Craig's Bobber Project - Part 2

by Craig Glab, Central Regional Manager


I’ve been working on my house so much throughout the cold winter that I haven’t been working on the motorcycle as much as I’d like. I’ve been painting and carpeting the inside of my house this winter.

But here are some updated photos of the Bobber Project. As you can see, I switched the motor and transmission to all ready polished Altima 113” motor and polished 6-speed transmission instead of an 80 cu inch Satin Harley Davidson motor. So now I have more performance in that little bike. I’ll peel the tires off of it. I just sold the other motor.

I just put the rims and tires on this last week. They are from Roland Sands and Metzler white wall tires. I mounted them last Friday after work.

I’m switching out the gas tank because it looks too tiny on that bike. I’m going to get a Sportster tank when I get back from my next 2-week trip. Drill some holes, take it apart and send it off to be painted this time…really.

My goal is to have it done by May.

Easter Weekend Riding

by Eric Anastasia, Eastern Regional Manager



Roby and I had similar thoughts on Easter weekend. I dusted off the bike as well, although I give Roby a bit more credit. He had to pedal his biketo get going, me on the other hand, I just twisted the throttle.

Either way it was great to be on two wheels again- there is nothing like the feeling of the first ride of the season. Not to mention that the air cooled bikes run incredibly in these early spring temperatures.

So now that the bike has been awakened from its winter slumber I have been trying to sneak out everytime I have a chance. Can’t wait for my next ride, but I feel like my mountain bike is feeling a bit neglected so I have to hit some single track next to make it fair.

Davis and Taylor Phinney

Thanks to Bicycle Retailer & Industry News online for pointing me in the direction of this fabulous New York Times article on the Phinney family. Stop and take the 5 minutes it will take to read it..now. I think the NY Times only gives articles for free for a few days. So read it, now.

It's an incredible story.

Wishing Taylor all the best in England (kick some serious butt, kid!)...and Davis all the best next week with his brain surgery. He's a brave man.

Women - The Untapped Market

by Roby Holland, National Sales Manager



Over the last several months I’ve become aware that more and more manufacturers are focusing their attention on women as an untapped market. Dealers – this is a focus by suppliers to generate incremental revenue for you (and them). In the current economy we need to be looking for opportunities to drive business and this segment is one that dealerships can work with their suppliers in targeting.

Some of the articles that I’ve read lately have talked about doing women specific sales, women specific bike nights or educating women on riding. If sales in your stores are slow, my suggestion would be to pick up the phone, call your reps and suppliers and see what type of programs or promotions they have for women that you can tap into. This is a great way for you to capitalize on an emerging segment of your business while limiting your expenses.

Good luck!

How Observant Are You?

by Roby Holland, National Sales Manager




Just received this link for a good friend of mine, check it out.

I don"t know about you but I total missed it. It is a great example of how we focus one task we while we miss the other things that are happening around us.

This is especially important as the weather warms up. There will be more people on bikes and when we are in are cars we need to be aware. I'm as guilty as the next driver with my Blackberry, and have total spaced what is around me when I'm focused on an e-mail or a text message.

So as the weather warms, keep a look out for our friends on bikes!

Safe travels!

Spring in New England

Bashful, Customer Service


We turned the clocks forward

Flower buds are poking up thru the ground

Red Sox opening up baseball season in Japan with a win

Spring is supposedly here - can someone let the weather people know?

Rusty

by Roby Holland, National Sales Manager



Went for a ride Easter Sunday, temp was 45 degrees with the sun shining. Was out for a short ride, roughly 15 miles to get the body ready for Easter Dinner! That's right Easter dinner. It is a big deal at my family's house - ham (the other white meat), sweet potatoes, home made Piccalilli and my wife's honey rolls.

With the feast in mind I set out on my ride down to the beach and back. It wasn't my first ride of the year but it sure felt like it. Every move I made the bike twitched, swayed and swaggered. At one point I even tried to go no-handed and almost crashed. I was rusty - the bike and I were not one, so to speak.

Anyhow I pressed on and enjoyed watching kids look for Easter eggs and people shuffling in to houses for the afternoon celebration, and even saw two crazy people go kayaking in sit on-top kayaks. Never did see those people on my return trip, wonder how it worked for them?

On this ride I decided to go the opposite way around Powder Point then my normal route, which was a north to south loop. At the bend to the north side of the loop I was almost creamed by a Crown Vic, and creamed is putting it nicely. This is a really weird intersection to the Powder Point bridge, where there is no stop sign on either side of the intersection. Thank God the driver was on the ball and saw me coming around the loop and was traveling at a speed where he could stop in time. I waved at him to thank him for the heads up play as I began to hyper-ventilate.

I thought about what had happened and what could have happened. As I said I was rusty! I was not thinking about riding I was thinking about dinner, what a nice day it is and how I'll be spending it with my family, and not being aware of my surroundings, like the drive was.

In short, as you get back out on your bikes, remember we are rusty, so are the drivers out there - be aware, pay attention and ride safe! I feel like a Smokey the Bear commercial, but seriously, be safe.

Red Sox WIN in Japan

The HUGE Red Sox fans in the office (Melissa, Donna and Joe) wanted to make sure you all knew that the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox started the new season the way last season ended - with a win.

The Red Sox defeated the Oakland A's today in Tokyo. Score: 6-5.

Great way to start the season. Go Sox!

The Spokesmen #28

Episode #28 of The Spokesmen cycling roundtable podcast is now online. It was great chatting about all things cycling with David and Carlton this morning. Give it a listen and let us know what you think. We love feedback.

Celebrity Choppers/Thug and Streets

If you follow along over on the Plog (the Perewitz blog), you have seen the evolution of their customer's Doug and Pete to Thug and Streets.

Doug and Pete are both Perewitz customers who just love, love, love their motorcycles. Somehow, I'm not exactly sure how....they were dubbed with "biker names" at the Boston Motorcycle Show and Thug and Streets were born (all in good fun!) They went to Daytona with their biker names, hung out down there for a week with the gang and are now each contributing to the Plog. They are becoming celebrities in their own right for goodness sake. Move over Dave and Jody - Thug and Streets are comin' through!

Thought you'd want to see their rides since everyone always wants to catch a glimpse of what celebrities ride. I took these when I was down at the shop last weekend.

Here's Streets' ride - might look black, but that is actually a very cool, deep blue. Gorgeous!

Here's Thug's flamed out ride, done by the King of Flames himself!

With all kidding aside, these are great guys and I always enjoy seeing them at Perewitz events. It's come to my attention recently that Doug Robinson (aka Thug) has a son who has recently been deployed to Afghanistan. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Happy Easter/Happy Family Day

Whether you are religious or not, or believe this to be a holiday or not, I hope that you see it as a day to spend time with your family and close friends. I'm not overly religious so to me, Easter is about slowing down and taking time to be with family and close friends.

So, what did I do today? Started my day on the treadmill talking with my cousin. I mentioned him last week when I was talking about MS Awareness Week. He's lived with Multiple Sclerosis for 30 years now. It's a terrible disease and he's my inspiration each and every day. We were chatting about what we were doing today - each going to different family members houses for dinner, so we won't see each other. And, we were talking about our latest family venture...hence the treadmill.

After last week's post my cousin and I decided that we would sign up for the MS Walk in our area to be held on April 12. Because of a few nasty things going on with his MS right now, he isn't able to walk the 5 miles so he signed up as a volunteer and fundraiser. He'll drive the pick up car for any participant who can't make the 5 miles (hopefully it won't be me!). I'll be walking, but haven't walked too far this winter - I've done a good job at hibernating and storing food like a bear. So, on the treadmill today and starting a diet tomorrow (bluck). I intend to lose weight this spring while getting in shape to walk the walk (and by the numbers on the scale the diet and exercise will need to go on long after the walk...oy!)

We've recruited others, too. My cousin's two brothers and his sister are going to join us. His sister's fiance. His wife and daughter are going to walk. And, my mother is going to walk with us (and will probably have to wait for all of us to catch up). We have another member or two who will probably join along the way, too. It's quite a team of walking Toccis! Here's my walk page where you can see my cousin and link to our family page and see the whole gang.

We are all serious about this because we are all touched by this disease each day because we are all so close and have watched my cousin's struggles (and triumphs!) throughout the years. For me, I've also got two other people who are near and dear to me who live with this every single day. They each amaze me to no end. They are truly remarkable people.

So, on this day meant for family and friends, our family is bonding together for a common goal and common good for all 400,000 Americans living with this disease (and those who are touched by it through them). I think that's the true spirit of the day anyway no matter what religion.

I wish you all a wonderful day to be with your family, your friends and maybe even your bike.

Happy Family Day!

Happy Spring!!!!!!

Enjoy the first day of spring, everyone!

Dale Earnhardt, Jr's new ride

I was in North Carolina yesterday for a meeting. It wasn't too far from Hendrick Motorsports so I took the opportunity to take a quick run to their complex. I hear they have a "new kid" racing for them and I wanted to get a look at his car up close. (ok, seriously, do you really think I could be that close to HMS and not stop by??)

What do you think? Kinda stands out, doesn't it?

Maybe you've seen it on the track. I think the "new kid" might just turn out ok for the Hendrick bunch. What do you think?

Daytona Bike Week

by Craig Glab, Central Regional Manager


I worked out at the Daytona Speedway at the Broward Motorsports' tent. Eric worked at Daytona Fun Machines and then we’d switch every other day so we each worked both places. I saw less attendees than ever before – maybe even by thousands. It wasn’t like it has been in years past.

The weather was great – it rained only twice – Tuesday it was yucky and Friday it was really terrible. It poured so much water was running through the tent. It was a monsoon all day – it was unreal.

The people that did attend Bike Week looked at product, but there weren’t a lot of spenders. Jennifer from Broward Motorsports mentioned that they weren’t selling anywhere near what they’d done in the past across lines, including helmets. Overall, attendance was really down.

Destination Daytona had a lot of vendors and looked like the place to be all week.

One night I took Eric to three casual spots that more of the locals frequent. I’ve been going to Bike Week since 1986 and have found these places throughout the years. We went to the Lighthouse, a place I call Sharky’s (I don’t really know it’s name, but there is a big shark out front) and the Ocean Deck. The Ocean Deck is a great place for live entertainment – I’m talking about bands now. We listened to bands all one night; that was fun.

We went to Main Street and walked around one night down there, too. The best thing I saw on Main Street, though, was the women serving the beer.

There you have it. That was our trip to Daytona.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

To all of you who are Irish, and those of you who are Irish for a day....have a fun, safe St. Patrick's Day!

Because Boston is about as Irish as you can get away from Ireland itself, Boston.com did a pictorial today on many things Irish including the Southie parade and something I found interesting, "Exports from Ireland." It's not all about the Guinness, people!

Enjoy your day and may the luck of the Irish be with you.

Update: If you want to learn about the history of this day, check out this little quiz. It's not as easy as you'd think! Enjoy.

Lend a Helping Hand - for Free

This week quite a few things have come my way that consistently make me think, "I'm pretty lucky and have a pretty good life." After yesterday's reminders at every turn, I decided to write about a few ways that we can all give back that cost us NOTHING except a few clicks of a mouse - maybe 30 seconds in total (unless you get addicted to one, but we'll get there in a minute). Costs you nothing...and gives you a warm fuzzy....try one or more of these things daily....

The week kicked off with a reminder email that this is MS Awareness Week. There were seven calls to action - one each day. I think I will hit 2, although I tried to hit 3 and am still working on that. One is to tell your friends to visit their site and grow awareness - so, I'm telling you....and ask that you tell people, too, on your blog or by having a conversation with your friends. Sign up for a walk - they are usually 6 miles and so much fun to do if you have friends with you. How do I know? I've done one the last 2 years. Can't walk that far? Volunteer. Or, like I said, just tell your friends and help grow awareness. Why is this important to me? Three fantastic people that I hold very near and dear to my heart are living with this disease - one, my cousin, has lived with it for over 30 years and he's one of the most amazing people I've ever met. And, yes, I'd think that even if we weren't related!

The week continued with a great email from Women's Adventure Magazine. Fabulous publication, by the way, founded by a dynamic woman who happens to live with MS, too. Nasty disease gets around, doesn't it? Anywhoooo....the email newsletter had a link to Free Rice. I was curious so I clicked...and became slightly addicted. It's an educational way to give free grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. There's a word on the screen and you need to choose from the list what it means. For every correct answer, 20 grains of rice will be donated. You can keep playing for as long as you want and it keeps your total. If you get one wrong, nothing is deleted and you get another chance. Go on and try it out...it's slightly addicting...and educational...and good for the world. And Free!

Jody forwarded information to me yesterday about "Paws for a Cause", which is a fundraiser for the Just a Touch Rescue organization here in New England. If you are an animal lover, please check them out. Read the stories and find ways to help. There are many ways to help on their site that are free - you can volunteer your time, adopt a pet (ok, so that will ultimately cost some money, but the love you get back outweighs the cost!), donate an auction item or shop at one of their supporters. When you shop for things that you might normally purchase anyway, the rescue gets a portion of the sale.

And, last, but not least, by any means. Every day, I visit the Animal Rescue Site and click on the big purple "Give it's Free" button. No signing up. No follow up email. Just click and food is given to animal shelters. Seriously, it can't be easier. Just add this to your favorites and visit every day - one click per day, per computer. You can also purchase fun things from the site and by doing so, you give additional food to rescued animals.

While you are feeling so good about your free food for the animals, check out the other sites that are associated with this one where you can click on a button and give towards free mammograms, protect the Rain Forest, give free child healthcare and give free books to children. This is a no-brainer. When you fire up your computer each morning, go to this site and click through the tabs. It will take you all of 30 seconds. Warning, though, you might actually feel good and get a smile on your face by helping so many in such a short amount of time.

So, if you think you have a good life, or are luckier than most, think about doing one or more, or all, of these things. You'll feel good about yourself and be doing good in this world, too. Just my thoughts for a Friday. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Kryptonite in Canada

by Eric Anastasia, Eastern Regional Manager

Here are some pictures that someone sent to me to show what happens to a bike locked up with a Kryptonite Ulock that gets plowed over with the side walk plows in Canada….

The sidewalk gets plowed the bike gets destroyed and the lock is unscathed. Impressive isn’t it.

An Ill Wind Blows......

by Roberta Fahey, Customer Service Supervisor

Guess what I did last weekend?

The Spokesmen Podcast #27

Yesterday morning I was able to join The Spokesmen podcast again! Woo-hoo! It's been awhile because of my schedule and the schedules of the folks on the podcast (life happens, right?!).

Because life happens, there were only three of us, but it wasn't for lack of trying - Tim Grahl had some wacky computer problems, Tim Jackson was on a plane with his knees up near his chest and Carlton had a technology meltdown (not his, but his provider). But, David, Richard and I got up early (ok, not so early for me, but wicked early for Richard on the West Coast) and had some fun together. I always think I sound like a dork, but David and Richard sound fabulous, as always.

Some of the topics on Episode #27:
- Tragic accident this weekend in northern California
- Accident in Tucson with deputy hitting group ride
- Utah cyclists press charges under 3-foot rule
- Dave Zabriskie's Yield to Life
- Alleycat races
- Paris-Nice/ASO/UCI/Astana
- Rock Racing (still looking for gear to go on sale!)
- Donna's little opinion about Tour of Cali
- Our bike/riding tips

We dedicated this show to the late, great Sheldon Brown.

I'm listening to the show right now, but it's not over yet. David says that he added some bloopers to the end...I can only imagine...yikes! I'm sure they are fun (right, David?). Regardless, it was a good show - go on over and listen! Make sure to let us know what you think - either here or over on The Spokesmen site.

Update: Hey, Masiguy...you have to listen to the end...to the bloopers...past the static and giggles...

Jeffery Deaver Novel

I keep meaning to mention this....I was on the flight back from Zurich last week and had a Jeffery Deaver book with me. I've been a Deaver fan for many years, but hadn't read "The Blue Nowhere" before. It's pretty good, although technical since it is about two computer hacks. But, it was a good distraction for the 8-hour flight.

Anyway, I'm reading along and on page 245, I come across this....
"Hooking the old, battered Kryptonite lock through the frame of his cycle,....."

I almost jumped out of my seat! What a great surprise!

The book itself is pretty good, too. Go pick it up today if you like suspense novels.

More iceBike

A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, here are a few thousand "words" (and some real ones, too).

The Kryptonite booth at iceBike. Paul, Don and I are joined by Andrew Wagerer, our great product manager at Madison.

Patrick (left) is chatting with his mates about his impending fatherhood. Congrats Patrick! I can't wait to get the fantastic news of Baby J's arrival.

Sim and Chipps hard at work...I think...or maybe it was snack time.

Thanks to Kryptonite's marketing team in the UK, we had some cool swag to give away, including these thermal mugs....

...and bottle openers disguised as key rings, pens and reflective straps. Like the 5 year old that I am, I played with these all week....but I wasn't the only one!

Got to meet Jay Townley for the first time, in person. We'd chatted on the phone years ago, but we'd never caught up in person. He gave quite an informative talk to the dealers each of the three days. Carlton caught him on video. Check it out. How psyched was I to find out that Jay swings by our little blog sometimes? Um...very! Hi Jay!

Here Jay is chatting with Mr. Blue himself, Eric from Park Tool. Eric was at iceBike with his normal posse, Roger and Calvin. It wouldn't be the same without them.

Ok, so after I shot this picture I think Neil may have wanted to toss me off the balcony, but he was giving a detailed, passionate presentation on one of the fastest growing lines at Madison - Ogio. Ok, I'm just guessing at the "fastest growing" bit, but if UK consumers are anything like US consumers, they will be fighting for these bags. Gotta tell you, the laptop case is pretty sweet!

It's always great to catch up with Hank from Finish Line at shows. He had a new recruit with him this year. Dan started in the last year with Hank and seems to be fitting in quite nicely. Welcome to the industry, Dan! (Note: Check out the reflective Kryptonite stickers doing their job on Don's computer there!)

Dominic is Madison's Chief Executive and a great host. He really makes people feel comfortable in his "home". We had a nice dinner on Thursday night which included all the Madison folks (my table mate Susan has been with Madison for 28 years!), the 'movers and shaker' dealers (which included Simon and Lisa/Colin Lewis Cycles!) and the suppliers.

Dinner was good both if you love meat and if you don't. It was a hog roast with all the fixings. And, for us veggies, there were really yummy veggie Kabobs, salad, bread etc.

Continental had a great idea when they sponsored this game, eh? I never saw the table empty once after dinner.

I don't have pictures of the master planner, Will, or our wonderful friend Richard or all of the rest of the reps, which is too bad. They are fantastic partners and I wish you could see them all here. Ok, truth be told, I have a couple of photos, but I actually like these guys so I won't display my bad photography!

Thank you all for a great week and all of the hard work you do for us throughout the year! You all ROCK!

Zurich Airport

Don and I made it home Friday night after a full day of travel (20 hours). I'll write more about iceBike next week (and I have more photos) but right now the airport in Zurich is still on my brain. We spent 5 hours there on Friday afternoon so we pretty much know the terminals we were roaming inside and out.

We shopped a little bit (can you say "Swiss Chocolate?), ate a little bit and people watched. Oh, and admired cars. Yes, in the airport.

My observations? Everything at the airport is in English. All the advertising and directional signs are in English. Interesting.

There aren't many places to eat. That's a major international airport. I would have expected there to be more. Maybe 5 places total and only one may have been a sit down kind of place. The rest were typical airport places - where you walk up to the counter, order and find your own table. Yes, there was a Burger King and no, that's not where we ate. With all the time on our hands we wanted a good sit down place, but in the end found a few places close to each other where we picked up our own food and got a table.

Security is very smart. Know how you have to put liquids into a zipped, clear bag to go through the security check point? They give those bags to you, in case you forgot. How nice is that? Most places will just make you toss your liquid (cream, lotion etc) if it isn't in a baggie. These folks give you the bag so you don't have to toss it. Nice!

And then there were the Formula 1 cars. I'm not kidding. There is an auction going on from February 19 to March 25 of 11 Formula 1 cars and 4 are at the Zurich airport on display. Opening bid? Two hundred thousand Euros - and it doesn't come with an engine. You can follow along with the bidding here. You can see some of the cars below - enjoy.

1998 - Jean Alesi

1993 - JJ Lehto

2001 - Kimi Raikkonen

Back of Kimi's car