by Carl Hnatyshyn Sarnia This Week
(2015) If you’ve lived in Sarnia anytime over the past half-century and have spent time riding down Lambton’s open roads on a chopper, chances are that you’ve heard of Ray McQuinn and Motorsport. That’s because for over 50 years, McQuinn and his team have been providing personalized, peerless service for Sarnia’s vast number of motorcycle enthusiasts.
The genesis of Motorsport took place during one of the golden eras of motorcycle madness, the 1960s. “We started in 1965 on Derby Lane,” McQuinn said sitting in Motorsport’s current Confederation Street offices.
The original owners of the establishment were Hammy Leon and John Landry. Shortly after opening the shop, the pair searched for someone else who shared their passion for motorcycles. McQuinn became a partner later that year and has been at Motorsport ever since.
The business was an immediate success. Motorsport initially sold small, British-made bikes by companies such as BSA (Birmingham Small Arms) and Norton and soon graduated to selling a range of now-classic metrics from Japan.
“BSA and Norton were our mainstays,” he said. “We started with Yamaha and took on Honda in 1968. We had those two lines until we stopped selling the metrics in 1988.”
Motorsport started selling the iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles in 1973, and began selling them exclusively in 1988. “We serviced all Harleys, we sold Harley motor clothes, Harley pants, and Harley accessories,” he said. “We became a full Harley store.”
Asked why the shop jettisoned the smaller, overseas bikes and instead went with the American-made Harleys, McQuinn said that the bike’s iconic status and far-reaching popularity were the biggest factors in the changeover.
“We could see the trend coming,” McQuinn said of why they made the switch. “We would be able to continue with a brand that was started in 1903. It goes without saying that we thought it would make a profit.”
Today’s Motorsport offers Harley owners most of the same services it offered its customers since it opened its doors five decades ago – maintenance, parts, advice on local riding hot spots and a place to gather for those seeking staff who know what they’re talking about. It’s also a place where old friends can socialize and where kids can come to ogle some of the most elaborately made motorcycles around.
But while business has been good for Motorsport since they made the changeover 27 years ago, both the shop and the motorcycle industry as a whole have faced some tough challenges in recent years. Since the recession of 2008, fewer and fewer people are willing to spend their money on ‘luxury’ items – items that most certainly include motorcycles, McQuinn said. Compounding the problem is that today’s youth just aren’t buying motorcycles in numbers that they used to.
“Younger individuals are spending their money on other things,” he said. “We have to realize that the motorcycle industry and the motorcycle itself, it’s a luxury, not a necessity. You can use it for transportation, yes, but it isn’t a necessity for transportation,” he continued. “Most people have four-wheel vehicles as well.”
In spite of these two seemingly negative trends, Motorsport has continued to enjoy tremendous success locally with a dedicated base of local customers. To celebrate their recent golden anniversary, McQuinn, his staff and his customers recently popped corks and celebrated with dignitaries such as Mayor Mike Bradley and MPP Bob Bailey. In the 50 years since its beginnings on Derby Lane, Motorsport has become an icon itself of the Sarnia business community.
The secret to the business’ success, McQuinn said, is their solid relationship with their customers, or ‘friends’ as he calls them. “We’re very fortunate to have loyal customers,” he said. “I’m dedicated to our customers and that’s all there is to it. Even in the tough times when profits weren’t made, you have to look after your customer base and your friends. I love this industry, I love our customers. And our customers are our friends,” he said. “The adjunct to that is that we’re still in business.”
Changing with the times is also a key to success in any business, and Motorsport is no different. “The biggest thing is as of April 1, we no longer handle new Harleys,” McQuinn said. “We decided not to renew our contract, so we retired from the new Harley business. “We’re still going to have motorcycles – used motorcycles and such – but we have a full service centre and we can service all Harleys no matter what the year,” he said. “There are a lot of customers who have the same machines that we sold them in the 1970s….Harleys can be serviced with no problems.”
Looking at the shop’s array of citations and letters of congratulations sent to Motorsport for their 50th anniversary, McQuinn seems to embody Confucius’ famous proverb, ‘Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.’ After 50 years working with vehicles he clearly loves, retirement isn’t even on the horizon.
“I intend to be here in another 50 years,” he said with a grin. “I always say it’s not a vocation, it’s an avocation.”