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MYRTLE BEACH — The motorcycles in the parking lot of Performance Cycles in Little River on Monday all looked different.
One had diamond-cut detailing, another had a chrome finish on all its surfaces, and one even had a picture of Al Pacino as Scarface airbrushed on the body.
“Hardly anybody buys a motorcycle and does nothing to it,” said Richard Pate, the store’s owner. “All of the bikes we customize are different — different colors, different motors, different rakes (how the front end is extended from the motorcycle), different details.”
Motorcycles are very personal things, said Pate, who has been building bikes for 19 years, and that’s where the custom motorcycle industry steps in.
The Harley-Davidson spring rally in Myrtle Beach is a prime sales time for local custom builders and shops that add custom parts to stock motorcycles.
Local shop owners say three factors play into the success of localities where customizers look to sell their wares: weather, economic demographics and the size of the rally. Myrtle Beach ranks in the middle of popular places for custom motorcycle work, they say.
“I think we do well, but we aren’t in the top tier of places,” said Terry Neilon of Beach Customs in Little River. “I think we have good weather for riding almost year round, but economically there are places that have it easier because of their economic demographics.”
Pate said it’s hard for Myrtle Beach shops to compete with places like Daytona, Fla., where the rally is normally about six times the size of Myrtle Beach’s.
But rallies all over the country are facing low attendance because of the economic climate, he said.
“When we aren’t here, we try to get to rallies because word of mouth is really how our business spreads. The rally at Loughlin River, Nevada, and the rally in Daytona were both about 30 to 35 percent down this year,” he said.
Tough economic times have a lot of people pinching pennies, and motorcycle owners are no exception.
“When the choice is putting a roof over your head or making a change on your bike, it isn’t a choice,” Pate said. “So far this rally we are seeing a little bit of a downward turn in spending, at least in the north (the northern Horry County area).”
Cody Connelly, co-owner of V-Force Customs in Rock Tavern, N.Y., came to the Myrtle Beach rally for the first time this year to get the word out about the new company, which is owned by two former employees of Orange County Bikes — a custom bike shop featured on a popular television program.
“One hundred percent, I think the economy is affecting custom sales,” Connelly said. “We’ve felt a drastic change in the past year in terms of orders and what people can afford.”
But Lee Wimmer, owner of Wimmer Performance Cycles in Murrells Inlet, said he has seen another trend in the business because of the tough economic times. More people are keeping their old bikes and making them look like new with custom work.
A new custom-built bike from Wimmer costs $25,000 minimum, he said, but the work to give your bike a new look would cost between $5,000 and $8,000.
“We’re definitely seeing more people come in with older bikes and ask for different wheels, different air intake systems, different headlight setups,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot more after-market sales, and money concerns are definitely on their minds.”
Lauer is a reporter for The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News, a McClatchy newspaper.
