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| People in the Industry
- June 2008
DEALER: DANIELLE BREWER, VESPA OF OCEANSIDE
“I can’t even remember my first experience with motorcycles because I was about three years old,” recalled Danielle Brewer. She told us her father, Kevin Brewer, had been on bikes his whole life, so she grew up around motocross tracks, the desert and street riding. “I started riding a battery powered quad (with plastic wheels) when I was about three years old,” she laughed. “I’ve ridden bikes, quads, scooters, really anything with wheels,” Brewer added. She said she’s always enjoyed being around motorcycles and her interest is now stronger than ever. “You might find me cruising down the Pacific Coast highway in La Jolla on a
Vespa, or at the motocross track, or at a supercross event,” Danielle exclaimed.
Brewer said her family became good friends with some of the pioneers in the freestyle motocross world when she was about 15 years old. “I have always been a fan of freestyle and one thing led to another and I ended up going to work for Metal Mulisha answering phones and packing tee shirts,” described Brewer. After a year, Danielle explained, she gained more responsibility and after some time she became involved in all areas of the business. “I ended up working there for three years and gained some serious knowledge about how the company was run,” stated Brewer, “I had the motorcycle industry in my blood now so I had to keep running with it.”
 Danielle continued by saying after her three years at Metal
Mulisha, she worked for a KTM dealership for a short time, but has since moved on to become the general manager and partner of
Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Vespa of Oceanside. “We have locations in Oceanside, on Coast Highway, downtown Sand Diego in Hillcrest and we have plans for two more locations that, well, we’ll save for another article,” she told us.
“This opportunity is a dream come true for me,” Brewer exclaimed. She added, “I have the two best mentors I could ever ask for, Michael
Kosakowski, our majority owner and my dad.” Danielle explained that Kosakowski has over 20 years of experience in this industry and he has the energy level that keeps her on her toes at all times. “Being that he knows the legal and business end of the industry and I know what is hip and cool in the motocross industry, we are a great team,” Brewer stated.
She added that she enjoys the sales side of the business, but also the business side too. “We are now focusing on growing our parts and service business, because that’s where the future growth of our stores will come from,” Brewer explained. She continued, “The better we serve our customers, with an over-the-top parts and service experience, the better chance we have of earning their future motorcycle sales.” To help with this, Danielle said they have recently moved into a new 10,000 sq. ft. facility with a state-of-the-art shop and parts center.
“I have a few things that come to mind as my favorite moments in the powersports industry,” said Brewer. The first thing that she will always deem to be at the top of the list is the Action Sports retail tradeshow in San Diego, she stated. “That, by far, was one of the coolest experiences I have gone through in my short life!” Danielle exclaimed. Another thing that she lists as a favorite was the grand opening party last April for Vespa of Oceanside, added Brewer. “We had bands, a radio station, food and a lot of people. When word got out that we were opening a one-of-a-kind, high line Italian dealer featuring
Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Vespa, a party got started and the people started coming and have not stopped,” she laughed.
Right now the industry’s biggest challenge comes from off brand, low-quality motorcycles and scooters, noted Brewer, and dealers are trying to survive with blowout-at-all-cost prices. “In the long run, that will hurt them and the industry,” she explained, adding, “We have a different philosophy: we only sell high-line products and give exceptional service.” Brewer said they have a saying: ‘You can sell great products, or great service, or a cheap price. You can’t get great products and a cheap price’. “We chose to sell great products and exceptional service, period,” she stated.
“As I mentioned earlier, we are in some great markets. We just need to focus on marketing our unique way of doing business,” Brewer explained. She continued by saying they have a very unique buying experience because of the quality of their facilities and they want people to stop by, hang out and relax in their lounge and entertainment center. She added, “We also focus on supporting the local scooter and motorcycle communities by sponsoring organized rides and events.”
“Our goal is to create relationships and secure our customers for life,” Danielle told us. “We always try to over-deliver on the sales experience and to capture all of the service business. We have one simple policy: always take the high road. Our business ethics and reputation in the market are the most important ingredients to our success,” Brewer concluded.
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DISTRIBUTOR:
LEE KLEIST, MARSHALL DISTRIBUTING
Lee Kleist recalled his first experience with a
motorcycle came when he was 16. Lee told us he had a
friend who’d bought a Honda Twin Star and he taught
Kleist how to ride the bike in a school parking lot.
“To us, we had the coolest bike. We would take turns
riding while the other one had to work. I just enjoyed
the feel of being in control,” Kleist explained.
A year later, Lee said he bought his own Honda CB125. “I was so excited that I heard only about a quarter of what the salesman told me about the bike,” he laughed, “I just wanted to ride.” The only bad thing about this experience, he recalled, was that the dealership he bought the bike from, B&E Honda, was located on a major highway. He added, “I was tossed around by the trucks like a piece of paper. Top speed for the bike was about 50 mph.”
 Lee told us he first became involved in the powersports industry after leaving the Navy, after he had decided to go back home and go back to school. Needing a job that worked around his class schedule, Kleist got a job at B&E Honda as a salesman in 1983. “I enjoyed the bike business, so I moved up to become the F&I manager,” Lee said.
Kleist added he left B&E Honda in 1986, but later returned to the store in 1991 to take over as sales manager and he moved up to general manager. In 2001 he left B&E after taking a job with Motorcycle Stuff as a road rep. covering the Indiana territory, Kleist explained, adding, “I also worked a few months around Christmas time, in the evenings, for Wheels-4-Tots.”
After the ATV show in Kentucky in 2004, Kleist then moved on to work at Marshall Distributing as a road rep. covering Indiana and part of Ohio, he told us. Currently, Lee said, his territory covers Indiana, a little bit of Illinois and part of Southwest Michigan.
There’s never been a dull moment working in this industry, stated Kleist. It is always changing and we’re working with a fun factor, not a need, he added. Lee said he doesn’t have a favorite moment, rather he has a lot of good times: doing demo dates at the dealership on watercrafts, working on poker runs, etc. “As a road rep., I enjoy the time I get to work with the manufacturer reps at either a trade show or ride along,” Kleist told us. He added, “These people are in the industry for the same reason: for the love of the sport.”
The cost of fuel is one major threat to this industry, Kleist reported, and he believes there are three reasons for the decline in the dirt bike market. One is the cost of rebuilding the new four strokes, another is that those people who would previously spend a hundred dollars to go riding on the weekends are now using that money for fuel for his or her car and the final reason is the credit crunch, Kleist explained. However, these reasons will contribute to the increase in the used bike market in the future, Lee told us.
Remember why you got into this industry, Lee advised stores. “If it was like me, it is for the love of the sport,” he explained. Kleist added, “Sometimes we have to stop and think about that.”
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MANUFACTURER:
LARRY COLEMAN, KAL-GARD LUBRICANTS
For as long as he can remember, Larry Coleman said he has always been fascinated by motorcycles and racing in general. “I grew up in Northern California and at 15 and a half I got my learners permit and bought a Cushman scooter,” he recalled, laughing, “I had the scooter picked out and my lunch money saved up for a year ahead of time.” After owning a couple more
Cushmans, Coleman said he hit the big time in 1962 when he bought a Honda 50 high pipe model. He added that he followed that up with his first big bike, a Triumph TR-6.
He told us he joined the Air Force in 1965 and, while stationed in Guam, Coleman bought a Honda 250 Scrambler. His next stop was Germany in 1967 and Larry said from then on he had a passion for BMW motorcycles. “I got interested in sidecars and sidecar racing while in the Air Force. I took a European discharge in 1970 and stayed for two and a half more years as a civilian, returning to the States in 1973,” Coleman continued, “Part of my plan for staying in Germany was to be in the motorcycle business; I had to support my sidecar racing somehow! My partner and I imported American specification Yamaha’s, R-5’s and DT-1’s mostly, and sold them tax and duty free to GI’s. That was my first official entry into the motorcycle business.”
Back in the States, Coleman continued to road race sidecars and, in 1979, he picked up a sponsorship from Kal-Gard Lubricants, he explained. Two years later, Larry said he wrapped up his road racing career and was then asked to go work for Kal-Gard as a road rep. “My first two years in the motorcycle industry were spent in a converted box van traveling the country ten months of the year calling on dealers, working with distributors and attending racing events. It was a fantastic way to learn sales and marketing and it helped grow the Kal-Gard brand in a way that was very unique in its day,” Coleman told us.
 Around 1984, he said, he went to work as the sales manager for SuperTrapp Industries and, during that time, the company introduced its first stainless steel exhaust system. Coleman returned to Kal-Gard a few years later and in 1990, Larry said he went out on his own and he returned to his home in Northern California to start his own consulting business.
“Over the years I have been very fortunate to have had some great clients and I have worked for the best,” Coleman stated. He told us he had the chance to partner with Don Graves for a while with an East/West rep. agency that was very successful and in the last couple years, Larry has served as a rep. for Barnett Clutches and Cables, BUB Exhaust, Terry Components and K&N. “At the beginning of 2008 I was asked to go back to work at Kal-Gard Lubricants to help re-establish the brand; I have come full circle!” he exclaimed.
Currently Coleman serves as the vice president of sales and marketing of
Kal-Gard, alongside new owner Bob Briley, who was the general manager of the aerospace division of Kal-Gard back in the 1980’s to 1990’s, he told us. “[Briley] spun off on his own in 1992 with his own aerospace company called
Incotec, which is now the parent company of Kal-Gard,” he added.
The people are by far the most enjoyable aspect of this industry, Larry stated. “Most of them ride or have ridden and truly have a love of the sport,” he explained. He continued by saying, “This is still an industry where your word and your hand shake are your bond. You can’t say that about a lot of industries today.”
Throughout the years, Coleman said some of his best moments include going to big trade shows, meeting up with old friends and seeing how the industry has grown. “There are some great new products every year and it is fun to see them grow and prosper,” he told us. Another aspect of this industry Larry said he enjoys involves racing. “Nothing is better than good competition on the race track: that really trips my trigger!” Coleman exclaimed.
Larry told us he recently sold his street bike because he’s been spending way too much time in the garage; however, he might buy a dual sport bike in the future for the occasional ride. “I have a very busy travel schedule and I don’t get to ride much anymore … I still race at the Bonneville Salt Flats every year,” he explained. Coleman said he has set several records, his most recent in 2007 and he races for Bob Bakker of Bakker
Motorsports. “He has a turbo-charged Hayabusa kneeler sidecar that we hope to keep setting records with,” he explained, adding, “The best part is going to the salt every year and getting the need for speed taken care of and just having a great time for a week.”
It is his belief that the biggest threat to the industry is our own complacency, he stated. “Motorcyclists, from grass roots to industry level, need to be pro-active so that we do not continue to loose riding areas and riders’ rights,” Coleman explained. On the other hand, the side-by-side market has great potential, he added. For two wheeled units, Larry said he has noticed solid growth in the aftermarket accessory business. Coleman explained, “Bike sales are going to be a little slow but that doesn’t mean that the customer is not going to accessorize. Consumables like tires, batteries, chains and lubricants will continue to be a good solid profit center.”
“Remember that the customer is king,” he told stores. “Keep that loyal customer happy and you will continue to do well. The same could be said for manufacturers and distributors. There is no substitute for good old customer service and time in the trenches with your customers,” Coleman concluded.
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