The Carolinas’ Full Throttle Magazine
58
Home Grown Heroes & Harley-Davidson
An Interview With Stephen Cox Of Cox’s Harley-Davidson By: Lincoln Infield
60 years ago, North Carolina’s longest continuous family owned Harley-Davidson Dealership’s humble beginning was sparked by a motorcycle purchase, knowledge of textile machinery, and some friends who needed a hand repairing their own motorcycle. Recil Cox purchased a Harley-Davidson in the mid 1950’s with the understanding that if he didn’t like it his brother would take it off of his hands for him. Well, as fate would have it, he decided to keep the bike. “If you had a crystal ball, that decision to keep that motorcycle versus sharing it with his brother or selling it to his brother ultimately catapulted him into the motorcycle industry,” said Stephen Cox, Recil Cox’s Grandson and 3rd Generation GM of Cox’s Harley-Davidson when we got a chance to sit down and talk to him about his family history as an Harley-Davidson Dealer. Long Time Employees Eddie Berry (L) & Larry Kessler (R) With Stephen Cox (C) Recil had a good understanding of machinery and internal “I believe it was a $50 deposit that he had to make” Stephen combustion engines from working at a local textile mill in said and then added, “So from 1961 to 2000 that’s where we Asheboro, NC, and being the oldest child in a farm family. were”. In the 1970’s Cox’s Harley-Davidson Shop would add “An internal combustion engine was an internal combustion on a show room for the expanding business and even used engine; you didn’t have all the technology that we have today. the basement of the family home to store service motorcycles So, if you could work on manufacturing equipment you could and other inventory. They added on to the building again in work on motorcycles” Stephen explained. “He (Recil) had 1995, before building their current location at 2795 NC-134, a group of friends in the area that were enthusiasts as well, Asheboro, NC in 2000. so the natural progression was for them to bring their motorThe Cox family wasn’t only a successful Harley Dealer, cycles to him to work on,” Stephen Continued. but they also were making a name for themselves on the flat News of Recil’s ability spread and Harley-Davidson District track racing circuit. “Yeah, I’d say they were probably local Representative, Dave Warren, approached Recil on multiple legends” Stephen said with a laugh when talking about his occasions about creating a dealer point in Asheboro, NC. On Grandfather Recil, father “Poochie” and uncle Jerry’s flat track the final occasion Dave Warren presented it to Recil Dave said racing. “They started racing at a young age, preteens and that that if he built a garage and the dealership didn’t work out, frankly was a passion for them, too. You weren’t going to go at the end of the day he would at least have a garage. Recil out and win part of a million-dollar purse like you see today”. accepted and built a 2-bay garage with a downstairs office “Pawpaw (Recil) was the team owner, he was the crew managbeside his house on Crestview Church road in Asheboro, NC. er, he was the mechanic and it was just a traveling nucleus of those guys”. Unfortunately, Jerry Cox got killed flat track racing in Wilson, NC in October of 1973, but Poochie continued to race until 1976, and continued to be part of the sport after his racing days ended. “As soon as he stopped racing in 1976, he (Poochie) began officiating races” Stephen added. Poochie would continue to officiate motorcycle racing all the way up to 2009, before passing away in 2010. As far as the longevity of Cox’s Harley-Davidson and the direction of the dealership moving forward, Stephen gives the credit to the great customer base and the dealership of the ore than
