Protree-Performance (new shop)

[PGK]

I got a call last week from a friend of mine who I met at AMI in Daytona. He was originally from Alexandria, moved back and had been working at Atlantic cycles for the past year and a half or so. He quit his job, and in April started working full-time towards opening his own shop. Now, almost six months in, he is close to ready to officially open the doors.


Front desk/entry



Overview of the shop. He is trying to specialize in performance modifications, and more specifically for drag racing applications. That's his bike on the right, it's a GSX-R750 with a 1080cc GSX-R1000 motor, last season he ran a 9:31 @ 146, with a 6" over swingarm. He wants to get roadrace business too, and he is more than capable of doing just about anything. he's even got a dyno.


That's my bike on the dyno. It pulled a whopping 29.68 horsepower.


That's his bike. he just added the 12" over swingarm, and the motor is out while the head is getting worked on. He'd like to dip into the 8's this season, which is not out of the question.

Right now, he's dealing with PG county trying to get the necessary bureaucratic bullshit out of the way, but he'd hoping to have to doors officially opened in the next two months. Personally, I'm skeptical. I wish him luck, but it is difficult to crack a market like that without some major reputation behind you. He has one fellow working for him, who has 10 years experience as a dyno operator and around 20 in the industry. He has two investors so far, and some loans. the Dyno is leased with option to buy. I'm envious of his freedom, but I'm not envious of the headaches, hassles and frustrations that come with owning your own business. Also, I'm honestly not sure how long it's going to last.



He's a good guy though, smart, he knows his shit and participates enthusiastically in the sport he wants to support.

[Kaan]

PG county has actually been hurting for a small shop that is more customer friendly when it comes to performance. they have medium sized dealers with repair guys and the bling out shops... but if he is any good and has a dyno... i know he'll get the drag business that is really big in PG. i dont know if they have a lot of RR business there... but it doesnt hurt to be open to that kind of stuff.

[.RJ]

That's my bike on the dyno. It pulled a whopping 29.68 horsepower.

[PGK]

PG county has actually been hurting for a small shop that is more customer friendly when it comes to performance. they have medium sized dealers with repair guys and the bling out shops... but if he is any good and has a dyno... i know he'll get the drag business that is really big in PG. i dont know if they have a lot of RR business there... but it doesnt hurt to be open to that kind of stuff.

I hope that it comes together. The drag racers are there, but they generally take their business out of state. Most of the fast guys send their shit out to NJ or NC. But, if he can crack the market, get some word-of-mouth going, and show up at the track on a fast as hell bike he put together, I think he can hack it.

The other thing about PG county is that the money isn't necessarily there. a lot of drag racers around there are really, really tight with their cash. That's why he also wants some RR business, since those guys tend to spend money a bit more freely.

He's doing some small-scale sponsorship for a few guys right now, not parts but on-track support and free labor.

I think you're right though. It's a good spot for a drag-specialty shop, as long as he can get his name out there and attract it. He's going to carry some 'bling' accessories, to try to get some of the street-rider business, because there is money to be made there, but Mike is seriously non-bling. If it isn't fast he doesn't care.

Right now he's offering service and repair to import bikes, crash damage estimates, performance accessory installations, and of course, dyno tuning with custom mapping.

If there is enough interest from the board, I might even be able to get him to do some group-rate pricing or something too. Good for him, good for us, and we can help get the word-of-mouth going.