New Motorcycle Shop Tapping Sophisticated ‘Custom-ers’

By John Voket

When it comes to buying clothes, most guys will generally settle for “off the rack.” Those with discriminating tastes, however, will have nothing less than tailor-made.

The same could be said for one’s choice of personal transportation. And one of Newtown’s newest businesses is ready to cater to motorcycle connoisseurs who want to be seen and heard cruising around on one of Ray Crosby’s custom machines.

Mr Crosby, a self-proclaimed “motorcycle enthusiast since childhood,” is celebrating the grand opening of his second Custom V-Twin dealership and service center on South Main Street. Coincidentally, the new shop, which features some of America’s best custom motorcycles, is replacing a former bicycle shop where riders supplied their own horsepower.

But anyone committing to invest in one of the Custom V-Twin offerings will not have to worry about horsepower. All of the motorcycles currently available for purchase at the Newtown store, or its counterpart location in Colchester, will come fully loaded with one of the most powerful engines available on two wheels.

That is one of the reasons why Mr Crosby does not necessarily recommend his line of custom bikes to new or fledgling riders.

“No way, this is not a starter bike as bad as you might want one,” Mr Crosby said while straddling one of the two dozen custom machines on display at the Newtown location. “Each one of these models has twice as much power as an average Harley.”

And some can range up to more than twice the price of an average Harley-Davidson as well, he said.

“One of my lines starts at around $19,000, but they can really go up to some crazy numbers depending on exactly what the customer is looking for,” Mr Crosby said.

Priced To Move

Top of the line prices apparently will not discourage the niche customer to which Mr Crosby’s product line is appealing.

“These are for the person who could get away with a Suburban, but who goes out and gets a Hummer,” he said. “Most of the customers are longtime riders who have spent a lot of time on Harleys or their own customized bikes who are ready for something different, or younger guys getting away from their sport bikes.”

According to Mr Crosby, enthusiasts who gravitate to custom motorcycles have always made up a solid segment of riders. But the popularity of cable network shows like Motorcycle Mania, Biker Build-Off, and, most recently, American Chopper have fueled-up a whole new generation of potential customers who may be way too young to have been inspired to ride by movies like The Wild One or Easy Rider.

“The TV shows have helped companies like mine find more mainstream acceptance,” he said. “I’m constantly amazed when I sit down with people you wouldn’t think knew a thing about bikes, and find out they can talk about them in great detail.”

Taking the genre one step further, and providing a media coup for Mr Crosby, the Speed Channel recently launched a show called V-Twin TV that focuses on the stories of people who figured out how to make their dream job a reality.

According to the SpeedTV website, every episode of V-Twin TV features people who not only have a passion for motorcycles, but have turned that passion into a livelihood. In the process they have created some of the coolest jobs in the world. Just like Mr Crosby’s.

Kick Starting The Business

The Newtown resident and owner of Connecticut’s two Custom V-Twin dealerships has been an avid motorcycle rider since childhood, but developed his mechanical skills and business management talent running his own diesel fleet service company out of the same location that eventually became his first motorcycle shop. But in late 2003, Mr Crosby decided he “wanted to get in from servicing vehicles out in the cold.”

“We brought in a technician who spent 15 years as a master builder of custom bikes,” Mr Crosby said. “And we immediately went to work developing our own line of bikes we call Four Horsemen.”

While the company was busy refining the designs and locating the equipment and parts that would become his own custom line, Mr Crosby brought in an outside line of bikes from Nevada-based American Performance Cycle (APC). In subsequent months he would add several other lines from Arizona-based Swift and Bourget’s Bike Works, Inc.

In just a little more than two-and-a-half years Custom V-Twin has built or sold almost 80 bikes, a volume that Mr Crosby is pretty happy about considering each machine can take two to four months or more to manufacture.

Keep in mind, these are not scavenger vehicles. Virtually each part of each bike that goes out the door is manufactured and detailed to the specific requirements of the buyer and the particular machine he or she chooses. And each bike is outfitted to conform to both state and national transportation and insurance industry safety standards.

Rocket Science

It was no small feat for someone to build some of the most technically sophisticated and powerful two-wheel road bikes on the planet. In fact, to achieve the necessary level of performance on his own line of Four Horsemen motorcycles, Mr Crosby had to actually enlist the help of a local aerospace firm that also designs aircraft and spacecraft equipment.

“We had to go to this aerospace company in Manchester to design this first of its kind exhaust system,” Mr Crosby said pointing at the chrome pipes extending from the oversized engine down along its purple metallic frame. “At first we bought a half-dozen $600 or $700 sets of pipes, but they didn’t cut it, so we decided to go to visit the rocket scientists to get it right.”

Along with sales of custom motorcycles, Custom V-Twin will also work with clients to customize virtually any bike they already own. The Newtown location will provide a full mechanical service facility, as well as fashions, parts, accessories, even motorcycle videos and DVDs.

Besides its current line of Four Horsemen models including the Mace (a hard-tail model), the Sword (a pro street or high-neck) and the Hammer (high performance), Mr Crosby is developing a slightly smaller and lighter-weight model for smaller framed riders who want to enjoy the custom experience as well. Both Custom V-Twin shops also sell used models.

And since he lives right here in town, the new business owner wanted to start off on the right foot as a good neighbor. So before the shop even opened officially, Mr Crosby partnered with Newtown Social Services to become a weekend drop-off location for donations to the local food pantry.

“We get the most traffic on weekends, so we want to encourage folks to come out and check out the bikes and bring along a donation to the food pantry,” he said. “Then every Monday we’ll bring the food over for our neighbors in need.”

While supplies last, Custom V-Twin will reward food pantry donors with a graduating discount coupon for up to 20 percent off purchases in the store through March 3, 2006.

Custom V-Twin is at 111 South Main Street. Call 203-364-0237 or visit www.CTvtwin.com.