“As a teenager, a father of one of my friends had an old Cushman scooter, which I occasionally got to borrow every now and then,” Don Parkinson remembered. He told us when he was around 19, he bought a Triumph motorcycle – this was around the early 1960s and he’s been riding ever since. “I have loved everything about riding ever since I was a teenager,” Parkinson stated. Nowadays Don said he does a little bit of everything, from drag racing, to cruising the mountain roads, to taking the scenic routes along the back roads of Georgia. “I also attend all the major rallies annually and travel to regional shows as well. I truly love this industry!” he exclaimed.

In 1996, Parkinson and his wife Marilyn bought a small shop close to their home in Atlanta, GA, after it had gone out of business, Don told us. He said they re-launched the dealership and named it Bikers Dream of Atlanta. “At first, Marilyn, along with another store manager ran the store through the weekdays,” he explained. However, in 1999, Don said he left his corporate position and started working full-time at the dealership.
Parkinson said even though he’s only ever served as the president of Bikers Dream, he has also held a position as a dealer advisory board member for one of the custom OEMs. “In my current role, I do everything from greeting customers and managing inventory levels, to working with the service department and managing employees,” Don described. “Marilyn and I wear a lot of hats,” he laughed.
Together the two manage the day-to-day operations of the store, Parkinson continued. “But Marilyn also handles our event planning, especially with the charity events we participate in, such as toy runs,” he explained, adding, “Our roles consist of finance and accounting, customer service and vendor relations.”
Don told us both he and Marilyn love this industry because it is very low key and there’s no need for a suit and tie. “It’s also an industry where one can speak freely and openly with peers and colleagues,” he explained. The powersports industry is much more casual than the corporate world and in this industry, people are transparent and tell it like it is and Parkinson said they respect them a whole lot for that.

“Having the opportunity to be involved in motorcycles in a charitable way is the best thing about working in the powersports industry,” Don stated. He added, “It is a good vehicle to get people involved in the community in a meaningful and positive way.” Parkinson said they also love to see how excited one of their customers get when they’re first introduced to riding, or when they buy their first bike. “It can be very rewarding to help people realize their dreams and do it in such a fun way,” Don told us.  Right now, he added, they are especially excited about the growth potential of the women’s market. More women are taking up riding and Don said he has noticed an increasing number of younger riders expressing an interest in buying metric bikes. “I think all dealers in this industry are going to need to learn at some point to market metric bikes,” Parkinson stated.

The economy is certainly a big threat because it has resulted in a decline in the number of people who can afford to continue to ride right now, Parkinson explained, and because bikes are more of a hobby item, some people don’t really think they need to continue to use them at this time. “This climate is very challenging right now,” he stated. Another threat is overproduction, added Parkinson. He continued by saying, “I wish some manufacturers would quit trying to create a demand that isn’t there.”
When asked to give some advice to others within this industry, Don shared this with us: “It’s great to be in a business that people really enjoy, but you still have to treat it like a business. Being in the industry isn’t always fun and games. There are tough decisions to make and different market cycles to weather. We all need to stick to making good marketing and finance decisions and protecting business relationships. These good business practices will help grow our industry for the long-term.”
Don Parkinson and his wife Marilyn.

“When I was about three my dad started taking me for rides in the canyon on the tank of his 1972 MX360,” K&N Powersports Brand Manager Johnny Jump recalled. “He would drop me off at the base of a hill, while he and his buddies would hillclimb. At the end, he would throw me back on the bike and we would head home,” he continued. It was great until one time, on the way down, Jump said they went “head over teakettle” and his father took him home all wadded up.

At the age of 11, Jump got his first bike, a 1979 RM80 and he said he has been riding ever since. “Today, I ride because I can’t really get it out of my system,” Johnny told us, adding, “It’s my main source of exercise and probably mental therapy.”
Once he could drive, Jump explained, he would always drive down to the local dealership after school, where he spent his time helping the staff bring the bikes in, unloading their stock and just hanging around the parts and service departments. “We did weekend rides out in the desert with the local dealership and it was always a good group of guys who really enjoyed motorcycles, actually knew how to ride and did the work right on the bikes,” described Jump. He continued, “I knew I wanted to do something in the motorcycle industry, just was never sure exactly what.”
Most of Jump’s previous experience in the powersports industry came right after his college graduation. He told us he was hired at Troy Lee Designs in June 1993 to manage the company’s international sales. During this time Jump said he helped the company to fill in many of the missing countries in its international distribution network and also branched it out into two new separate markets, motocross and mountain bike. 
“After getting my feet wet with the international distributors, I began managing the domestic distributors as well,” Johnny explained, “Because my customers were purchasing a large percentage of the overall sales, I began forecasting inventory and purchases.” This lead to Jump helping out with costs and product pricing, which then lead to his managing all of the inventory costs and pricing, inventory buys, domestic distributor sales and international sales.
“After a while, because I had communication with each of the vendors, I began knowing the intricate details and features and benefits of all of the products,” he told us. Jump added that then he started writing copy for the ads, catalogs and sales brochures.
“At the end, I was managing our domestic sales force, six inside sales reps, 18 or so outside sales representatives, U.S. distributor sales, international distributor sales, product manager and purchaser for about 50 percent of the complete line,” described Jump. “It was completely wide open in many different directions and a bit overwhelming,” he explained, adding, “I gained a lot of experience in just about every aspect of business and wouldn’t be where I am today without it.”
Jump’s term at Troy Lee Designs lasted until November 2003, he said. Currently he works for K&N Engineering as the powersports brand manager, Jump told us, and his duties include “anything that relays the image or message on how K&N is perceived by its customers.” This includes print advertising, catalog, brochures, POP, event displays, dealer displays, educational literature, rider support, distributor ads, distributor catalog content, rider support, photography for ads and catalogs, he listed.
Being a part of what makes this industry exciting is something Jump told us he really enjoys. He said that he also likes educating customers, both at the dealer and retail levels, about the benefits, performance and ease-of-use K&N’s product brings. “If you truly believe in a product, it makes it fun to talk about and share with others,” Johnny explained, adding, “I think if you can be on the same level with a customer, whether it be a dealer or consumer, they will truly respect your information.”
The powersports industry is such a small, tight knit group of people, he continued, any one of its events are fun to attend. “Go to supercross, the outdoors, a roadrace, rally or any one of the shows and you always see people you know in the strangest places,” Johnny stated. “[It] makes it fun,” Jump added, and he does a lot of business on the road and at events. “But, sometimes you will strike up conversations with people in a coffee shop, on the plane or in the airport and you never know where it will lead,” he told us.
Jump said he believes the knock-off products are the biggest threat to the industry. He has always believed that companies should not make something unless they can make it better, Jump explained, and K&N shares this philosophy, which is part of the reason he enjoys working for the company. 
“There are so many companies now that are just trying to make a buck. I feel that you need to be passionate about what you do,” he stated, adding, “If you are making a product for a specific market, get involved, understand all of the dynamics of what that bike/market needs in order to be the best it can be. Then go design/manufacture it. Don’t just see someone else selling something and getting success and then go make your own.” The threat the industry faces is that, with lower out-of-country manufacturing, lower development and insurance costs, the prices of the product will decrease to the point where legitimate companies won’t be able to survive without following, Jump explained.
K&N has been around since the 1960s and there have been a lot of motorcyclists who have their own preconceived ideas about its products, some right, some not, said Jump. In the last ten years, its market has grown considerably due in part to the company’s efforts of educating its reps, dealers and retail consumers as a whole, he explained. “Our products appeal to every age and every market of rider imaginable. Therefore, getting each of them on the same page as to the true features and benefits of our products is a continuous battle É Every day, we are updating more and more distributor catalogs, dealerships’ parts managers through automatic e-mail updates and consumers through advertising,” Jump described. Johnny said he truly feels that as more people become more understanding of K&N’s products, the more success the company will see in the future.
“Remember to take advantage of the benefits of working in the industry,” Jump recommended to others within the powersports industry. Many enthusiasts get into this industry because they have a passion for the sport and enjoy living in and around it, he explained, but once they get to the position they are in today, they are burdened with so many responsibilities that they don’t have a chance to enjoy riding as much anymore. “So, stay on the bike, get involved with industry events, take your family to the races, be sure you spend time with your bike and enjoy the sport,” he advised.