Cyril Huze Blog – World's Number One Source For Custom Motorcycle News

John Parham. Founder Of J&P Cycles And Of National Motorcycle Museum.

“Around 1990 J&P Cycles was growing very fast. Our sales grew over 100% that year and things were out of control. Our business had finally taken off, but with all kinds of sales we weren’t making any money. In fact, we were losing money. It was early January and our small town bank wouldn’t loan us any more money. I knew we had a great future if I could only borrow some more money and get things better organized.

So I made a trip to visit Fred Fox who owned Parts Unlimited and Drag Specialities. I knew Fred and we were one of their larger retail dealers in the country. I thought maybe he would help us get through these rough times. I met with Fred and explained my situation and asked for his advice and the possibility of loaning me some money. Fred spent plenty of time with me discussing all of my concerns and answering my questions, but as far as loaning any money he said he couldn’t do that. But I took Fred’s advice and went back home and immediately started making changes to our business. The first thing I did was raise our prices to slow our growth down which would let us start making more money on the parts we sold. Then next was to hire a first class business CPA firm to get our financials under better control.

For the next two years J&P Cycles sales did not increase. But we did become more profitable and more efficient at running our business. By the end of that second year we had turned things around and it was time to start growing our business again. But this time we were profitable and much more organized and structured with controls on our business.”

Zach Ness. Motorcycle and Accessory Designer At Arlen Ness Enterprises.

“I’ve been lucky enough to meet and learn some valuable lessons from incredible people, but to answer I will go outside the world of 2 wheels…

This piece of advice comes from Sir Jackie Stewart, British former Formula One racing driver, winner of 3 World Drivers’ Championships. A year or so ago we were invited to have dinner at Jackie’s estate just outside of London when we were on our way to the Isle of Mann race. Very memorable experience, but one thing Jackie told me about emotions and racing stuck with me in particular.

He said to imagine your mindset and emotions as a ball each time you’re facing a challenging situation, be a race or business endeavor or uneven surface. If your emotions are high and influencing your decisions that ball is overinflated with air… So when you try to bounce the ball on that uneven surface, it is very difficult to control. Now take that same ball and let some air out of it. You’ll find out that it’s much easier to control. Letting air out of the ball is like removing your emotions from a situation. He said that every race he won he removed his emotions from the situation, kept calm and made conscious decisions that were a part of his game plan. It was a simple truth from an inspiring individual that applies to all areas in life.”

Jeff Decker. Bronze Artist.

“As per the best advice I have received, I would have to go with the boring cliches such as, “spend more time with those you love”, “focus on the ride, not the finish line”, “be happy”, “be kind”, etc…

The advice I would give as a man turning fifty to those younger would be: embrace exuberance, and don’t let wisdom slow you. My life tells me I know little and young people should let denial and the lack of experience brazenly let them push boundaries that hindsight might prevent. The more I know, the less I am comfortable giving advice. Perhaps, “ignorance is bliss” is a complement rather than an insult”.

Robert Pandya. SpokesPeople LLC. External Relations Manager Victory Motorcycles And Indian Motorcycle

“Best advice I ever received: “It’s always best to lead” from Mark Blackwell, Vice President of Victory Motorcycles. Summer 2007. I was leading my first press ride for Victory Motorcycles – the introduction of the still controversial Victory Vision. We pulled out of the hotel in a big group. This was the first time that the bike was to be seen on the road by the public after two years of confidentiality and secretive testing. So along with the twenty five journalists, there was a load of management, engineers, and support staff creating a train of forty motorcycles. I was in the # 2 slot behind Blackwell in front of the biggest pack of motorcycles I had ever ridden with.

We finally got out of the city onto a long stretch of rolling countryside and I looked into the rearview mirror. I shuddered as I saw the number of headlights behind me. They must have stretched back at least ½ a mile. I realized that I was responsible for that group – and this being my first press event for Victory the pressure was pretty intense. Blackwell’s turn signal shook me out of the daze as we rolled into the left turn lane, the line of bikes diligently following behind. I rolled up next to Mark, an AMA Hall of Famer, motocross racing champion and one of the most respected guys in the industry and the guy who hired me for the job only a month or so earlier.

My eyes must have been telling – he asked if I was OK. “Holy CRAP that’s a ton of people behind us!” I blurted out as we waited for traffic to clear so the group could turn left on our route. “That’s why it’s always best to lead, Robert”. As that simple statement sunk in, traffic cleared and I looked over to him to keep guiding the pack. He smiled and waved me forward to lead the rest of the route. I let the clutch out as we rolled into the green rolling hills along the Mississippi River.

I am proud to say that nine years later I’m still leading the PR efforts for Victory and have been fortunate enough to add Indian Motorcycle to my portfolio three years ago. The view is better out front, and you have to work to stay there. Thank you Mr. Blackwell for that vote of confidence a decade ago.” Continue reading ‘What Is The Best Advice You Ever Got? (Part 2)’

We all have received and are still receiving pieces of advice about the way we should act, think, conduct ourselves in both our personal and professional lives. Each of us perceive some of these opinions, values, recommendations as more worthy than others and we try to use them as a beneficial guide to action.

I was curious to know, and I guess you too, what was the piece(s) of personal and/or professional advice that the motorcycle industry leaders, manufacturers, custom builders, etc received and that they follow in their daily lives. In this series, possibly each week, I will ask some of them to answer this simple question “What is the best advice you ever got”. And yes, at the end of this series, I will tell you about me.

Billy Lane, Custom Builder, Choppers Inc.

“The best business advice I ever received came from a friend who works outside the motorcycle industry. He told me to separate my emotions from my business decisions. He said that how I feel doesn’t matter, and that I need to look at business in much the same way I look at a diet. What a calorie is to a diet, the dollar is to a business. To grow a business, more money has to come in than goes out. Emotions can present disruptive obstacles to the flow of money. So I learned how to isolate my emotions, which allowed me to get serious about business. Which allows me to do work that stirs my emotions…”

Ted Sands, Global Business Development, Performance Machine.

“I guess some of the best advice I have received is from my Brother Perry Sands when I first started working for Performance Machine. He always said “strive for constant improvement”, We applied this idea to everything we did from product development, marketing, sales, customer service, basically saying what we did yesterday will not be good enough for tomorrow, to move us forward. I have lived with this advice starting day one working for Performance Machine and I think we have a culture here at PM that believes in constant improvement and it shows in our products / manufacturing and marketing, sales and customer service. It has made us a leader in the aftermarket motorcycle parts business.”

Russell Mitchell, Custom Builder, Exile Cycles.

“The best piece of advice I ever received came from a person I had never met before. It was my birthday, 1995, and I was having a party at my home. One of my friends brought along some of his buddies, and one of them spotted the bike I had just completed. He literally grabbed me by the collar, pinned me against a wall and said “You have to do this – you have a gift”. The following weekend I was riding the bike to the DelMar Classic near San Diego with that guy’s words running through my head and I thought to myself “why not?”. I promptly registered my new company name and that bike went on to be featured in “Easyriders” magazine. Exile Cycles was born. I was about to forget: I once received some very important advice from my buddy Dave. He told me to never place my cup of tea on a metal work surface. It sucks the heat right out of it!”

David Zemla, Vice President Marketing S&S Cycle.

“In high school I worked as a pressman. The guy I worked with was easily in his sixties and no matter the challenges he always seemed content with his job. One day I asked how he could be so satisfied with what I had already come to believe was a low level job. I remember it like it was yesterday. He paused, looked me straight in the eyes and said “You will spend a huge part of your life at whatever job you choose. Find something you are passionate about, something that challenges you and you’ll live a happy life.” That still resonates with me today. It’s such a simple concept, so obvious that it often gets overlooked. I took it to heart and that conversation remains a key driver in my life to this day.”

Bill Dodge. Custom Builder, Blings Cycles

“When you asked me the question, whether it is about motorcycles or even life, I would have to say it is Indian Larry. I first met him on a TV show while working for Jesse (James). We were on a cross country ride to Sturgis. Jesse’s bike broke down and the situation was tense and bleak. It looked like the show was over, the heads on Jesse’s motor had came apart and the bolts were completely stripped. I decided to borrow a car to go into the next town to round up tools. Larry saw that I was leaving and jumped into the car with me. After getting the proper supplies, I heli coiled Jesse’s heads back together to the motor on the side of the road. It was a very hard situation. Larry was there with me the entire time. Somehow, we became the best of friends. He was like a Dad to me. We just got along like that. Our friendship grew as he always seemed to give me great direction through his seemingly, wise words.

Larry told me, if I ever stopped working for Jesse, Get To The East Coast, where people will care more about what I was doing. He said, “YOU make things how You think they should be,” as well as, little things like covering a shitty tattoo, “Heck no don’t cover it… it is a piece of your life!” it was some of the best advice I have ever got. I did what he said and now I am here today because of him. When he got hurt, Jesse and I was a Guest at a show in Alexandria, LA. I ended up driving the truck back to California, the next day. I was in shock, it was a hard trip, my friend and mentor was gone yet. his advice and memories live on through me. Continue reading ‘What Is The Best Advice You Ever Got? (Part 1)’