Fast forward 60 years, after battery technology evolved to make lightweight, battery powered motors reliable and cost-effective, and the next step was the e-bike: a two-wheeled machine with pedals and a small electric motor. The modern e-bike appeared during the 1990s. Acceptance in the U.S. grew slowly until the COVID-19 pandemic led to skyrocketing sales.

The e-bike market has continued to grow, in part due to encouragement by different governmental entities. For example, in addition to rebates, California has recently opened some scenic trails to e-bikes where motorized vehicles were previously banned. In response, manufacturers have designed a wide variety of off-road and dual-sport e-bikes, which dealerships like Stealth Tahoe sell and rent, offering select brands built for a wide variety of surface conditions.

Stealth Tahoe is a standalone e-bike dealer, rental agency and repair shop, started in 2016 by partners Aaron Vacek and Anthony Zingaro in Truckee, California, a small town bordering the resort area of Lake Tahoe. Tahoe is a destination for four-season outdoor fun. Winter is skiing, snowmobiling and snowboarding. Spring and fall are fishing and trail riding seasons, and summer is the beach. Stealth Tahoe is busy three seasons out of four and recently started selling Moonbikes, an e-bike for the snow. It has less power than a snowmobile but is legally able to go many places in the Tahoe area where snowmobiles are banned.

The company started as a way for Vacek and Zingaro to spend more time in the  mountains. Both were unhappily working at desk jobs and were spending all their free time in outdoor pursuits. In 2015, they hit on the idea of opening an e-bike retail outlet. It took a year to finalize the business plan, locate a store to rent and acquire inventory. The whole endeavor was self-financed.

“No one thought we were going to make it,” Vacek says. “When we both got laid off, we decided to go all in. Early autumn used to be our slow season, but we are so busy we haven’t been able to work on any of our off-season projects.”

One of the problems the duo encountered when they first opened was finding the right product for their area. Some brands don’t do well in mountainous territory, and the Truckee area is full of elevation changes. Vacek explains that most of their customers are either people who live in the area year-round or have vacation homes in the area. The average income in Truckee and Tahoe is quite high, and potential customers are willing to pay for the right product.

The city of Truckee has built a network of paved bicycle trails, and as a result, many people find that it is faster for kids to get to school and parents to get to work on an e-bike. The small machines have become so popular that the local police hold educational classes at schools on e-bike laws and safety. Vacek and Zingaro tried several different manufacturers, with limited success. Eventually, the partners encountered the SUPER73 brand at an event, decided to trial their products in 2017, and found that SUPER73’s were what customers were looking for.

“They sold faster than anything,” Vacek notes. Since then, Stealth Tahoe has started retailing non-street-legal dirt bikes made by E Ride Pro and Stealth Electric (a manufacturer not connected to Stealth Tahoe), RAD cargo and utility bikes, and Moonbikes.

Despite the concerns of some motorcycle dealers that electric vehicles will limit the profitability of the service department, the service department at Stealth Tahoe is a major profit center.

“We replace tires and brake pads and troubleshoot the electrical system,” he says. “Fifty percent of what we do is repairs to the chassis and 50% electrical. Customization is big — people want modifications to the brakes, controls, suspension and chassis.”

Interestingly, e-bike rentals are not an important part of the business. “Our primary customers are local. We do get some out-of-towners who want to spend a morning riding around, and we also rent to people who’s own bike is going to be in the shop for a while.”

Stealth Tahoe has found that the best advertising for the company is social media. “We built our name on word of mouth and good online reviews,” Vacek says. “Most people find out about us on social media.”

Vacek carefully tends social media and ratings sites, thanking people who post positive reviews and trying to resolve any complaints. The Facebook page is updated often. A frequent theme is family fun, with photos of attractive, young couples taking their toddlers for a spin.

“Stealth Tahoe is growing fast and wants to expand. The partners are exploring several possibilities, including hiring employees, opening a satellite store and setting up franchises. The sky is the limit in their eyes.

At this point in time, e-bikes are much more popular than electric motorcycles and probably exceed electric cars in sales. Vacek points out that the limited success of electric motorcycles can be traced to the lack of range and the lengthy charge times. He feels electric motorcycles and cars will increase in popularity once charging times decrease and range increases. With present-day technology, an e-bike is a practical vehicle for people with relatively short commutes. The small battery on an e-bike can be removed from the vehicle and charged at a desk while the owner is at work. An e-bike is relatively inexpensive and can legally go on bike paths and other places that a car or traditional motorcycle cannot go. The parking lots at the Truckee middle school and high schools are filled with e-bikes.

“The trend is to restrict gas power,” Vacek says. “The kids are learning on what they are going to be able to ride when they are older.”

Stealth Tahoe
11253 Brockway Road #103a,
Truckee, CA 96161
(530) 536-5089
https://stealthtahoe.com/
OEM: SUPER73, RAD, Stealth Electric, Moonbike, E Ride Pro, OneWheel
Aftermarket: GRZLY tires, Blain USA, Irv Labs, Loomenade, MBB

The post Electrifying Sales at Stealth Tahoe appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

One of those towns is Dubuque, Iowa. Officially chartered in 1837, it is the oldest city in Iowa, and it is one of the oldest settlements along the Mississippi River’s western bank. In this city full of history is where you can find Sindt Motor Sales, a motorcycle and powersports dealership that has built a history of its own.

Ryan Sindt is the current owner and has worked at the dealership since he was 18. It has been family owned and operated since it opened its doors over six decades ago.

“It was started by my grandpa in 1959 and then sold to my dad and his brothers,” Sindt says. “Since then, those guys have retired and I bought it about five years ago.”

The shop has 11 employees and sells OEM rides from Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha and CF Moto. Sindt says each brand sells quite similarly to one another, meaning one OEM does not significantly outsell the other.

This is also apparent in the apparel Sindt sells. The dealership carries plenty of helmets, jackets and other riding gear from a number of different brands that all sell similarly to one another too.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought its fair share of challenges to Sindt Motor Sales. Many of the challenges were felt across the motorcycle and powersports industry.

“Through COVID, the biggest challenge was inventory, which everyone’s probably going to tell you,” Sindt says.

However, the market has shifted since the pandemic, and Sindt says inventory is coming in at a much steadier rate from OEMs. Now, he says he mainly only faces the daily challenge of getting customers through the door. To help boost the success of this ever-constant task, Sindt Motor Sales is turning back to advertising to bring people to the dealership.

“I actually quit all advertising completely for a few years there because during COVID, I didn’t really need to have people come to the door,” Sindt explains. “I didn’t have anything to sell then anyway, so now we’ve kind of gotten back into it again.”

On top of advertising, the dealership’s longstanding presence in the Dubuque community has earned it a strong reputation. Obviously, Sindt Motor Sales’ six plus decades of selling motorcycles and powersports vehicles makes them a unique dealer. As mentioned before, the dealership was started in 1959. It has been in the same location since 1971 after Sindt’s family built its current building.

With that many years in the business, Sindt has collected a lot of bikes from different generations. They are showpieces for customers to admire when they enter the dealership.

“I’ve got a big upper deck shelf around the showroom that has all vintage restored motorcycles on it. It’s kind of cool,” he admits. “A lot of people come in and browse around with that stuff, especially the older crowd.”

Speaking of older rides, Sindt Motor Sales does carry used motorcycles and powersports vehicles. They aren’t old enough to be collector items yet, but they are in great shape and are a big business driver for Sindt.

“Pre-owned always does well for us,” he says. “I don’t have a lot of pre-owned stuff on hand because I turn it over quickly.”

Sindt’s pre-owned inventory includes more than just the new OEM vehicles that he sells. He has sold anything from used Triumphs to Can-Am Spyders at the dealership. Having the diverse selection of rides also means Sindt Motor Sales’ service department can work on many different rides.

“The service department has got to be the busiest department year-round for sure,” he says. “We’re in a farm community, so we do a lot of four-wheelers and side-by-sides too. In the repair shop, that segment keeps them really busy.”

For the powersports equipment that is used for farming, Sindt says a lot of the jobs the service department works on are repairing drivelines and axles on ATVs and side-by-sides. The tough terrain of the farmland typically takes a heavy toll on those parts of the vehicles.

Sindt Motor Sales’ service department has a manager and three full-time technicians that do all the repair work coming into the dealership. If there is one tip Sindt has for motorcycle and powersports dealerships, it is to have a good service manager. He says a good service manager can really help hold a dealership together.

As Sindt Motor Sales carries its decades of history into the future, Sindt wants to continue updating the technology in the dealership. Recently, he just switched DMS systems from Lightspeed to DX1.

“We’ve been on a DMS operating system for a long time now,” he says. “DX1 is a lot different compared to Lightspeed, but I like it.”

Other recent technology upgrades at Sindt Motor Sales include a new phone service and a new alarm service.

The dealership also wants to constantly keep updating its inventory, as do all motorcycle and powersports dealerships. As mentioned before, Sindt Motor Sales has no problem getting inventory on their showroom floor anymore. Check out the dealership’s website, and you’ll see all the cool motorcycles and powersport vehicles they have to offer.

Nearing its 70th anniversary in just five years, Sindt Motor Sales is looking to add more to its longstanding history in the motorcycle and powersports industry. The dealership is more than ready and willing to continue cementing its legacy in Dubuque, with the Sindt family name on its sign for generations to come.

The post Family Continues at Sindt Motor Sales appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

A one-brand dealership has its plusses and minuses. As General Manager (GM) Shahin Alvandi explains, “One brand means you work with one set of circumstances. It’s easier to deal with one set of intercompany cultures. On the other hand, you are looking at smaller margins. Ducati is a premium brand, so we are selling to a niche within a niche.”

In the 26 years MotoCorsa has been in existence, the dealership has perfected the art of selling to that niche. MotoCorsa was started in Portland, Oregon, by Brad Tonkin, the scion of a well-known family of car dealers.

“It was a passion project,” says Alvandi. Such projects often don’t go much of anywhere, but MotoCorsa grew and grew to become a very big, single-line dealership. On the way, the company had to deal with a few bumps in the road.

One of the biggest was the 2007-2008 recession. MotoCorsa responded by starting Project 51, the brainchild of the previous GM, Arun Sharma.

“At the time, no dealer in North America had sold more than 50 Ducatis in a month,” Alvandi shares. “We started an initiative to sell 51 Ducatis in a month. Just because the economy is falling through the floor doesn’t mean we can’t have fun! Ducati North America worked with us and we went all out on a sales effort. We ended up selling 60 Ducatis one month. We got through 2008 and grew. We maintained and kept our customers.”

Constant marketing is the key to MotoCorsa’s success. The dealership prospers by trying all sorts of marketing ideas and following through on the ones with measurable results.

“We have a brilliant guy, Ryan, who is always coming up with the next marketing idea,” he says.

One obvious source of ideas is the perception of Italian products as elegant, stylish and sexy, positive concepts that people want to associate themselves with. Before the pandemic, the Portland retailers of Italian motorcycles, cars, clothing, food and wine would join for a Made in Italy Festival.

When MotoCorsa found that none of the other retailers were interested in reviving the event post-pandemic, MotoCorsa decided to put on its own event — an Italian motorcycle apparel fashion show featuring Ducati’s clothing line. The show, featuring two bars and antipasti, was a hit that attracted hundreds of people.

MotoCorsa supports the local Ducati club, Ducati Pacific, an all-volunteer effort that has meetings at the dealership and starts rides in the parking lot. This very active organization has regular rides and events run by the club’s officers, especially the president and long-time client of MotoCorsa, Tamer Riad. The dealership posts the schedule on the website. Given how isolated many urban people are, the existence of a friendly and publicly active organization draws a lot of attention and interest.

A Ducati is not known as a beginner’s bike, but, in part due to the attractiveness of the local club and also in part due to the elegant styling of the Ducati range, MotoCorsa sees a fair number of beginning riders.

“We partner with the Oregon Safety Counsel and answer any and all questions,” Alvandi says. “We do our best to be inclusive and inviting.”

Ducati’s Scrambler is the only model which has any beginner potential, which is why used Scramblers fly out of MotoCorsa. With the recent entry of Ducati into the adventure (ADV) and dual sport field, MotoCorsa is promoting ADV101, a two-day, off-road training event at a local facility.

The elegance and style of Ducati’s offerings also attract women riders. MotoCorsa sees women as a demographic that can help grow the business and has spent time and effort in making the dealership inviting to the female customer. The sight of female employees helps a woman who walks in the door relax, as does the clean and bright environment and the smell of freshly made espresso. Sales personnel are trained to direct questions to potential woman customers.

Another initiative is cheering on local Ducati racers. Ducati, after all, prides itself on achieving campione del mondo (World Champion) status in many forms of racing and sells some very sporting machinery. MotoCorsa has many customers who race, or want to learn, and facilitates their need for speed.

“We arrange track days and support local clubs,” he says. “For a while, we had an employee who raced regularly, and we continue to provide some support to her. Racing is expensive! However, the fact that we support a female racer has created a lot of interest in our dealership. Another racing-oriented event we participate in is Ducati Revs Northwest, a multi-dealer, two-day track experience with participation from MotoAmerica stars, run in conjunction with Ducati North America and The Factory Champion School.”

Interest in the dealership is pumped up by numerous events, posted on the website calendar. These include support of the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, an international charity event, and Saturday Morning Bikes and Coffee, with free food and demonstrations. The 25th anniversary party was a blowout as well, with food trucks and a display of Italian cars.

While MotoCorsa works hard at making the dealership a destination, marketing online is an important source of customers. Alvandi sees the MotoCorsa website as “our digital gateway.” There is an extensive listing of used motorcycles, sold by TurnTwo, the sister used bike retailer, online shopping for Ducati clothing and e-bikes, and interesting articles by former magazine editor Brian Catterson. The dealership’s Facebook, Instagram and YouTube sites are updated regularly as well. One video features Alvandi walking through the dealership, past circus performers and a light show in the parts department, to end up on his bike at Portland International Raceway.

MotoCorsa is having a good time at present and believes the future will hold what it does. “You never know what will happen next,” Alvandi states. “We want to maintain a healthy market and end the year in the black. We are now trying to grow used bike sales, grow the Ducati Pacific Club and keep our margins.”

As the video says, “MotoCorsa takes fun seriously.”

MotoCorsa
2170 NW Wilson St
Portland, Oregon 97210
503-292-7488
www.motocorsa.com
OEM: Ducati
Aftermarket: Shark Helmets, Arai
Employees: 19

The post MotoCorsa is a Ducati Aficionados Dream Dealership appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

For this Dealer Dialogue, we go to Odessa, Texas. In the western half of the state, Odessa is known for its cowboy culture, oil rigs and the popular book and film “Friday Night Lights” (not the television show, however, which takes place in the fictional town of Dillon, Texas).

Odessa is also where you will find the Ruhnke family and their dealership, Ruhnke’s Xtreme Cycles. Owned and operated by Mike Ruhnke, Ruhnke’s Xtreme Cycles is all about selling fun. His dealership came about from a passion for motorcycles and powersports equipment that runs in his family.

“I have two sons, and as they were growing up, we were always doing things in powersports, whether it was sand rails, side-by-sides, four-wheelers or motorcycles,” Mike Ruhnke says. “As they got older, they went to work in the powersports industry. After 20 some years and being the production manager of a credit card company, I quit that, and we bought a motorcycle shop.”

That was in 2008, and for the last 16 years, Ruhnke’s Xtreme Cycles has turned into a staple in the motorcycle and powersports industry, selling fun for riders around Odessa, Texas. Ruhnke’s youngest son worked at the shop for years after his dad bought it. Ruhnke’s oldest son joined the team two years ago. The dealership now has nine employees.

Ruhnke’s Xtreme Cycles sells lots of fun motorcycle and powersports equipment. At the beginning, Ruhnke started by selling used Harley-Davidsons, which Ruhnke claims is still the top-selling vehicle segment among his customers. Now, the dealership sells a wider range of equipment.

Betas are Ruhnke’s best-selling ride for new products. “The Beta 300 Xtrainer is our best seller,” claims Ruhnke. The dealership also sells rides from QJ Motors.

Parts for different rides are a big selling point for the dealership. Ruhnke sells some SSR products for pit bikes. There’s also a service department that does lots of top-quality repair work. You can find tons of helmets, jackets and jerseys to wear on any ride as well.

While growing his dealership, Ruhnke has noticed several obstacles that have made the industry tough to navigate. Obviously, the recent pandemic played a major role in several aspects of running a dealership, especially inventory.

“The things that went on there with people not being able to get new inventory and prices going crazy on used stuff made it very difficult to buy,” Ruhnke explains. “Dealers were afraid they were overpaying for stuff, and if things changed, they were going to be stuck with stuff they overpaid for.”

Now, Ruhnke notes a shift in the opposite direction, where manufacturers have tons of new rides that haven’t sold. This has led to a different kind of challenge for Ruhnke and other dealerships. OEMs are putting rebates on new vehicles to get rid of their inventory, some of which are making newer rides cheaper than used ones. This is making it difficult for buyers to decide between buying a new or used ride.

“OEMs have plenty of inventory as far as Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, all that,” he says. “They’ve got units like crazy, so now we’ve got tons of used stuff. Most people that trade frequently, if they financed stuff that they bought, are stuck in it because they paid too much for it two years ago, and they can’t trade out of it because they owe too much on it.”

On top of inventory, getting workers has been another obstacle. As mentioned before, Odessa is known for its oil rigs. Ruhnke says these provide lots of jobs with good pay, and the oil industry is making it difficult to keep qualified employees.

“I’m sure having qualified people is difficult everywhere in the country as you’re competing against so many other industries,” he says. “When you have good technicians, it’s important to keep them, but you have to be able to make money in a department also.”

A third challenge Ruhnke’s Xtreme Cycles faces is parts availability, especially for older repairs. A unique aspect of the dealership is that they work on just about every motorcycle and powersports vehicle you could imagine. However, since OEMs typically stop making parts for vehicles after a certain age, it can be a costly repair for the customer.

“Sometimes things aren’t available, people have something that they bought very inexpensively, and it costs more to fix things than what they’re really worth,” comments Ruhnke.

This brings another unique aspect of Ruhnke’s Xtreme Cycles to light. Ruhnke says he and his team will help educate customers on what is the best option for them moneywise.

“Maybe a customer paid $1,000-$2,000 dollars for something,” he explains. “We may suggest to just fix this and this and move on or look for something different and guide them away from putting more money down a bad hole. More than anything, and this applies across the board, treat people like you’d like to be treated and be honest. People want to hear the truth.”

Ruhnke has been able to overcome these challenges at his dealership. Inventory is back up across the industry, and Ruhnke says he’s had success selling slightly older inventory. He also has a dedicated team that’s helped keep business going.

In addition to selling rides, the service department is constantly busy at Ruhnke’s Xtreme Cycles. Ruhnke says there’s always tire and oil change projects for his technicians, and there’s also plenty of motor work to keep the technicians busy.

As previously mentioned, Ruhnke’s service department works on lots of different vehicles. He has a tip for other dealers when it comes to retaining customers with older rides.

“Communication on the older stuff is crucial to being able to try and make money on some of the more extensive work,” Ruhnke says. “On older stuff, one thing can lead to another much quicker than it can on newer stuff. You find other things that are worn, other things that are broken, and all of a sudden, an estimate that seemed doable becomes twice that, and then people start freaking out, especially if you’re not communicating with them.”

Looking ahead, Ruhnke wants to grow his dealership by selling Ruhnke’s Xtreme Cycles t-shirts. Ruhnke has noted a demand for a t-shirt that has the shop’s name on it, and sees branded t-shirts as a window of opportunity for the dealership.

At the end of the day, selling fun is what running a dealership is all about for Ruhnke’s Xtreme Cycles. “Nobody needs any of the stuff that we sell here,” he says. “These are all wants that we have here, and we have to remember that. Coming in our store should be a fun experience for people. If it’s not, we’re doing something wrong here.”

The post Selling Fun at Ruhnke’s Xtreme Cycles appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

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Arango’s father was into motorcycle racing, so of course, Alex was competing off road by the time he was 14 and road racing by the time he was 18 or 19. Road racing on a budget means you have to learn how to troubleshoot and repair your motorcycle (or motorcycles) effectively and quickly, and in the course of wrenching on his own racers, Arango learned how to build competitive engines. After he graduated from school, Arango soon found employment at several different motorcycle dealerships. However, he was not happy.

“I got tired of working for dealerships,” Arango says. “I really like motorcycles, and I felt the people in charge did not share my passion — it was just a business to them. A friend helped me, and I started my own operation in 2019.” 

In addition to the Top Pro dealership, Arango runs one of the largest teams on the MotoAmerica field, with entries in every class except Super Hooligans and King of the Baggers. The Superbike team runs BMWs, while the two Supersport riders are on Suzuki GSX-Rs, and the Twins racer rides an Aprilia — Arango works on all of them. This year, Arango was proud to announce the return of Sean Dylan Kelly to the US. Sean had been racing in Europe after winning the 2021 MotoAmerica Supersport championship.

Although Arango enjoys and is good at road racing, and is in demand as a race coach at his home track of Homestead near Miami, where he really shines is building racing engines and doing trackside support. The dealership is in some ways an extension of the racing assistance endeavor.

“I see my operation as a one-stop shop for aspiring road racers,” he says. Top Pro sells track-worthy used motorcycles, builds competitive engines and has a good selection of racing suits and helmets. Road racing wears out tires very quickly, and teams need to have a variety of compounds on hand to suit track conditions, hence the tall stacks of tires at the Top Pro dealership.

Top Pro is not exclusively race oriented, but the emphasis on excellent work done right the first time, which is the only time you have when racing, works for repairs and upgrades on the bikes the shop works on: BMW, Aprilia, MV Augusta, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, and Kawasaki street motorcycles. Customers appreciate the dealership on social media: “Great place! Alex and his crew are true bike lovers and riders. They understand your needs and will help you on anything you need,” says one customer. “Alex and staff are thoughtful, courteous and passionate about their craft. They will NEVER sell you on anything they don’t feel you need, and are the best at coming up with solutions, even if it takes them time,” says another.

Although Top Pro is only selling used bikes and accessories at the moment, Arango says he is in negotiations with a couple of OEMs and hopes to start selling new bikes in the near future. In order to help the negotiations along, he is in process of renting a larger warehouse.

Top Pro needs to market in two directions: first, to support the dealership, with its fixed costs, and second, to support the race team. Road racing is hugely expensive, and Top Pro has a relatively large group of racers competing in several different events. Due to contacts and marketing expertise gained over the years, Arango is able to run a profitable and growing dealership, while supporting his race team. He has recently gained a new team title sponsor, which has helped tremendously.

The Top Pro dealership gets its customer base from all over the U.S. and even abroad. In fact, Arango says 50% of his customers are from out of the immediate area. The dealership even has a branch store in the country of Columbia, South America. The customers there are similar to the customers in the U.S. — aspiring road racers. Arango has an extensive social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and gets many customers from sponsoring track days, but says his best marketing approach is his MotoAmerica racing.

“People really like the idea that ‘the guy who works on my bike works on MotoAmerica bikes,’” Arango notes. “They see us race and want to be part of it.” Since MotoAmerica races take place all over the U.S., people interested in a spec-built racing engine have a chance to see and meet with Arango and his associates, no matter where they live. The variety of motorcycles the race team is able to effectively field increases customer confidence that their motorcycle, no matter the brand, will also be well-cared for.

Arango’s projects for the near future are just as diverse as his current ones. Dissatisfied with his dealership website, he took it down and is now in the process of rebuilding it bigger and better.

“We are in the process of growing,” he says. “I am looking forward to getting my riders a win. I want to get more podiums. I want to do more builds. I am doing what I really like. It’s a passion.”

Top Pro Motorsports
7748 Wiles Rd,
Coral Springs, FL 33067
(305) 495-9614
www.toppromotorsports.com
Number of employees: 6

The post Racing Is at the Heart of Top Pro Motorsports appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

Located in Northeast Mississippi, Tupelo is just over three hours away from the state capital in Jackson. The city has plenty of powersports shops to choose from, but 4 Seasons Equipment Co. has a team of experienced workers, making it a must visit dealership.

“Our employees are all long-term,” says Matt Persbacker, powersports sales manager at 4 Seasons Equipment Co. “We don’t have a lot of turnover at all. The owners are great folks to work for, and we all enjoy working for them.”

4 Seasons Equipment Co. has been in Tupelo for around 35 years. The company has a second location in Oxford, which has been open for six years. Persbacker has been with the company since 2011. A mutual friend helped him get a position at 4 Seasons after he moved to Mississippi, where his role expanded from a salesman to parts and sales manager in 2016.

“Being from New York, I started out with three wheelers and snowmobiles,” Persbacker told us. “When I migrated south, I got into motorcycles and ATVs.”

As a state where geography can be vastly different, Mississippi is arguably a powersports playground. From beaches and bayous in the south along the Gulf of Mexico to the Holly Springs National Forest in the north, Mississippi can be a fun place for many powersports adventures.

The company sells Kawasaki and Yamaha off-road vehicles, as well as Yanmar UTVs.

It even sells golf carts from EZ-GO. Persbacker says his best-selling powersport vehicle is the Kawasaki Mule, adding, “They just offer a fantastic line of equipment.”

As popular as the Kawasaki Mules are for 4 Seasons, the units the dealership sells are not sold in-store. It’s actually the only powersports vehicle that 4 Seasons doesn’t have directly in its stores. Persbacker assures, however, that every other powersport vehicle the company carries can be found at one of its locations when it’s in stock.

4 Seasons Equipment Co. used to sell motorcycles as a part of its business, but today, that is not the case. In particular, Japanese motorcycles became a pretty big challenge for the company, so they did away with selling them about seven years ago.

“The Japanese motorcycle market in Mississippi in general is stagnant, to be nice about it,” Persbacker says. “If it’s not American-made in the state of Mississippi in the motorcycle industry, [people] don’t want to talk to anybody about them.”

Persbacker points to a few factors that play a role in why Japanese motorcycle sales do not doing well in Mississippi. One factor to consider is the presence of military members in the state.

“The state of Mississippi is very, very populated with military, and Harley-Davidson has always done a lot for the military, so that plays a lot into that scenario,” explains Persbacker.

To overcome this, 4 Seasons has delved deeper into the Kawasaki line of powersports equipment and vehicles. The company picked this up in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, business was slowing down for 4 Seasons Equipment Co. Persbacker says adding the Kawasaki line changed everything.

“That has filled a huge, huge void where the motorcycle market used to be in 2006 to 2010,” he says. “When we got the Kawasaki line in the midst of COVID, I mean, it really jumpstarted our business.”

Another challenge that 4 Seasons is currently facing is what Persbacker calls a “funny” time in the market. He claims business for his powersports equipment is slightly down for a few reasons.

“I think it’s maybe due to finance rates being sky high, and it’s an election year,” he explains. “I think people are kind of holding back a little bit until they see what happens.”

Aside from vehicle sales, a big portion of business for 4 Seasons comes from its service department. The company has a lot of experienced employees, as mentioned, and the service department is where employee experience really shines through.

“We have over 130 years of experience in our shop out of 10 employees,” Persbacker points out. “That’s what brings our customers back. We know it is. They don’t have comebacks, which always helps.”

4 Seasons Equipment Co. does lots of jobs in its service department, including warranty work on products the company sells, as well as preventative and regularly scheduled maintenance for powersports vehicles. What matters most to the service department is customer satisfaction, which has helped the company’s business thrive.

“We don’t service stuff that comes from other places unless it’s a brand we’re familiar with,” adds Persbacker. “Whatever our customers buy from us, they bring it here.”

In line with the growing EV side of powersports over the last several years, 4 Seasons does sell electric golf carts. As the powersports sales manager, Persbacker was not optimistic about EVs at the start. However, lithium-ion technology has changed his mind.

“When somebody came in asking about an electric vehicle, I really, really questioned their intent with an electric vehicle because with the lead acid technology, it was not ideal for most people,” he says. “Now, with lithium-ion technology or lithium battery technology, it’s changed my outlook on it and it gives me and our sales team a lot better outlook on trying to sell that stuff.”

4 Seasons Equipment Co. isn’t selling electric powersports equipment just yet. Persbacker is still apprehensive since mud, water and electricity don’t make the friendliest of combinations for powersports enthusiasts. Even still, he sees EV as an additional revenue stream for business at 4 Seasons Equipment Co.

“I think that will probably change over the next couple of years, and if so, that will definitely help improve our sales,” he says.

4 Seasons Equipment Co.

5005 Cliff Gookin Blvd
Tupelo, MS 38801
https://www.4seasonsequipmentcompany.com
(662) 844-0308
OEMs: Kawasaki, Yamaha, EZ-Go, Yanmar
Number of employees: 30

The post Every Season Matters at 4 Seasons Equipment Co. appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

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Greenville Motor Sports has a deep history that’s rooted in the Mississippi powersports industry. Owned and operated by the Tarver family since 1978, the store in Leland, Mississippi, is now managed by Keith Tarver.

“I was racing motocross in high school and graduated high school, and this store came up for sale,” Tarver says. “My dad and a couple of partners bought the store, and I’ve been here since I graduated high school.”

Tarver explains that his dad’s business partners got out of the business within the first year. Ever since then, his family has been the sole operator of the store. Tarver and his mom, Glenda, initially ran the business. After she retired, he now runs the business with his brother.

When Greenville Motor Sports first opened, the store was quite small. When Tarver bought it, they had $5,000 in parts, 11 motorcycles in inventory, and the rent on the building was $500 a month.

“It was pretty easy to get into business back then,” Tarver admits. Now, the store has 20 employees and multiple lines, including OEMs like Honda, Suzuki and Polaris, just to name a few. With hunters and farmers alike across the greater Mississippi Delta, Greenville Motor Sports sells lots of ATVs and side-by-sides to help customers travel over the state’s rugged terrain.

On top of making travel on rough ground easier, farmers buy side-by-sides from Greenville Motor Sports to help make their jobs easier too.

“I’ve got one farmer with eight side-by-sides, and his men show up in their company trucks every day and get in the side-by-sides,” Tarver says. “They stay gone all day. They don’t use their trucks for much at all.”

Accessories are also a big part of the store. A lot of the accessories that Greenville Motor Sports sells are cab components for their ATV and side-by-side inventory, such as doors, roofs and windshields. The store also sells its fair share of bumpers, winches and wheel tire kits. Tarver says the accessory market is currently a good space to be doing business.

“There’s a lot of opportunity to accessorize these, and it’s almost like no two are alike,” he emphasizes. “No two that we sell go out alike, so it’s a good market for accessories. You got a base model, and then you just equip it as needed.”

Like the rest of the powersports industry, Greenville Motor Sports has faced some challenges in recent years. Tarver admits inventory was tough to come by during the pandemic. The bright side of that challenge, however, was that each vehicle in Tarver’s inventory was being sold at full retail price. Nowadays, he’s seeing the opposite issue.

“Everybody has too much inventory,” he says. “The pipeline was full, and then things slowed down a little bit and inventory came piling in here, so now we’re trying to get our inventory back in line with what the market needs are.”

Since there is too much inventory currently, space is limited on the dealer floor for Greenville Motor Sports. That means floor-plan expenses are high for the store. With a dealership full of ATVs and side-by-sides, Tarver says he’s thankfully been able to sell a lot of inventory.

“Selling the inventory is not a problem,” Tarver notes. “We just have to be patient and work through the excess inventory that we have, and I don’t want to end up having to discount everything at fire-sale prices to try and get the inventory out of here. I’d rather be patient, hold our margins and sell the inventory without destroying our market in the process.”

To overcome this, Greenville Motor Sports has transitioned to showing off the store’s inventory through advertising instead of ordering new inventory.

“If you draw a circle 100 miles around us, there’s only one other dealer in that area, so we’ve got a pretty big area that we can draw from in order to move that inventory,” Tarver says. “We just need to let people know what we have, and we’re trying to sell the units on the features and the benefits, not so much price, to attract people.”

This was normal before the pandemic, Tarver explains, and now that advertising is back to being a main mode of business again, it’s allowing Greenville Motor Sports to reach the surrounding area of Leland more strategically. Greenville Motor Sports has several metropolitan areas within 100 miles of the store, such as Jackson, Mississippi; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Memphis, Tennessee, that provide a lot of potential customers.

Greenville Motor Sports is also overcoming its current challenges with pre-owned sales. It’s another good market for the store, and it works with a wholesaler to bring in trades that Greenville Motor Sports can add to its floor plan.

“The nicer stuff we’ll keep for ourselves and resell, and all that stuff turns over really quickly,” Tarver says. “We don’t have any trouble moving new stuff.”

To help drive sales, Greenville Motor Sports puts a lot of focus on its displays, which Tarver says makes for a positive sales environment. Having a 50,000 square-foot facility under a roof helps with that, not to mention all the fully accessorized vehicles that sit on the floor.

On top of that, Greenville Motor Sports’ service department is a major part of the business. Tarver says the store’s service department is used as a sales department, where its focus is exceptional customer service. He adds the service department is the primary driver for the sales department to get people to buy from Greenville Motor Sports over other dealerships.

“It’s rare for customers to go to a service department and get really good service and be happy with it,” he says. “If you can offer that, then those customers are going to want to buy from you the next time they get ready to buy our product, because if they’re like me, they want to buy from somewhere they know they can get good service.”

Greenville Motor Sports spends a lot of money on its service technicians to help drive sales. The service department will do routine maintenance on powersports vehicles, but with the store’s primary customers being hunters and farmers, the off-road environments they work on typically lead to lots of wear and tear repair.

“It leads to a lot of maintenance and a lot of repair work because of the number of hours that they put on the equipment, and they don’t want to work on it themselves,” Tarver says. “They want to bring it somewhere and get it repaired right the first time, and quickly, so they can get it back in the field.”

A unique aspect of Greenville Motor Sports is its employees. There are decades of experience across each department of the store, from office management to the service department. It’s a stable group that has built meaningful relationships with its customers, which Tarver says leads to more sales dollars.

“People want to buy from us, and they’re willing to pay more because they know us, they trust us, and they know we give good service,” Tarver notes.

Greenville Motor Sports is constantly working for the future. In the summer of 2023, the store added to its showroom and warehouse space with a new 10,000 square-foot building, which showcases some of the store’s new powersports inventory.

As mentioned before, displays are a big part of Greenville Motor Sports. The dealership has recently invested around $70,000 in a Polaris display that will be installed in June of 2024. Tarver highlights these additions as things that will help Greenville Motor Sports stand out among its competitors.

“When people think about where they can go to see product and see a lot in one location and see accessories and anything that they’re needing from powersports, we want them to think of our store first before they think of anyone else,” he says. “We’re really focused on doing everything right and doing it better than anybody else. I think if we do that, price is really not an issue.”

Greenville Motor Sports
3802 Hwy 82, Leland, MS 38756
(662) 378-3479
OEMs: Honda, Suzuki, Polaris, Can-Am, CFMOTO, SSR Motorsports, Benelli
Number of employees: 20

The post At Greenville Motor Sports, Hunting and Farming Vehicles Thrive appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

“I don’t want a clubhouse atmosphere,” Cummings admits. “I can’t flourish in a clubhouse. I get so much done by myself.”

Most motorcycle shops sell new motorcycles and parts and accessories for them. Cummings sells 50-year-old machinery restored to perform on the road and 50-year-old machinery set up for vintage road racing. He explains that his operation does three things: maintains road racing Nortons for people contesting the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association Formula 750, BEARS, 500 Premier and 350 GP classes; sells restored Norton street motorcycles; and restores Nortons and parts of Nortons for customers — most of whom want to ride their bikes on public roads.

For those who weren’t around in the 1970s, Norton Commandos are 750cc or 850cc twins manufactured in England between 1967 and 1977. These were popular bikes in their day and have continued to be popular. Present-day parts availability is excellent. In fact, if you want a brand-new bike and have the skills and equipment, you can build a Commando from over-the-counter parts. Several people designed racing frames for Commandos, and one of the best was Colin Seeley, whose chassis continues to be manufactured in England by a successor using his original designs.

The only advertising NYC Norton engages in is occasional social media posts of current builds and racing its Seeley-framed Norton Commandos around the country. Racing brought in Kenny Cummings’ first customers and continues to generate a good share of the business. Most of the publicity for the company is done simply by posting photos of its bikes online.

“We post about a customer’s bike and it will usually always get at least several hundred hits,” he says. “But, every once in a while, we’ll post about a recent build and it gets over 30,000 hits. Then, the phones will really light up. Most of the calls will be from New York City’s 212 area code. Wealthy people want to come in and pick out a bike and ride it home. They are not always Norton people, and when they learn that there is a waiting list, most lose interest.”

Kenny Cummings has an unusual resume. His father had a Norton when he was a young child, and although Cummings didn’t remember the brand of this motorcycle, the bike made a lasting impression on him. However, instead of getting involved with motorcycles as a youngster, he learned keyboards and backed up a list of famous musical artists before he moved to New York in 1986 and got a job with an instrument rental company, which led to further engagements and a job with the Saturday Night Live show. Eventually, in another change of occupation, he got a job with a high-end art book publishing house.

The seeds of NYC Norton were sown in 1993, when Cummings bought a non-running older Norton. He eventually sold it and bought a running Norton Commando. Nortons handle beautifully and are a great deal of fun to ride but can be expensive to maintain if you don’t know how to do the maintenance yourself. Even Cummings admits he once had zero mechanical skills. Eventually, Cummings decided he had to learn to work on his Norton if he wanted to keep it.

After an accident, he got the Norton back to New York, took it apart and began to put it back together. He registered the domain name NYC Norton and started a blog (before there really were blogs) to document what he did to repair and maintain his old Brit bike.

“The blog attracted people at ground zero,” he says. “I became known in the Norton world without really trying.”

Cummings needed space to work on his Norton and rented an area in the “Rising Wolf” garage in Manhattan.

“In Rising Wolf, I met racing people and got the racing bug,” Cummings says. “I decided to build a racing Norton.”

He became well-known in vintage racing circles. Eventually, Cummings joined with other racers to rent a larger and cheaper space in an industrial building in Jersey City. Slowly, he started to take over more of the space as other partners decided to do something else or moved from the area.

In 2008, three things happened. The first was winning the BEARS AHRMA championship on a bike Cummings built himself. The second was getting laid off at the publishing job. The third was a phone call. Someone wanted Cummings to build a racer just like the bike that had won the BEARS championship — and was willing to pay good money for the effort. Shortly after the first customer signed a contract, a second called, wanting the same thing and also willing to pay. NYC Norton was off and running.

“I now have a waiting list that is so long — I can’t turn off the lights and go home,” Cummings says.

Early customers were either racers, aspiring racers or older men who had a Norton sitting in their garage for many years and who finally had the time and money to get it on the road again. More recently, there has been an influx of customers who want a bike that is already restored and ready to ride. These are often 40-something wealthy men (Cummings has very few female customers and wishes he had more) who don’t mind paying top prices but want to specify tank colors and accessories and ride it off into the sunset.

Most racers are one-off custom jobs, and the operation’s large machine shop is buzzing much of the time. NYC Norton has recently started selling kits, made in the machine shop, to upgrade specific parts of a Norton from stock. He also sells performance racing parts. Another recent shop innovation is component restoration. People who feel comfortable restoring most of their Nortons but who have reached their limits with one part or the other can send that part (for example, the engine) to NYC Norton to rebuild it or install performance upgrades (such as tunable front forks) and return it to the customer.

Asked what he will be doing in five years, Kenny Cummings says he will be doing exactly what he is doing now. He has finally found what he wants to do and is even making some money at it.

“It’s something everyone in the motorcycle industry understands…. I don’t think anyone does this to get rich; they all do it for love, because the margins are slim,” he says. “If you get into this business, you’d better love what you do, as it’s not an easy road. However, I can say I’m happy.”

NYC Norton

(917) 717-4300
https://www.nycnorton.com/
OEM: None
Aftermarket: Ohlins, Kibblewhite, Hastings, NGK
Employees: Two

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