Purchasing considerations when investing in an iconic motorcycle brand, with Steve Willis, Dealer Principal of Sykes Harley Davidson

Welcome to The Real Life Buyer.

In this episode I am extremely pleased to interview Steve Willis, Managing Director and Dealer Principle of Sykes Harley-Davidson. 
Looking to purchase your next Harley-Davidson?
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ABOUT SYKES HARLEY DAVIDSON
Sykes Harley-Davidson is located only short distances from Eastbourne, Lewis and Brighton on the A22 at Holmes Hill on the south east coast of England. This well established business has sold the Harley-Davidson range of motorcycles for many years and prides itself on its reputation for sales, service and the production of outstanding custom motorcycles. This reputation is backed up by one of the largest Chapter Memberships in England, over 400 strong, called the 1066 Chapter which is the only Chapter worldwide named only with numbers.

ABOUT THE HOST
My name is David Barr.
I have been working as a Purchasing Manager for over 20 years and have had the joy of working in various manufacturing industries throughout this time.

I have signed contracts for many millions of pounds Sterling over these years across a range including, but not limited to Capital Equipment; Recruitment services; Finished, semi finished and raw products including castings, machined parts, fabricated parts, moulded parts, rolled and extruded products; PPE; Carriage and Logistics services; Printed books and boxes; Gaming materials; Contractor Services including building, plumbing, roofing, AC, maintenance etc.

I am passionate about saving money, buying quality goods and services, developing positive and effective working relationships with suppliers and colleagues and driving improvement through out the supply chain.

Now I wish to share this knowledge and that of highly skilled and competent people with you, the listener, in order that you may hopefully benefit from this information.

CONTACT DETAILS FOR SYKES HARLEY-DAVIDSON
Website : http://www.sykeshd.com
Instagram : @sykes_hd
Instagram: @Speed_and_Custom
Facebook : Sykes Harley-Davidson
Email : info@sykeshd.com
Telephone: 00 44 1825 872003

CONTACT ME, The Real Life Buyer @
Website: www.thereallifebuyer.co.uk
Email: david@thereallifebuyer.co.uk
Find and Follow me @reallifebuyer on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Disclaimer
The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast are those solely of the host and guest(s) involved and do not reflect the views of any other individual or company. This podcast does not constitute professional advice or services. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information is strictly at your own risk and we will not be liable for any we will not be liable for any losses or damages in connection with any information provided.

Transcript

00:01

Welcome to The Real Life buyer, whether you are buying for yourself or your business. Here you will find tips, techniques and knowledge to support your journey to buying smart, interviewing business owners and technical experts to give you information and guidance before parting with no money, save money time to get what you want, when you want it. Now introducing the Real Life Buyer, Dave Barr

Dave Barr  00:25

Hello, and welcome to the Real Life Buyer. Today, I'm extremely pleased to introduce you to Steve Willis, Managing Director and Dealer Principal of Sykes Harley Davidson. I've been a keen motorcyclist for scary 37 years now. Having started my motorcycle journey on an old Kawasaki trials bike, riding 20 miles to and from work every day. Since then, I have enjoyed other motorcycles in my stable, including Suzuki, Triumph and KTM. However, some 10 years ago, after taking a shine to the Harley stand at the NEC, I stumbled into a dealership near Silverstone. I immediately fell in love with a custom Fat Bob, took it for a spin and bought it. I still have this bike today, and have no plans to part with it anytime soon. So, without further ado, I welcome Steve to the show to discuss the purchasing considerations when looking to invest in this icon of a motorcycle brand. Hello, Steve.

Steve Willis  01:31

Hello, how are you? Thank you for having me.

Dave Barr  01:33

Oh, I'm good. Thank you. It's brilliant that you're on board now. And we've got our technical things out the way.

Steve Willis  01:39

Excellent. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Nice to be on your podcast. And I hope I can help the listeners understand our brand Harley Davidson and welcome new riders into it.

Dave Barr  01:52

Absolutely. That's right. Well, let's get stuck in then. Perhaps you could spend a few minutes telling the listeners about yourself, your riding history and your journey to becoming the Dealer Principal of Sykes Harley Davidson.

Steve Willis  02:07

Okay. Well, my, my journey is probably quite different to a lot of people in my position in the motorcycle industry. I mean, I've got a technical background in car mechanics, I was a mechanic in a family business in Eastbourne for 16 years, so direct from school, I joined my father and grandfather. So we had three generations of us working together. And we had a nice family business. It was in a back street in Eastbourne, we served petrol, pumped gas to people and looked after MOT's and repairs. And it was a very community kind of style business. I wasn't really the guy who was the best mechanic, I could do the job, but it wasn't in my heart. And, you know, I couldn't see a future doing that. My father, who was running the business, was ill for quite a period of time. And I took the reins of the garage, which led me to be more confident and aware of what I wanted to do in the future. And it was manage and look after people and and try and do the best. best we could. And being a backstreet garage, I always wanted to deliver excellence. So yeah, we were charging less labor than a dealer. We were you know, we didn't have the facilities as such as a dealer. But I wanted to always deliver a dealer standard, I don't know where it came from. I just believe that everything should be correct and with every service should be done correctly. And not just wiping an oily rag over things, it needed to be done by the book and, you know, my sort of influence at a young age, rubbed off a bit and we had a back then a little mini metros as a courtesy car. And you didn't have courtesy cars for independent garages back then. But it was it was quite cool and quirky. And it was used well and it gained attention. and managing the place and customers expectations was quite natural to me as well. But when my father returned, it was a case of okay, I'm the boss, we don't need two bosses. So I went back on to the tools. And my ability to connect with people was was one of my gift is a strong word, but one of my personal advantages, I guess, and I had a lot of customers who would come to us because we got on and I listened and we do the job properly. So I then knew that staying in mechanics wasn't for me. So I looked at leaving the family businesses which is to be honest quite a quite a difficult choice. And in my own thoughts, quite a brave one, because you've always when you work for family, but that sort of comfort blanket if you like. And I, I've been there since child to man. And so I looked in, in being in the sales area of the motor trade. So I went through a couple of interviews, I think one was with Mercedes. And from a mechanic trying to get into the sales role in a big dealership, it was, I was kind of laughed at, in a way. And I remember the interview, and it was quite, it's quite harsh. And I was with the VP at a time with the Mercedes dealership and the Sales Manager. And it was, it was a, it was a test and a massive eye opening experience. But back then, I had served the guy who had the machinery business, which was John Shaw machinery, and he offered me a job at running the service side of the business. So we were looking after ground care equipment. And it was a brand called Toro, which was a rival to John Deere. And so I was running that business. And we were looking after service contracts for Crawley for Wentworth for Sunning Dale for all the sort of top level, and grass and turf specialist shops. So from cutting their lawns next to the road, to cutting the lawns at Wimbledon, we were the ones who, who looked after the equipment looked after service contracts and, and so I ran that for three years, and were the team contract servicing guys going out. Very, very keen at looking after people again, because you're looking after superintendents of high end golf courses and groundskeepers, who expect the best. So it was good.  Again, good to learn this and take this on board. Because the company took on Harley Davidson and Harley Davidson was looking at the time for someone in our area. And it was perfect timing, because we had some business meetings of Directors and Harley Davidson at the time, and they took on the brand, it worked well on area, work well on the way we at Holmes Hill. And so in months, really, we also, were going to run Harley Davidson. Now with Harley Davidson, and the greens area of the business, we thought it would run and we thought with, you know, we do a few motorcycles, and it would add to the pot, and you know, it would all work out really well. But in a very short space of time, the motorcycle sales grew rapidly, the popularity of the new dealership grew beyond our expectations. And John Shaw looked at where we were, and where the business would go forward and looked at selling the business to the two directors at the time. So they took the John Shaw business of machinery to another location and the site began and came. Shaw Harley Davidson. So the complete site, which is a two acre site, a really nice site that we've got here. Then I basically, I guess, we spoke the other day really created my own value. So I I found that I was connected with people from the service level, but not only that, but into the into the showroom as well. And it was it was a natural progression. And as time went by, we found another service manager. And I ran as I think I ran as like Showroom Manager, General Manager and then Sales Manager and Sales Director and then, you know, I've become Manager Director in 2018 no late 2017 sorry, when John and Denise Sykes bought Shaw Harley Davidson and from John Shaw, John Shaw retired seventy eight years of age and John Sykes and independent businessman came along very passionate about Harley Davidson fan brand, very passionate about petrol in all shapes and sizes, and bought the business and that's where we are today. So his investment into Shaw Harley Davidson led it to the change to Sykes. And here we are today sitting on a very successful business. We've been operating now for 18 years, and got a good reputation. Obviously never, never sort of rest on that always things to improve, always things to do. But it's been a it's been a good journey. And I think that the layers of where you've been in where you are now or help into understanding people business and best best practices, I think.

Dave Barr  09:53

Brilliant. That's really interesting. So interesting transgression, thanks for that. So if we looked at the current range of Harley models, would you mind giving a sort of very brief overview of those models, the kind of retail prices there are at the moment and what you think your expectations will be for retail prices in 2021.

Steve Willis  10:14

Okay, and there's there's some big changes that are happening with Harley Davidson and, and changes through the models and the model family, and the Sportster that's been around since 1957. And a very iconic bike is being discontinued, from the range for 2021. And there might be some 2020 models going into 21. But there won't be new models produced which is a, which is a big blow, really, because it's such a iconic motorcycle, it's a very customizable motorcycle. The Sportster came in and we're talking in the early 8000 pounds, area of price. And on to 10,000, for the 1200. These bikes have been like I say, very customizable, they bring in a younger, I think group of people there, they're a bike for everyone, you know, their bike that sometimes the stepping stone for the bigger v twin engine, and a lot of times they're a keeper, and people just, you know, personalize them, and keep them I know people who still got 2003 models I sold them way back then. So that's a big change, and Harley Davidson are now looking at the families being reduced. So they will now have the softail family, which changed in 2017. And went on to the Milwaukee eight engine and new chassis. So the softail changed then, which was a massive step for Harley and a really positive one. Because when they change the softail and when we say softail we're talking like Fat Boys, Heritage's, Deluxe's and so on when they when they changed the platform, which is the the frame to monoshock suspension frame and the engine to a Milwaukee engine that started at like 1750 cc and went on to 1850 plus, it was something that really boosted sales in many ways that the bike was two stone lighter than the previous Twin Cam model. It was, I guess more technically and in advanced and the power train from the engine and transmission was smooth. And you know, it was just a winner, if someone was, you know, a bit tired of their, their previous model and wanted change rather than just changing for a bigger cubic capacity Twin Cam to a completely new engine. It had that it had that wow factor. So that's been sorry. So that's been that was that was a real boost and a real positive step forward for Harley Davidson. So the softail family will now start with a softail standard. So the softail standard is a very sort of bobber style bike, um 21 inch front wheel 16 inch rear, starts with the 107 cubic inch engine, and has the small ape hangers, and that really clean basic look. And that starts at under 12,000. Looking at price range, it may go up slightly, I'd probably guess, a few percent, if anything for the 2021 range. And then you've got models in the softail range like the sport glide, which is very popular model indeed. And small fairing on the front, upside down forks, cast wheels, and a real usable, sort of crossover tourer. So not not too big, you know. And then you've got things like the Street Bob, which again is a bobber more blacked out and so very similar to the softail standard. So I should go back to the Sport, Sport glides around the 15,000 mark, color dependent Street Bob in a 12. Again, depending on what color choice you have, then you've got the Fat Bob, which is a bike that was originally a dyna in name. So Harley Davidson done this and changes but kept the names I think I don't know if they just want to test your technical knowledge or make sure that the service writers pick it up on the right points. So you could have a 2017 Fat Bob dyna or softail. So completely different models but same name. So the dyna and the Street Bob went over into the new softail family. So the Fat Bob is the one that people will will recognize from a very square and elongated led front light. It's like chopped off, upside down folks. Twin brake rotors and front cast wheels again, and a very tank looking by it looks like a tank, it looks heavyweight, but it's one of the best handling bikes in the range. It's an it's an amazing bike. You have a sports bike rider who's always wanted a Harley, but not ready for the complete nostalgic look of a Heritage or a Fat Boy perhaps, then a Fat Bob will tick the boxes because it is a hooligans machine, it will, it will make someone smile and grin. It it will make them pull the throttle back slightly more, I guess, because it's the style you're sitting up right. And you've got a good view of the road ahead. And I think you ride more progressively on something styled like that. And then we've got the classics like their Heritage, which has been around for ever. I would think early 90s from the Evo, that's a very classic looking bike, more blacked out, as it was originally now. The 2020 model, blacked out forks, blacked out engine, giving it a very retro feel. But as simple look, I'm not sure yet if they're bringing back chrome on it in 2021. We were yet to find out and we probably will find out properly in January 21. When they're talking about doing the virtual launch of the the new models. The Fat Boy, again is a softail Fat Boy is one of my favorites. The fat boys been around forever with the original ghost which was a silver white with the yellow highlights in the for instance in the top of the engine all the way through to the 30th anniversary that they did this year which was a full blacked out gold badge representation of the bike. The Fat Boy had many changes and it's totally changed its stance but kept its its kept its silhouette. So on a with a shadow of the by kind of on a white background. You would recognize it as a Fat Boy, but when the lights hit it, it's a Fat Boy, but it's got this prototype feel about it. The 16 inch wheels, or should I say 17 when they moved up into the 16 inch was originally like the terminators bike have now gone to 18 two inch bigger rims and not only that you've got from a 150 mm rear tire gone to 240 mm we're tight, and the front tire now is bigger than the original rear tire for the fat boy as a 160 front tire which is huge inch and a quarter handlebars and a locomotive style headlight. So again, a chopped headlight is gone from the big sort of Domi headlight into this chopped, setting chrome front end and they keep the setting chrome throughout the bike. It is a stunning bike to look at. And it is truly the iconic bike as well. The Fat Boy, Fat Boy to Harley's is like Big Mac to McDonald's, you know, you don't have to say the latter. You say the first and everyone know what you're talking about. Yeah, the Deluxe, which is a very nostalgic bike, very similar to the Heritage came in the single seat, kind of like Cadillac style indicator lights, and the later models. Looks like it's being dropped for 2021. When I say dropped, a lot of times Harley seem to give a model a rest and then bring it back on. We've seen it before like the softail standard that's come back in 2020 was around in 2002 to probably 2006 or something like that off top of my head. It had a rest it's come back. There are models that they've done that before with and it's interesting. they doubted they're bringing things like the Springer's back, which are my favorites as well like the Crossbones and standard FL Springer because of the ABS issues and stuff like that with that floating sort of engineered front end. So yeah, there's a there's a good mix of softails so there's a bike for all and then you go into the touring range as well as well. So you've got the big baggers as they're called in the States. Yeah, you've got that. The hard boxes on the back. We've got a you know the fairings on the front of the screens on the front. So we're talking the, you know, the classic Road King. We're talking about the Road King specials, which will let Street Glides and Street Glide specials, Ultras and Road Glides. So these bikes are the mile munching bikes, you know, they've got the luggage capacity. They've got the comfort but you know, the softail saying that we'll do the 500 mile ride if you want a day, you know, they've got the code for that. But these ones are to accommodate all your gear with it as well. infotainment systems, as in Bluetooth connectivity with Sat Nav, and, you know, Spotify and Apple Play. Yeah, they've got all the all the gear going on, cruise control, fantastic bike to ride, I was lucky enough to ride in 2018, from LA to Milwaukee for the 150th anniversary. And I was lucky to have a Road Glide, which is a little bit of a Marmite bike. It's it's got a very squared double headlight in the front, and a huge fairing. And the fairing sits static with a bike. So the bars moved, but the fairing doesn't unlike the Street Glide. And, you know, that never plays in my mind that people always pick up on that. And that that bike is an amazing probably one of my favorite tourers, because of the size because of cubby holes because you can ride it progressively as the handlebar style, which pull back towards you big inch and a quarter again, allow you to ride in a very relaxed cruzi position. Or when you're going around some twisties bit the Stelvio Pass or be it, you know, along some beautiful coast road. And you can and it sits nicely and it handles really well. So the tourers will always hold their own and I think obviously still the biggest sellers in the USA. You go to a big meet like the Milwaukee in Milwaukee when they had the 115th anniversary. You cannot believe the rows and rows and rows of tourers. Not so much here. I think here it's a sort of third generation bike. I think people come in, dip their toe with a Sportster or Dyna. softail. And then they find out. Yeah, they they're going to Portugal, they're going to South of France their going on a ride with some mates and they will organically evolve to having a touring bike and comfort for pillion, comfort for rider. And we'd like to say everything you need to accomplish these destinations. Yeah, so I could go on. Where do I stop?  Yeah, that's right. Thinking about the pricing, how much the retail prices? Are they for the for the Fat Bob and the Fat Boy and they were do they start? I know there's no finish..., I mean. Yeah. I mean, yeah, obviously, with customization there, there is no finish only then the bank account being broken. Yeah, I mean, you're talking, like I said, with the softails, you're getting into the market just under 12,000. And going up talking about the Heritage of the Fat Boy, you're talking sort of 19,000 with 114 engines, just north of that. And then going into the touring market, you're going around the 22 plus, you can go all the way up to a CVO model in the tourers, which is called Custom Vehicle Operations. So this is like the top spec, like they do the, they do this sort of thing with the Range Rovers as well as the ultimate. So not only do you get, like for this year, for instance, 117 cubic inch engine, you get the custom paint, you get the options of chrome or black engine cases, you get all the billet equipment. When I say billet, it's like aircraft, machined, foot peg shifters and all the all the top end stuff that Harley Davidson do from their own catalog. And these bikes go to 30 to 34,000 pounds. Very limited though. So as a dealer, we might be lucky to have three of each. And you know, there's kind of like, we'll probably be lucky to have six CVOs in a year. So normally, this customer's orders only, and then they pull them down from the factory and that customers name or if they do land in the UK, then you know, you might get one on display terms, so you can offer it to the customer base. They are the best of the best. We do our own thing as well as the Custom Shop we do something called SSO which is Sykes Special Operations. So if anyone wants a custom bike but they want to keep it Harley Davidson, then we offer that so it might be a Fat Boy, totally accessorize with 117 engine, custom paint, painted wheels, whatever the customer wants, we can do that special program. They do things like that with tailor made I think it's cool with Ferrari. Rolls Royce obviously have always done bespoke stuff. And then we have Speed and Custom which has been around since 2010. For us which is a brand in a brand and speeding customers our custom house which is located same until. We do bespoke bikes from sort of the, the frame upwards if necessary. But we always use Harley Davidson and we don't do hardtails we don't buy in aftermarket frames, we use the original frame and geometry might change front ends, we might take all the running gear off, engine out everything and repaint the frame building upwards. And we've done some nice bikes, we've done some, some bikes for obviously, high end customers, we built a couple of bikes for Grayson Perry, the artist, and, you know, big man in that area that he's recently used on on television as well, which is quite, quite nice to see. So we are, we're in a nice place of being an independent dealer who can offer what people's expect expectations are and and that's custom. I mean, you walk into a Harley Davidson show, and then you expect to be able to personalize your bike bit from the get go or down the line once you want to know where you are.

Dave Barr  26:02

Yeah, yeah. Just think interested in the new stock? So is the new stock you receive something that you've ordered yourself you selected? Or is it pushed out from the factory and you take what you get? How does that work?

Steve Willis  26:16

I think I think things are changing for 21. And I think we will be allocated our showroom and demo bikes by the Motor Company. Because they, you know, they look like they're sort of reworking the way they do things to provide for their dealer network. In the past, it's been a case of myself, my sales manager, and the team sitting down and looking what's best for us. I mean, obviously, we used to have a certain, you know, a certain mix of bikes, you know, if some dealers, especially in the States would probably choose more tourers, and soft tails and sportsters and so forth. We've always had good stuff, we've always tried to choose to have a real good mix. So you can walk in, and you can see the sportsters, the dynas, softtails, the tourers, and understand what is available. So we've always been to cherry pick, we've always been able to cherry pick really, which has been nice with, we're limited to the number of bikes we can have. And we have, you know timeframes of payment for the bikes that we have in stock. And once we've sold them, then we're allowed to replenish your stock. But we've always gone out to make sure that someone comes in and understands the whole range. And because what we wouldn't want to do is have someone like yourself, visit the store, buy a bike, and then find out there's another bike similar that they could have had, you know, we'd like to put everything out in front and do the best we can to make sure that choice, which we we respect is quite an investment for any individual, that to make sure they've got the right bike that they want. But saying that most of the time people come in, they're well educated. They've studied, they've been on the internet, they've watched YouTube, they know they want a Sport Glide or Fat Boy or you know, Heritage and so on. But again, sometimes it does happen where someone is going to spec up a bike, which is going to exceed the price of a bike, that's already got it. If you see what I mean, they were they were just looking at one, one of the members of the families we call it and they wanted that bike. It happened with things like Fat Boys, you could sell a Fat Boy before it sort of took the steroids and blew up into this huge, muscular American dream. And they would get out they would want to get out a Fat Boy with passing lights the screen, pillion seats, some bags. And you say, Well, yeah, you should buy a Heritage really? Do you want to join the solid wheels? And that no, not really, not really fast? Well, the Heritage here is going to save you a few thousand pounds on what you're doing. So obviously we're here to, to do that and be specialists in that field that that's what could happen if you didn't have you know, the bikes in front of you and you didn't have staff I guess, that were open and willing to give advice, I guess. And we are a non commissioned paid dealership as well. So which is unique, I think and talking to the network and knowing the motor trade. Our guys do not get commission on selling more expensive motorcycles. So which is great, you can focus on what that person wants. It's not going to affect the salespersons wages if they send you the 5000 pound bike or the 15,000 pound bike, which is always I think is always at the back of people's minds if things are moving forward because things do move forward. You know, we all go out to buy something and end up with going two tiers higher, you know, it does happen. And, you know, you look for a car, you look for a house, and suddenly you're in an area where, you know, you didn't first set out to be butwe all strive to get the best we can don't we for our buck.

Dave Barr  30:11

Yeah, absolutely. So you've got still some influence, but it's could be a little bit more factory led then in the future.

Steve Willis  30:18

Yeah, I think by the sounds of it, the factory. Well, I say the factory Harley Davidson UK, we work with obviously they're the distributor of the of the Harley's. And they, by the sounds of things will allocate us a display and demo filling, which is, which isn't always the best because, you know, you don't know what's going to happen what you don't want is 15 red bikes in your showroom, you know, I'd like to have a mix, I like to have the two tones and the blacks and an array of colors. And that's always the danger when someone's just got the job of allocating dealers bikes, because they're not thinking or seeing the way we are at the retail level. They're just doing a job. That's always a bit of a worry. So we'll have to see how that sort of pans out.

Dave Barr  31:09

Yeah, yeah. And they handled the logistics, you have to look at importing the bikes, or they just manage the whole process

Steve Willis  31:17

Yeah, that's luckily, that's all managed so Harley Davidson, UK manage all the distribution of the bikes. They, they handle, obviously, the currency, the tax, the customs, everything like that. So it's fairly straightforward for us. We order a bike. At the moment, they come from Belgium, when they've arrived from the States. They go to Belgium, holding depot. And then they're shipped in Belgium, to another logistics company who then bring them on crates to us and when we uncrate them, and yeah, it's just a case of then pre delivery, inspection them, adding accessories, going online and registering the bike for the customer. So yeah, it keeps things simple that way. 

Dave Barr  32:04

Yeah, yeah. Okay. Obviously you mentioned it's significant investment for people. When you get up to 30k, that's some kind of wedge. Yeah. But it's, yeah. So as you as you mentioned, that's quite important the person picks the right bike or selects the right bike for their particular style. So would you say, you know, how do you guys go to try and assess the most appropriate bike for that persons style of riding, as they do vary quite a bit.

Steve Willis  32:33

They do vary quite a bit. I mean, I guess, from myself being active in sales, it's about connecting with the customer. And understanding what they're looking for, understanding will be many things understanding will be if it's going to be something that someone wants to go away on. They want to go touring, if they want to ride as a couple, take a pillion. You know, that compared to somebody who just wants to, you know, roll around the weekend, or the person who wants to commute day in day out, are really, you know, strong questions, I think, the questions are very important to get out there. In the first instance, to understand where to look, obviously, the understanding as well is budget. So it's no good talking all day, about a 30,000 pounds CVO, which is the ultimate tourer when the customer has got a 10 grand budget, you know, we can then look into, you know, what's available on the pre owned fleet as well, you know, we've got to ask as well, if it's new, only are they looking at used? And then satisfying them, I guess, on what is available, you know, and making sure the bike is the right size for the solo rider or the the twin, make, seeing how long they've been riding, because obviously that makes a difference with insurance, especially with the younger audience, you know, you could go down a long sort of sales process and find that it's unaffordable to insure, that does that kind of happen with the young generation, but yeah, it's not been a big, problematic area, to be honest. And then finally, you know, having a look around what, what bike is for them. And, you know, sometimes I will say to the customer, and, you know, what you got to do is buy with your heart, you know, you've got to be, you've got to be attracted, like you were by the sounds of it to the Fat Bob, customized fat Bob that you saw, you got to be attracted. It's got, I think in this industry, it's more than just a motorcycle. Yeah. It's a cliche that sounds you've got to be attracted to it. It's like when you've seen your partner, for the first time, you're attracted to go to speak to them and make those bold moves, and then find out if they're compatible. So I think the first step is seeing something that makes you buzz, seeing something that you know that, you know, if you're not riding it, you're proud to own it. I think that's big key thing. And then seeing if it's, it's capable of doing the job you want it to do, you know, if it's a, if it's a, if it's sports, this is really attracting someone, and it's got an eight litre tank, they want to go to South of France, and the've got all these fans, then as much as they adore it and love it, it's not the right bike. You know, and, yeah, I think that's, that's key. And so I think that's, that's a that's a real, strong part of the conversation. Yeah, I think, I think the way myself and the team are, it's a, it's a relaxed atmosphere. You know, it's, it's not pressured, sales driven. Because, you know, we don't really work hard on targeting our individual salespeople, you know, we're quite happy how the natural flow of people buying bikes has happened over the, you know, over the last 18 years, you know, it's, we've never really changed things, you know, we have targets like everyone on with Harley Davidson, and what we do to allow us to be a better dealer, and invest more. But, yeah, we're quite easy on the gas, really, and let people find themselves and don't feel under pressure to make snap decisions, you know, and it works. And that that can be coming into the store, or connected, you know, contacting us from outside store, you know, because we've, we've always got bikes online. We're quite prominent on the used bike market as well. And we, we, again, connect with them and make sure that they're looking at the right thing, but I guess, with the people who's searching the internet, is a different ballgame. Again, kind of know what they're looking for. It's just it's either that one or that one. And, you know, then you can help them with the information, videos, pictures, history, everything that you need to know to help you make a decision confidently as a buyer. 

Dave Barr  37:06

Yeah, yeah. You touched on finance, obviously, the cost, are there financing options available from your dealership?

Steve Willis  37:13

Yeah, yeah, I mean, we use, you know, we have a finance house, we have the motor company have Harley Davidson financial services. So they're basically black horse as well, that black horse services. So this allows us to, you know, offer PCP plans, which are the plans when you have a balloon payment at the end, HP, which is directly paying for the bike. Yeah, which is an option that we always must, you know, make people aware of that we can do. Again, we're not pressure selling on finance, its just there as a, you know, as a product that's available just to help people, you know, move forward with a purchase. As they wish.

Dave Barr  38:02

Yeah, Yeah. That's good. Okay, we've touched on customization. Now, I certainly like, you know, engines that perform shall we say, and there's this reference to stage tuning, those people who are not Harley owners may not understand stage tuning. Can you explain that to them?

Steve Willis  38:21

Yes, that is stage 1234. They're all they're all probably stages that people like nod at but would probably like more information on, I mean, a lot of it, a lot of times you need to buy a new bike, you'd probably be keen to have it sounding like the Harley sound. And that's where the stage one comes in. Now, stage one is basically when you change the pipes, so a lot of people change their exhaust pipes, and you can have slip on style exhaust that just change the the, the end cans if you like the bike and keep their head is or manifold original, which will enhance the noise or some people change the whole system, which you'll see shorter versions, longer versions, twin dual versions of pipes that give out you know, quite a loud tone, which you'll recognize as a Harley Davidson. To complement the stage one pipes and to have a complete stage one. People also change the air breather, because obviously when they come into the country, the emissions are restricted. So they can legally get through all the all the checks and the breathers are changed when I say breather air filter, the air filters are changed so they breathe better. They have more airflow, and you'll see people have heavy breathers which are the cone shaped ones or they may have a breathers more nostalgic, which keeps the original, for instance circular air filter, but the innerds change, they have the like K & N style, a more heavy breathing filter, they've got no air going through. So to complete that they do different fuelers, there's different fuel packs, so the fueling is adjusted with the ECU. So you've got this balance of air fuel ratio, and you've got the more quicker outlet of the gases. So you have a complete stage one tuning gives you the, the noise and people grin at, and it gives you crisper throttle response. And it gives you some more horsepower. So that's stage one. And then people may go into stage two, which is generally cams. So they change their cams in their engine, which allows them to change their sort of torque curve. So there's different cams, where you may have a cam that the power comes in at the low end of the bike. So when you like, for instance, if you if you have to be careful how I say this I guess, I can't say your racing from the traffic lights, because obviously, you wouldn't be doing that. If you want to drag strip, in a controlled environment, then it would give you more power from from the from the acceleration from pulling the throttle open. And then there's cams where you can have the power curve come in later. So you'll get the power peak at certain RPM, higher lift cams, etc. So that's stage two is cams. Stage Three is when you change your cylinder pots if you like, and your pistons, so you've got bigger cubic capacity. So you've got a bigger cylinder, and bigger piston, so that's stage three. So you could go up from, you know, 80 to 114 cubic inch to 117 cubic inch. Harley Davidson do a 131 cubic inch now, which is huge, and they bought out this year. So you that's stage three, it's in the pistons. Stage four is when you do the heads as well. So you change your heads complete. So you've got, you've got the more polished ports, the bigger valves, the more efficient flowing high flow heads. So stage four would be heads, pistons, cylinders, cams, air filter, fueller and pipes. So that'd be stage four. And you'll be lighter yourself to drain your wallet would be much lighter from the experience. So yeah, you've got you've got all these screaming eagle products that that are the nation do they've been around for forever. And yeah, people love it could back in the carburetor days, you change your mikuni carb to a bigger 44 millimeter carb that I did on an old 95. So you have this big throttle suck and then you change your coils, you can change a HT leads so you can get screaming Eagle, higher performance spark plugs. So yeah, I mean, it's, it's fun tuning. It's fun, you know. So if it's customizing or tuning, it's still personal to you, you know, you can have 131 cubic inch softail, low rider S, which is quite a mid size bike. It's not a huge, it's quite a naked bike, but with 131 cubic inches, it's going to be like, you know, you've got to be prepared, you know, it's going to be like riding a Stallion, a stallion that's been stung by a scorpion. Yeah, just bolts away. Yeah, it's good. It's good fun. 

Dave Barr  43:42

Yeah, yeah, if you just thinking it, trying to get some perspective now. So just thinking of a standard bike you bought with no adaptations. So that is classed as, 100 points, if you're going to go to stage 123, and four, go up the scale when it goes like from 100 to 110, ultimately to like, 150? Or how would you give that understanding to people of what those stage jumps are in performance?

Steve Willis  44:11

in performance , that's difficult really. Yeah, I mean, I think if you, I think the people, you know, if you get to stage four, it's people are really sort of performance orientated in their mind. I mean, there's, I guess there's two, there's people who really are, you know, focused on the engineering and performance side and study the power curves and that, you know, and that stage three might be a little bit quicker on this curve at this rpm than stage four, and then you'll get the, the clients who, just like stage four is like, it's like having a five liter Mustang. Right. Why wouldn't you? You know, why would you have the lower CC Mustang when there's a five litre available, you know, it can be like that, you know, why have one turbo when there's a bi turbo Mercedes available? You know, it's, um, there are bragging rights, I think and, you know, I could be caught up in that quite easily myself. And there are other ones that are kind of like the techno kind of engine junkies who want to do it, but I mean, the investments, the investment and points gain is all down to, I guess how much the it's a different thing in Harley, it's the, because it's yours. And it's personal. Kind of like, it's an investment into into that just having into making your bike. Totally yours. And it's got the, you know, you've invested time researching, and you've changed the can and went through these ones that one, it's this addiction sort of thing. And some Yeah, I guess it's like tattoos and ink, you know, sort of a little tattooed in here. And suddenly a sleeve. And you know, half of it goes around your neck. It's addiction, in a way. Yeah, customizing, I think and performance are addictive, you know, because customizing what is customizing customizing to some is changed their grips and their pegs to match, you know, which is custom Yes, in the custom catalog. And then customizing to others is going for a 300 in the back end. And, you know, taking the bike down to the frame and not only doing that doing the biggest engine you can do. But if you're spending 60 grand, who's spending, you know, far less, you're still getting the same buzz on you because it's all relative to where you're at in life, I guess and what pleases you. So it's really it's hard to tell point, put it in a point scoring system. Because it's just down purely to the individual and what their expectations are. If someone were no one's going to really get the true power out of 131 stage four engine unless their a pro you know, you know, it's it's there. You can blast easier past traffic, if you know, you're in a rush. But it's yeah, it's a good question. It's really hard to answer that. And I think hopefully, I'll fumbled my way through it. And there is a little bit of sense that I've been in this world so long are kind of like, I know what I mean.

Dave Barr  47:34

Yeah, yeah. That's good. Now, thanks for that was pretty good. We mentioned obviously, customization, I'll delve a little bit deeper in into that. Obviously, some of the bikes you see out there, I've seen I've got some pretty amazing paintwork. Yeah, just trying to say, you know, you guys do a hell of a lot of customization and, you know, paint work is, it's very individual. So how do you try and turn people's dreams of what their bikes should look like? into reality? Let's say that start on the paint? Do you have a custom paint shop? Or do you work with specialists in the area? Or how do you work? 

Steve Willis  48:10

We, we've worked for probably 15 years with a painting company in cambly, called Image Design Custom. And Tom fuller and his team are on really good, obviously always takes time to get a really good team together. Because you want the experience and you want, you know, the inspiration and the imagination that you need in pain. Yeah, so we've worked with them, they, they're very well known. We've sort of grown with them in a way and they've grown, like, you know, suddenly, like your daughter looking you in the eyes, you know, a level quicker than you expected. Working with big brands, so they work with Red Bull, Monster, I mean, they do the Red Bull athletes helmets, every every Red Bull athlete from a downhill ski jumper to a motocross or to a mountain biker, to a sup board, athlete, you name it, they do that the helmets because those those Red Bull helmets, all painted individually, they're not mass produced still one offs, each one is different, you know, themes of that individual athlete, they do really good, you know, contracts with big companies like that, but we've grown up with them. And I guess we grew with them in a way that we tested their skills from day one. And then they they sort of progress further than they they were thinking they would be because of the challenges that they were given, you know, so we'd start off with the, you know, you say you came in and you wanted a custom soft tail, and you kind of got it in your mind and what you want, be like, it's kind of like why I've always I've dealt with some foreign clients before from Angola to Australia, to America. And there are a lot of them are done by email. You know, we it was it was rare that you do a Zoom call on your Zoom and Teams are really 2020 stuff online. I mean, we would FaceTime before but this is this is sort of natural now to, to get with people and talk to them on these, these apps. So I ran this right, I'm big part of the speech up from 2010, when we really sort of went on the map because we won the World Championships in Sturgis for custom bike building. And that was a big accolade, because it was the first time a dealer won it. The first time anyone from Europe won it is massive for us. And then we got a lot of people come and ask us questions. And for instance, I, this guy from Angola wanted a bike and I have to ask him many, many, many questions without being too intrusive, but needing to know. So if I was building a bike for someone remotely, I need to know what kind of personality there I need to know if they're flamboyant. If they're modest, if they were show off, if they're like I like to be noticed, or if they're more subtle. What they're sort of what their what they wear on their wrist, what they wear on their backs, you know, it's kind of like, if they're more Prada than George, you know, it's kind of like, you have to ask all these questions to understand who you're building this bike for. Because it's no good building a very James Bond ish, understated, but very, very classy bike for someone who wants it to shout out standing still based on color, or based on size of wheels, or based on chrome or lighting or wherever. So it's really important that the questions are asked again, this is like selling in the show room. But this is at another level. This is really personal. And because what you don't want is that that bike to arrive, they go, it's a lovely bike. But it's not me. That's happened once out of 200 builds, I built a bike for a Swiss guy. And he wanted a Ferrari, Ferrari inspired, you know, so to me Ferrari inspired is a bike that doesn't have Ferrari all over it, isn't obvious, but has elements that if you know, Ferrari, you would recognize, you know, you think, Oh my God, that's like a Scaglietti or whatever that yeah, these elements would be would be noticeable for those people in that arena. Plus in so thing, so go this bike, they went it went to Switzerland, and I was on holiday. And he phoned me up. He said, Steve, he said, I've got the pity. Didn't go Switzerland, sorry, it was still with us. We sent him a we transfer album, video, etc, of the bike. And he phoned me up. And he said, Steve, I love the bike. But it's not me. And I went, how do you mean, as I said, it's got the, you know, this and this, it's in the colors that you like, you said, it's it doesn't shout out enough, right? And I said, Okay, send me some examples. What you mean, he said that? Oh, yeah. And he sent me these pictures. And it took my breath, because it was kind of like, so obvious, and not being rude. It was, it was so tacky. That's what he wanted. So I'd miss those questions. So we did what you would hope would be done, we, we painted and we yeah, we fabricated the bike. So an obvious inspirations from Harley, but to a tacky level, in my opinion, you know, to him, it was perfect. But to me, it wasn't as I thought it should be. So I was putting too much of me into it or didn't advise enough along the way. So people make mistakes, but you put them right. But yeah, that was one of the ones that that that didn't go 100% but we got around it, and we did it and it got delivered. And now it's all happier, it's all good. And I think you have to make these mistakes to learn from and you have to be humble and, and put your hand out and say okay, that's my fault. Because I should have asked a few more, I should have got a few more pictures because we, we like to get mood boards from customers, you know, send us anything that inspires you. It can be architecture, you know, architecture, fashion, yeah, watch face, handbag, you know, whatever color design, and you can soon tell by a mood board, how detailed that person is, you know, if it's a guy who wants like the Ferarri all over his bike, or it's the guy or girl or whatever, who likes the detail bit the I like this, the way they put this buckle with a strap and all that sort of thing. And you can you can learn from that and it's a lot. It's a real test and it's a real sponsibility because they are putting all their trust in you, we don't have CAD design, we don't we, you know, we're hoping to progress to that one day where we can lay out a bike that this that your bike will look like once it's finished. And then we work with Roland Sands design. Yeah. And in American, he did a, he did a beautiful picture of a of a bike because we did a collaboration project with him. And our bike was that picture when it finished, which was really cool. I love that the way we've replicated the bike from the the original thoughts and inspiration for the picture. But we haven't got those tools to do that. So it's all been, I'm leaving it with you, I trust you and being open with people and say, actually, you know, you want to dragons all over it. Don't think it's gonna work. But if that's what you want, then we work on that, you know, because I'm always thinking ahead as well, I'm always thinking of residual value for them as well. I don't want people to invest a huge amount of money into a custom buy. And then say, look, I'd like to project I want to sell this and then having a problem. You know, all our speed and custom bikes have been very resellable they've come back in to stop. So that I think that's, that's always on the forefront of my mind as well. Yeah,

Dave Barr  56:19

I guess you've got this massive catalog in your head of what's available as well, because that used to be like Encyclopedia Britannica from memory. All the different options. Yeah. Is that still the same as that, is that on line now rather than the books.

Steve Willis  56:33

They have brought out books today. We're just talking about this today because we had a bike that came in because we're doing a lot more. Sort of classic Harley's or future classic Harley's, so we're buying you know, early Twin Cams because the Twin Cam, we we mentioned it earlier, people maybe moving forward to a 48 who've had a Twin Cam. And I'm talking about twin cams now because twin cams to me, are future classics, especially like early twin cams, I say early as in like 2000 plus. So we've been like buying and looking at models that are quite rare springer cross bones, fat boys. I bought a bike called a mood glide the other day, which is a 94, 95 and it's got cowhide seat and what we're building as well, not only doing the Speed and Custom Shop is having kind of a like a classic corner. So, you know, we're talking 10, 11 grand fat boys on a 2005, 15 years old, but we refurbish them in house with our custom skills. So they are back to factory standard. That's what I want to do. So if a bike comes in, like a Crossbones, I've got two I bought two Crossbones ever day, one owner bikes, but slightly neglected, and changed around a bit, different pipes as in short ones that don't really match that whole nostalgic thing. So we've been refurbishing this any anything that needs to and we've been doing. So come 2021 we will have a, I think a whole host of future classics that have been done by Sykes. So that that to me is factory spec with Harley Davidson accessories. Now you mentioned A Harley Davidson book is super thick. And I went off on the curve then because you said about the book. They bought the book out in 2020. So we've had it all year. We've also had a brochure, I think, looking at manufacturers and Harley I think they may, this is my own opinion. This isn't from anywhere but my own head. I think they might go online. Like you say with the with the accessory catalogs, I think they might go online with you know, the the future brochures, you know, you can always look at bikes and on people do like brochures, I like brochures, we had a 2008 brochure and it's it's that thick of just the bikes. You know, it's it's, you know, I think it's part of the prestige of Harley to have a nice brochure. But, you know, I think that may be a thing of the past. But I do I do like the brochures. Yeah, so the catalog is is one to get your head round. When you go into the next level of customization. With a Speed and Custom shop. There's many more catalogs. as thick as that the Bible of Harley Davisdon and accessories. Yeah. And then there's fabricated stuff like we've got some talented guys in our workshop that would fabricator rear fender, will machine parts that we can engineer on to a bike to make it look different, be functional, but different. I mean, Neil Seston is one of our very talented head customizers down there. He we did have a bike with a flat liner once and it had a leaf spring seat, so it's like a floating seat and that was based on an twin cam model at time. So they're clever guys. I'm lucky to have a team obviously, like, it does take time to get the right team together. But we're in a good place with everyone. We've got the workshop.

Dave Barr  1:00:10

Yeah. One of the things you mentioned, and this is a contentious point, I will raise here, but noise. And that's something that yeah, it comes up in the press a lot. And we all know about the low pipe save lives kind of stuff. And that seems to be changing. The regulations are changing around Europe. now. I'll see. Yeah, yeah. As Harley riders, we're gonna cover country to country to country going on our tours. Yeah, can you give us a quick snapshot of where you where you think this is going? And how you can make sure that you try and stay within the rules as you are going from each country to country?

Steve Willis  1:00:46

Yeah, I mean, it's a it's one that's been talked about since I joined Harley Davidson basically. So in 2002, when we're sort of prepping to open the doors, the loud pipe conversation was one back then that the motor company and other authorities would say, there'd be no more loud pipes. And manufacturers like Vance and Hines who not only do Harley pipes, they do the pipes are all other manufacturers. And then you've got the pipes that are made for the sports bike market, and everything obviously nibbled their nails, and still are from, from back then to where we are now. So like, 18 years later, they're still loud pipes going on bikes, like you say, loud pipes, save lives, we've seen the badges and people do hear a bike come out the road, but there is that element of noise pollution and, and invasion of people's, you know, noise levels that that has to be thought of, I mean, the Harley Davidson Screaming Eagle pipes that they build for the Milwaukee 8 for the tours, enhance the sound of it, enhanced the sort of the tone of the motor, but they're not. They're not ear bleedingly really loud. Yeah. And you can, you can purchase the louder pipes. But they are technically not street legal. Unless it's written on the pipe, that sort of thing. But I don't think you know, these things continued to be fitted to bikes around. And I don't know, it's a it's a question. I can't really answer that where he's going because I've expected it to go somewhere in all these years. And it hasn't. I don't know, it's too hard to police what the bikes would come. I mean, like you say, Germany and Europe and things that they've, they're very restrictive, on customizing. And on what you've got fitted to your bike, be at a set of pipes, a set of wheels or set handlebars, you have to have certificates for everything that you've changed on your bike that's been approved. And I think we we do get away with quite a lot on the custom seen in the UK, and still in areas of Europe. But Switzerland and Germany are very, very tight on it. I think you're I think Yeah, as you see, sort of, you can you can like we talked about this other day, you can tap your bike details into like city and noise pollution elements and it will say your bikes okay. But it doesn't say have you changed your pipes? It just it just recognizes that the Harley Davidson Ultraglide that you are is technically okay to ride to the city. I don't think it does any more drop downs on have you changed the pipes and the cams and this than the other it's just it's just stock, quite rightly, from when it's coming in and being imported. It doesn't meet all the boundaries that they need to. Yeah, yeah an ongoing conversation. Yeah, yeah. What do you think allow points? 

Dave Barr  1:04:08

Well, personally, obviously it gives a bit character, you know, enjoy it to a degree. There are some noises I guess each person has got their own preference that Yeah, so some sound blumin awful. Some sound fantastic, you know, its really down to the individual.

Steve Willis  1:04:24

I agree. Or they may not nice. Yeah.

Dave Barr  1:04:26

Yeah. So they're like my concern is if I want to head down to South of France, if I'm just stay in France and understand the regs in France, that's great. If I'm going from country to country, you know, it's okay here but I go two miles and across the border and it's not okay there. That's my only concern.   So there's food for thought. Yeah. touring is your are definitely touring and then you need to check out. Yeah, what you are riding? And yeah, I mean, it's not the biggest deal to change pipes for big tours. Yeah. And I'm with you. I like a You know, I don't know. I'm 51 years old now. I don't like I'm not saying I'm old. I'm 51 years young through the day, and I don't like the bikes that sound like they've just removed the pipes. I think it just sounds awful. I like it nice Potato Potato sound. You know, I prefer a slip on to a sort of sawn off. Shotgun style. Yeah, I like I like the originality of a louder pipe, which isn't too intrusive, though. It's quite endearing of the motorcycle. Yeah, yeah. You mentioned the competitions and the accolades that Sykes have won now, and the team. Just thinking about how can you put together a bike from scratch for something like the Battle of the Kings, you know, what's your ability? How do manage to do it? You keep winning guys, you know, come on, you keep doing really well in these competitions. So So what gives you the edge?

Steve Willis  1:05:56

And I guess, I guess because we we built a lot of custom bikes. We kind of have a gauge of what people like, if it's retro style or street style, or, you know, we've kind of gotten feedback through the years. And I think we dare to be different. You know, we we did a bike called the Beach Bobber, that one the UK and went through to the final, European final, I think it came second that the beach bobber was a Harley Davidson Sportster with a triumph tank that we put onto it. And it was in a baby blue, and had flowers on it, like like a surf, Hawaiian kind of surf theme if you want. So it had flowers in the tank, it was baby blue. And it had 16 inch wheels with excessively chunky chunky white wall tires. And we did the rims white as well. So it looked like an extension of Remo tire like it looked like a Noddy goes to Toy Town meets Scooby Doo meets Harley Davidson. Now, I think because we're not too serious about ourselves. Because in the customer, I'd always think there's an you know, there are cliches in the custom world where, you know, teams where they have caps down low, the fleeing top, you know, they've got the pit jackets and the chains around. Yeah, they've just got this image, which always sort of Jesse James can custom fill. And that's their, their lifestyle, which I respect and their image and the way they do their bikes need, they need to be tough and mean. And, you know, it's an extension of their own personality, where we're a bit more, I guess, light hearted. A mix of totally individual people. So we'll have we'll have Neil who builds retro mountain bikes and, and talking about really like, you know, 80s 90s sort of thing and drives a couple of slammed Volvo's with Porsche Cup alloy wheels on and handmade stainless steel exhaust. And, you know, he's a little eccentric in that way. And then we've got guys who work on in their own time enthusiast in a sort of shovel and knuckle motor weld of patinaed old school bikes. And then we've got cyclists that are like, like myself are into, you know, the carbon rims, you know, lightweight, monocoque frames and all that sort of technology stuff. And I think when we mix it all into one big mixing bowl, it creates a really good sort of chemistry and comes out with some imagination and like that daring to be different attitude. So this, this Beach Bobber that we built, just was the business it was it was risky, because it's a it's a hot Harley with flowers on big balloon tires, and had an element of a toy to it look like a toy. That bike actually ended up being bought by MV Augusta. And the owner of MV Augusta. bought that bike in his in his office in Milan. So I think, I think, I think that's where we're we we've been lucky to. We've always like a challenge rule. We're very competitive as well. And, yeah, it's that it's that dare to be different attitude and sort of go for it. And try and not just do what is expected, go beyond that. So yeah, we have fun doing it. And it's a test every time. Yeah. And it's, uh, you know, we did one called the Mustard. And that was, that was in a Porsche. Singer yellow, which is a really strong color to do it. And then we had these pie crust tires on it like, like really old hotrod tires. And basically we just like, extended the rim with these munei rim extensions. And it just we use a stock rim from the 48. And then just to these extensions on them painted them like you would see on a racing pushbike by whenever carbon wheels would campaign around or whatever. And it worked perfectly. So we we are inspired by other sort of elements, like I said about architecture or fashion. You know, if you've got your eyes open, you can bring these in these elements in and mix them up. And I think that gives you an advantage if you know what else is out there are interested in other stuff as well. Pull from it. Yeah, pool our ideas and just mix it up with Harley, which is a which can be unique. Yeah, yeah.

Dave Barr  1:10:58

Looking at the time. I know you're obviously pretty busy. got two more questions for you if that's okay. Yeah. First one. Obviously, one of the things that Harley is famous for is the culture, the the HOG membership, and also our our Chapter Membership. 1066. What can you say about that? What makes that so special? Do you say as opposed to other types of motorcycle groups?

Steve Willis  1:11:26

That's a really interesting question. And yeah, I talk to customers, and they're new into the store. And I try and explain that. It's more than the motorcycle, there's this lifestyle to it. And, again, it sounds a bit cliche, and, you know, but but the fact that it's true, you know, you buy a Harley, you join a Chapter a bit. Yeah, a Chapter for everyone who doesn't know is a club that evolves from a dealership, so Sykes Harley Davidson, we have a chapter called 1066. And, you know, if you go, you know, to Maidstone, or Guilford, they have their own Chapters with their dealership, so without a dealership, there's no Chapters, we got 500 members of our Chapter. And the Chapters are really kind of very social place. You know, not only did they do rides, that will take you to different places, and that they're very well organized. And there's road crews and road captains that organize rides out and there's meetings, that, you know, people meet at a dealership, they go for a ride and they, they, they may visit a castle one day, there may be a world war two bunker, they may go to Normandy, they're gonna go to Portugal. I mean, we've had 40 riders go to the USA, and you know, do Death Valley or, you know, do the big Florida Keys ride and stuff like that. And not only do they do the rides that you would expect, but they also there's parties, you know, there's Christmas parties is kickoffs for the season. There's end of season parties. There's club nights thats here, near us at Chiddingly. Just around the corner. There's a club night, second Thursday of the month. So you get a nice spring summer evening, and you have you know, 50 Harley's in the carpark and people are just sharing a passion between themselves. I'm not sure how Harley have managed to nail it and win it because I know other manufacturers would love to do it, but they haven't managed to do it. I don't know why I think it's maybe because of the history of Harley Davidson and that sort of that brotherhood. It's kind of like this, the seeds is sown always been there. So there are expectations of that but it is quite unique. And to Harley Davidson to have this HOG I mean when I went to not going back to that but going back to Milwaukee and the 115th anniversary is unbelievable. How many riders and how many passionate Harley Davidson and people there were and I said to my colleague Gary, there is no other brand in the world that could get so many people together in one place. And I'm telling Milwaukee was milk his own Harley anyway. But you just go around the city and it's like that evening there's there's dirt track riding, there's racing, which is a packed stadium. There's beach racing, and a beach hang out the Veterans Park which is 10 blocks that way by the lake, and that it's packed. And then you go to the Milwaukee Harley Davidson Museum, same evening, and that is packed. And then the streets are packed outside that hotels are packed lines and lines and holidays. people laughing. People are sharing stories. You're going to bark it's packed all with you know Harley Davidson gear on. There is no other brand that can that can do that. I mean it is very unique. And it is a I think a really strong part of it and it's it's something I think that Harley Davidson are realising, that that core of people are really, again, the future of the brand. You know, they've done outreach programs. They tried to compete in different marketplaces and, you know, build bikes in India on a different CC, just maybe prop up the numbers, but I think they, they're realizing now that it's, it's the passion. It's the luxury in a way which goes in another form of why, but it's, it's the desire, it's the ownership. You know, there's so many elements to why Harley Davidson like I said, you know, if you pick a bike with your heart, and it works, it fits and it does what you want it to do. Then just owning that motorcycle, makes you buzz even if works too busy for you to use it. commitments you're too busy to use it you've still got a Harley in your garage you know, you've made it

Dave Barr  1:15:53

Nice one. Okay, one last question then mate. 2021 what should we be getting excited about what's going on in the dealership anything exciting to tell us about?

Steve Willis  1:16:06

2021 there's a lot It's, um, you know, where we've been in this year and hopefully, you know, things are going to clear the way again for for more definitely, I mean, this year was about trust this year was about events. This year was about you know, especially evenings at Sykes with extended hours in a bike meet night for all bikes. You know, we had Eastbourne bike night as is fairly successful, that's obviously had to stop, we're going to we're going to do bike nights here, which would be I guess, maybe on a Wednesday, that was going to be extended hours demo rides. For those people that can't get down at weekends, because they work by themself. If you're free on a Wednesday, they could come down, you know, bring you know, ride down on the other bike and take out a Fat Bob or a Fat Boy and, and just enjoy it no pressure environment food, you know, just just chill zone. And then we're going to do a themed Saturday, every week. So be it was going to be Fat Boy Saturday where anyone with a fat boy come in. And we have Fat Boy parking. So if you are new to the brand, and you came in on fat boy Saturday, and you saw 30 fat boys lined up, I think that's gonna be pretty cool. That could be the same with V rods with sports to Saturday's, anniversary bikes. I mean, I'm big into anniversary bikes. So if you've got an anniversary bike ride in a parked top, and it's just, you know, I'm gonna go to that go get big my anniversary bike out because people have more than one bike, and they roll in on a 2003 anniversary, you know, Harley Davidson Heritage, park it out with the others. It was all about doing that and having fun. And we've done fun day Sundays before, which is we don't normally open on Sunday. So we decided when we are going to be open, we're going to be proper open. So we'd have friends of Sykes, and we'd have people who are, you know, might specialize in Volkswagen t sixes or Mustangs or you know, Monster Energy Drink, barbershop or nail bar, food and just have this this buzz about the dealership. So you come in on a Sunday, that's different from it just being like a extension of a Saturday, there's stuff happening. So our energy was all about that. And then obviously, March, you know, switch went off, and we couldn't do any of that. So we've got a lot of burning desire to do things as much as we can in the future, you know, wherever we go, you know, this in and one along with guidelines, but hopefully, we will get back to a nearer norm in the future, you can only be positive, because we want concepts beyond again, that we we want to be able to go and hang out in restaurants and bars without looking. You know, and look at people's smiles. You know, we all want that. So hopefully that will come back. And we will sort of re energize. I mean, we've had a good year, despite what's going on, you know, we're still doing our best we can to to finish the year. But that's despite So, you know, I can only think if you can have a good year with this, then, you know, imagine what it's like, without all these restrictions, you know, we'd be we'd be flying. So, you know, I'm positive about the future. I think with the brand itself, I think it will be I know there'll be a less of a production of the bikes. I think that they're going to produce 30% less Harley's globally, which is quite a big thing. I think it's so the company can can sort of revive the the luxury and desire with the motorcycles because You know, a lot of manufacturers set out to market and, you know, there's rows and rows of bikes are all the same, you know, and you know, you can get at 0% and, you know, it's one of many, and I think Harley want to want to have, you know, one of a few, you know, have that sort of limited, limited appeal, creates more desire, so I can see, I can see the used bike market being, you know, sort of a premium area as well where, you know, the, the bikes are going to be unique, achievable. And I think that'd be, that'd be at the forefront of people's minds, they can't get hold of what they want to do. So, you know, I'm saying, you know, if you come into Sykes, and we say, we can get you on, put your deposit down, it's not a case of being a hard closer, it's been a case of being if you don't, then, you know, you may be looking deep into the summer before you get one. And let's face it, motorcyclists season kicks off in March, really, you know, you get the new plates out in March, and the weather changes a little bit better. And if you got a bike March, April time, you can use it all the way through, no one wants to take ownership really have a bike, when you're biting into near the autumn, you're gonna make the most, especially with English, English weather. Yeah. It's gonna it's gonna, I think it's gonna be challenging on you to be able to, to be able to deliver, I mean, there's nothing more frustrating not only for a customer, but for a dealer like ourselves, not being able to get you the bike you want. You know, this year now, if you walked in you want you want a black Fat Boy, now you want to Break Out you and then there's no bikes around. Now this they've sold out like many, many industries, they've sold through because of because of the because of COVID and because of production stuff. And everyone's on the catch up. Yeah. So another reason why there's probably going to be less next year. So we're positive, we always keep a really good stock of used bikes as well. And like I said, we're looking at a classic corner, which I'm very passionate about. So, yeah, I'm looking positively towards 2021 being a year that we can really party and appreciate it. You know, every time you buy it's gonna be that was really good. Yeah. I'm not gonna take that for granted.

Dave Barr  1:22:29

Not anymore. No, that's right. Yeah. Okay, Steve. So if people want to pop into Sykes, whereabouts are you what website do you have? Where's the social media stuff?

Steve Willis  1:22:40

Our website is www.sykeshd.com. We've got Instagram, which is skyesharleydavidson, Facebook as well. Yeah, come and see us. We're on A22. We're at Holmes Hill which is probably about I'd say 20 minutes from Brighton about 15 10 minutes from Eastbourne. And on the main road that leads way up to sort of East Grinstead. Tonbridge Wells way. So yeah, come and see us just breeze in when we're allowed to have a have a look. And yeah, and just start. Start there really starting to seed.

Dave Barr  1:23:22

Yeah. Yeah. Brilliant. Brilliant. Steve, that's a really great, thanks for all that information. I find it really useful.

Steve Willis  1:23:31

Sorry, my waffle was

Dave Barr  1:23:34

No worries, mate. That was brilliant. I think people are gonna get a lot from this. This podcast. So thanks again for your time. And he put a lot of effort in. And hopefully you've enjoyed it to mate.

Steve Willis  1:23:47

Yeah, I really enjoyed it. Yeah. Like I say, I've waffled on. Apologies to those listening. But hopefully, like you say, people will get something out of this. And you know, I'm not happy to give anyone a tour of our dealership and the sales team or like if they want to just make a visit and see what what Harley Davidson is about.

Dave Barr  1:24:08

Brilliant. Thanks. Take care. See you soon. Thank you

Steve Willis  1:24:10

Yeah, we'll do.

Dave Barr  1:24:13

Thank you for listening to this podcast. Please subscribe and leave a positive review if you can spare a minute or two. If you would like to contact me, my email address is David@thereallifebuyer.co.uk or find me @reallifebuyer on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, where you're welcome to direct message me. I look forward to you joining me on future episodes. Take care. Remember, save money and buy smart.