Big Bear was trying to speed up warranty claims and improve parts ordering was cheered.

Kevin also detailed Big Bear's lean manufacturing efforts, explaining to the dealers the whys and hows of the process and what it will mean for them.

"Is my company doing well? Yes," Kevin says. "But nobody else around me is, and it's as scary as hell. I'm not untouchable, hell no. I know if it gets bad enough, they'll stop buying my product, too. ..."