it was always about selling cars to pay for the bikes! We are just passionate about motorcycles. Rob: Well, it’s a lifestyle for you guys, a passion, not just a paycheck? Kyle: Exactly! It’s a way of life, that I’m able to make a living at as well. Rob: Tell me about the name, Hourglass Cycles. Kyle: When dad started his race team, he came up with “Hourglass Racing.” The tagline on his trailer reads, “Here Comes the Night” by Van Morrison & Them. Dad loved that song, kind of a play on words, about time slipping away, sands of time. So he thought the name would fit the race team well. When we decided to open the business, he said I could name it whatever I wanted and Hourglass was a natural progression. It tied us to our racing heritage. Hourglass Racing was well-known in the race community. Rob: What’s the vision of Hourglass? Kyle: Simply, to be the best dealership in the southeast! I’ve had my share of frustrations over the years with motorcycle dealerships, and I wanted ours to be different, to be customer-based, to and through the sale. To me, the sale isn’t the end of the relationship, it’s the beginning. After you buy a bike from us, we want to go riding together. Passion, professionalism, and personal touch. That’s my heart. Rob: You guys have Motus! Are you the only shop with them right
now, outside of their home in Birmingham, Alabama? Kyle: We are the only one in Georgia, and our territory North Georgia, the Chattanooga TN area, and the Greenville / Spartanburg SC area. We met with Lee Conn, the president of the company. Lee wants to change the face of American motorcycles and the way people think about them. I would say he has succeeded. We were impressed with everything we saw, from their passion and vision, their R&D, their business model, and their production facilities. We wanted to join them. We saw how well their machines were built. They are distinctly American but not the American bike everyone is used to. Rob: I’m a Triumph guy, having grown up around Bonnevilles and TRs, and I currently own a Sprint ST. I enjoyed the “Bonneville Reborn” party Hourglass hosted with Triumph North America, back in January. How was their rollout of these new models different than a typical unveiling? Kyle: Traditionally, brands take their new bikes to the big conventions, motorcycle shows, and international press releases for their showcasing of them. Triumph decided, ‘These bikes are different,’ so they wanted to do something more personal for customers, the real buyers of their bikes not just the professional pundits. So they took the bikes on tour, from west coast to east, bringing them to the people. Not just to take deposits on bikes but more to introduce people to the Triumph world, to the lifestyle that the Bonneville has always represented. They got two trucks,
Parts supplier for BMW, Triumph, MV Agusta, and Ural motorcycles. www.hourglasscycles.com
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