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Hot Sellers for 2004

A look at the top sellers in the Sound RIDER! store

At Sound RIDER! we have our own online store. Most of the items we sell are "boutique" items by virtue that you can’t find them at a lot of dealers.

Out of respect for the local dealers who support the magazine with sponsorship, we don’t carry items like jackets, boots, helmets, tires and so on. For the usual stuff you need to go out to the shops and get it.

Over the years we’ve added several items to the store no one would touch with a ten foot pole, but eventually they started carrying the items in store with good results. The most obvious of these items was Nikwax which we began selling in 2000. Since then dealers like Ride West BMW and Seattle Cycle Center have experienced good sales on the waterproofing product.

So I thought it might be a good exercise at the end of 2004 to run a list of the popular sellers from the Sound RIDER! store. The results were interesting. We’ll start with the #10 seller and make our way toward #1 – which is a very interesting one indeed.  One would expect it to be interesting at the end of 2005 to see what items have made their way onto the floors of dealers.

Waterproofing your gear - what a concept.  You thought the manufacturer told you it was waterproof when you bought it.  It was, but not anymore.  As more local dealers bring in Nikwax, our sales decline a bit each year. I think that’s good because it means the product is penetrating the marketplace. We still sell it to a lot of folks outside the Northwest shipping the leather and textile kits all over the U.S.

Starting at $8.50 CLICK HERE for more information
Also available at Ride West BMW, South Sound BMW and Seattle Cycle Center.

We began testing these fit-in-your-pocket cable locks in the Motorcycle Marketplace early last spring. The small retractable units allow riders to store the lock in their pocket or tank bag and then unravel it when it’s time to lock down a tank bag, jacket, helmet and other gear.

Starting at $15.00 CLICK HERE for more information
Currently not stocked at any local motorcycle dealers.

Having come across these at an outdoor store in the spring, I called the publisher to see when the new Washington version was coming out. Turned out it was just about to ship. Since then we’ve sold several dozen copies. The atlases, which are also available for other states including Oregon, have critical information not available anywhere else concerning seasonal road closures. The fire road info is also the most current available.

This waist pack features a cable interior that makes it slash proof. Great for when you want to lock it to your bike or travel abroad. When Motorcycle Consumer News ran a review of the item and noted that Sound RIDER! was where to buy it, our store lit up. We also had great success with the waist pack at the BMW rally this summer and during the International Motorcycle Show this last December.

Kisan makes headlight modulators, brake light deceleration warning lights and turn signal cancellers. We stock the entire line within our online store. The units are gaining popularity and now they’ve come up with a mirror mount turn signal system that’s getting a lot of attention.

Starting at $59.95 CLICK HERE for more information
Limited availability from Cycle Barn, Ride West BMW and South Sound BMW. Can be special ordered from other local dealers.

This is the ultimate eyewear system for motorcyclists. The kits come with five interchangeable lens sets so you have the right eyewear for the right conditions ranging from bright sunlight to fog and nighttime coverage. At $29.95 each they are also a value, especially when you consider the lenses are made with high optic shatter proof polycarbonate. The C-2 options provide additional bifocal lenses for far- sighted people. But what about near sighted folks? Read on…

This is the one for the near-sighted rider. Five lens options and a prescription optional frame that slips behind the colored lenses. Simply send the RX frame to the optometry lab, have the prescription made and you’re ready to ride. Includes smoke, amber, driver, clear and glare lenses.

These straps adjust from 18" to 54" and won’t scratch your paint because they have no metal or sharp edges. Simply loop them onto your luggage or frame, adjust them and you're ready to roll.

Smart riders know the road to educating yourself on safer riding skills never ends. David Hough has been publishing such columns for Motorcycle Consumer News for several decades now. His PM Books have been popular and we think the next readers will be the friends of folks who already own the books. David’s Street Strategies book makes a great read too.

At $5.95 a bottle it wasn’t the most profitable seller, but in terms of units it smoked the rest of the products we carry. When I spotted this at the Powersports Dealers Expo last winter in Indianapolis I figured there would be a market for it. Turns out there was two. The first was made up of people who don’t like to get monkey butt when they ride, the other were the novelty buyers who got it as a joke to play on friends. The joke's on them because the stuff works! It didn’t hurt either when Speed Channel got serious about the product on Two Wheel Tuesdays.

So there you have our top store sellers of 2004. With any luck, some of the other local dealers will read this article and begin stocking up on the eccentricities, but until then you have your options.

We’ll be back at the Powersports Dealers Expo in February scouring the floor for some other keen new items to add to the store. If you have any suggestions please let us know.

Patrick Thomas/Winter 2005

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