Wishing you all the best for a fantastic 2011!  Here's a brief look back on our year at Ride West, with a review of some of the projects that we hope have been of benefit to you.

Sales: As a smaller dealership, it is really important that we have outstanding sales people that not only sell new and used BMWs and used bikes of all brands effectively, but do it in the manner that reflects how we think of ourselves.  Most of you know Sales Manager John Heale and long time sales institution Roman Lemeshkov. In late summer we were fortunate to add Jake Crabtree. Jake brings to us not only extensive knowledge of motorcycles past and present, but expertise on the entire BMW product line.  More importantly perhaps, his friendly and customer oriented approach has meshed perfectly with what we are all about.

Service: The best indicator of a expert service operation is longevity, and we're pleased to report that each of our four techs have been at Ride West for more than seven years.  Mark Eddy, our Service Manager, is beginning his ninth, and our "newbie" Service Writer, Cameron, is working on his forth.  At the same time, we have labored to get the word out that our Service Department is one of the very few that can work on motorcycles of all brands, and is eager to.

Parts & Apparel: Like Service, we are pleased to have made virtually no changes in our Parts and Apparel Departments, other than the welcome return of Colin Busch from a lengthy ride to South America!

Finance & Insurance: When John Heale was named Sales Manager, Dave Lenton was freed to spend more time on our Finance and Insurance programs, and he and Loretta have made great progress in providing customers with valuable options in insurance on their motorcycles, cars, and homes.  Why not give them a chance to see if they can save you money?

Rider Education: We have worked very hard with several motorcycle safety course providers, and with the state DOL, to provide an increasing array of education opportunities for our rider customers.  Those efforts include MSF classes having their start with an evening in our store, a plethora of seminars, and training days for state and local MSF instructors based at our dealership.  We have some truly exciting new developments in these areas - which I cannot tell you about yet!

Customer Service: You are probably well aware by now of the antics of Dave Preston. He has worked since the very first of the year to build a rider community with our Team Ride West club. Team Ride West began with one member on January 4^th of 2010, and closes out the year with over 430 members - and a long list dozens of rides and club dinners to its credit. Dave also spearheads our comprehensive calendar of slide shows, seminars, and classes.

Another important addition to customer service that you might not be aware of is Thadeus.  Thadeus is our Service Porter, but he has taken that job description and blown it up to super large size. He is all over the dealership, cleaning bikes, making store repairs, delivering bikes, and helping out everyone every day.  He does such fabulous work that some are now referring to him as "Thabulous."

Technology & Communication:We have ramped up our efforts here by adding many features to our web site, such as a separate page for Team Ride West, "Featured Videos" and our new video library, an archive for previous editions of this newsletter, and the "Calenblog," an events calendar with new information entered just about every day.  In addition, Team Ride West has an extensive monthly journal that is written in part by customers and goes out by e-mail. Our electronic newsletter has been updated with new features, like our "Safety Corner" articles, and we have installed technology that allows you to sign up for a seminar or class on the events page, giving everyone a better idea of who is coming and how many we should prepare for.

Overall: The last five years have not been golden for the motorsports industry, as you know.  As motorcycle sales shrink (or plummet) at most dealerships, we're grateful that our sales have not only remained stable, but have shown slight increases. Some of the credit for that can go to the efforts mentioned above, but most of it, of course, goes to you. Without customers - we do not exist! 

Has everything been perfect?  No.  Have we not made any mistakes?  No. We are humans working with each other and with mechanical devices, so we may never reach a state of perfection - but we are sure going to continue to try!

Thank you for your support, and let's ride into 2011 with enthusiasm!

Check out BMW Motorrad Best of 2010

Check out BMW Motorrad TV

Dave Swezey

General Manager

gm@ridewest.com