I thank God every day that I’m able to scratch out a living doing what I love so much. I think most of my MIBs (Motorcycle Industry Brothers) feel the same way I do.
BACK TO BUSINESS
A year ago I started a new company called RF Custom Parts. We are making custom parts for Harley and Victory motorcycles. Right now we are concentrating on the Victory. We have designed and manufactured a lot of cool parts so far, and we have a lot more coming soon. I really like doing this because it’s like a blank canvas in that the only limit I have is my own imagination — and y’all know I have plenty of imagination! Remember the time when I was 12 and y’all left me alone for a couple of hours?
| I see some knothead walking in my door wearing a tie and lugging a briefcase, I go the other direction because I know he wants something from me, and it's usually money! |
I wish I could just spend all day, every day, creating cool parts and crazy bikes. But the last word in the motorcycle business is business. That’s the toughest part for me.
I don’t like all the horsesh*t (sorry, Grandma) that is involved in owning and running a business. But it has to be dealt with and I am very good at dealing with it, but I still hate it.
Remember when I got bored and found some purple paint in the barn and I decided I’d surprise y’all by repainting the barn purple? I thought you’d be so happy; boy was I wrong. I didn’t mean to make you cry Grandma, Everybody in town has a red barn, I wanted y’all to have the coolest barn in Sayre, Okla. I know now that it was a bad idea, but it sure seemed like a good idea at the time.
I hate the paperwork and the spreadsheets and the P&L statements. Hate ‘em! I hate talking to bookkeepers and accountants and stinking bankers, and as a matter of fact, I hate doing business with everybody who wears a tie. A cat wearing a tie don’t impress me; actually, it depresses me! I see some knothead walking in my door wearing a tie and lugging a briefcase, I go the other direction because I know he wants something from me and it’s usually money! I call these cats pencil d*cks (sorry, Grandma)!
I guess I’d better go for now, I’m sure y’all are having a ball up there. You’re probably both happier than a couple of 25-year-old newlyweds working on starting your family! Y’all keep an eye on me down here and if you see me screwing something up, please feel free to send me a warning. I don’t know, maybe I’ll step on a nail or something to remind me to slow down and enjoy this life while I got it.
This story originally appeared in the January 2013 issue of Dealernews
