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Eastside Harley Davidson
 A
Passion For The Road
In the 1980s, Bev Thompson and her husband, Keith, were busy raising a
family of five. To get away from it all, Keith bought a Yamaha Virago and
he and Bev would ride two up. By the early 90s, the riding became more ingrained in Keith's
blood. He mentioned he was thinking about buying a Harley-Davidson, to which Bev
replied, "Why do you need a Harley?" His response was not much of a
verbal one, but he turned around and bought her a Harley instead.
"Yeah, that was nice... of course it was only hours later when he got himself one,"
she notes with a smile, and the two
have been riding Harleys ever since.
 By
1994, the family was grown up and the two, along with their best friend and
riding buddy, Darrell Jones, set out on a
venture buying the local Harley-Davidson dealer in Kirkland. Today they
have two stores, can't keep the bikes they get in stock, and are one of the
top sellers of H-D apparel in the United States. Keith's and Darrell's original
intention to buy it as an "investment" was soon nixed when Bev (right)
fell in love with managing and running the business.
Eastside Harley-Davidson has two locations, Bellevue and Issaquah. The
Bellevue store is typical in the design and layout of modern day H-D dealers, while
the Issaquah store focuses on the look and feel of a H-D dealer from 20
years ago. "When we relocated the Eastside store it was imperative
that we add a shop to cover the overflow from the Bellevue store. "I
didn't
want any customer to have to wait a long time for service on their bike,"
notes Thompson.
 For the
Thompsons, their passion for riding is reflected in their business,
and as each year goes by, Eastside Harley-Davidson becomes more and more of a mirror
image to their own tastes. "Riding is what we like to do," says
Bev. As with every H-D dealer in Puget Sound, Eastside has
developed their niche. In this case it's offering world class tours to various regions throughout North America. Riders can ship their bikes in
the Eastside H-D truck to the destination they select from over a dozen rides
that are offered each year. In 2000, riders were treated to
tours including Baja, Tucson, British Columbia and Monument Valley. The offerings
will change each year as they develop the program. "We did this for
two reasons" says Thompson. "First of all, I don't want to sell
someone an $18,000 motorcycle and watch them park it in their garage. Secondly,
we love to ride... so it's a great way to mix business and pleasure."
Winter tours are strategically planned for warmer regions. The oversized
semi that delivers the bikes around the U.S. has a double decker trailer and can
accomodate up to 24 motorcycles. The tours often sell out early.
 Eastside
utilizes a full time promotions director, Jon Martin. Martin works
together with other members of the staff to create the many promotions the store
has on an ongoing basis.
Recent promotions have included a guest
appearance by Eastside endorsed Top Fuel racer Kris
Becker (below), a Hog Wash with the Hooters girls (above), a ride sponsored by
the dealer to raise funds for families in Kosovo, and an appearance in 1999 from
Scotty Parker prior to his retiring from dirt track racing. Today, Martin
is working well in advance planning next years statewide HOG gathering - a three day ride down the western coast of Washington state.
 Sponsoring
peoples' dreams is something Eastside participates in heavily. The
dealership provides sponsorship to The
Seattle Cossacks motorcycle stunt drill team, the fore mentioned nitro
burner Kris Becker (right), and store employees who are steady riders in
the Washington Motorcycle Road
Racing Association.
Up 'til recently there were few choices for renting
Harley-Davidson's in Puget Sound. After straddling the hurdles of insurance liability issues,
Eastside is now renting H-D's to customers locally, as well as
out-of-towners. In the first month of the program the store managed to
keep most of the fleet out just by word of mouth.  There
are only a handful of women in Puget Sound that run dealerships on a day to
day basis. Bev Thompson recalls the hurdles of being a woman
seeking respect in a man's world. In the beginning of ownership, her lack of business and riding background
placed her at even more of a disadvantage. But
we're talking about a woman who's raised five kids, and there's something to be
said for the fact that child rearing experience can be utilized to develop an
effective management style. Today, Thompson says she is blessed to have a
crew of loyal employees who can run the store with or without her on site.
"I definitely do not do everything around here," she says with a sense
of relief. "I have a trustworthy management team I can count
on," she says. It was indeed proven the team was up to the challenge last summer
when Thompson took an extended medical leave.
Sales
of new bikes are skillfully managed by a team of sales people headed up by sales
manager Scott Moon. Thompson prefers to use a separate finance and
insurance person to wrap up deals, "Because it lets the sales team do what
they do best, and that's to sell." As is the case with many dealers,
Eastside H-D can't get enough motorcycles. "There are times we have
to fill the floor with more accessories because Harley-Davidson can't give us
enough bikes, but each year our allocations get higher," she notes.
For those looking for a used H-D, Eastside often has a nice selection in the
downstairs portion of the store. HOG
chapter members are treated to coffee and doughnuts every Saturday morning as
well as storewide discounts when they show their chapter card (call the store for
more details). The store also has frequent open house and customer
appreciation events at both locations to up the ante on savings and gratitude. For
more information visit the Eastside Harley-Davidson website at www.eastsideharley.com TM/Fall
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