Fans of big-twin motorcycles with big bucks to spend have a new place to find what they need to fulfill their fantasies of flying low over the highways.
But it’s not in Milwaukee or in York, Pa., homes to the biggest name in big bikes-Harley Davidson, and its 1400-cc V-Twin line of motorcycles. Nor is it in Middletown, Ohio, where Honda builds its biggest cruiser, the Goldwing.
It’s in Wichita, at Big Dog Motorcycles.
For those who don’t speak motorcycle, “big-twin” refers to a large twin-cylinder motorcycle engine.
Big Dog Motorcycles is the latest business venture of Sheldon Coleman Jr., son of the late Sheldon Sr., longtime president of the Coleman Co. The younger Coleman joined the family company in 1981. He was chief executive when Ronald Perelman took over the firm in 1989.
He’s also the same Sheldon Coleman who founded and continues to perform in the rock band Dewy and the Dogs and who established Big Dog Studios, a recording studio in Wichita.
Inside the new Big Dog shop and factory, a handful of mechanics and technicians are building the company’s custom-crafted versions of rumbling, chrome-rimmed steel steeds. There are 15 on staff; Coleman is ready to hire another 10.
It takes $19,500 to buy a Big Dog bike, plus the desire to ride a machine that is unique to the biker world.
What passes as standard gear on a Big Dog is an inventory of non-standard, after-market parts: handmade frames; powerful, polished triple-disk brakes; hopped-up, hand-built engines; sweeping tuned exhaust pipes; even custom paint, chrome and powder-metal finishings. And the bike is built to the buyer’s specifications.
Though it’s more expensive than some new cars, a Big Dog isn’t necessarily more expensive than a simlarly equipped Harley.
Buying one of Harley’s biggest bikes and adding the after-market touches built into a Big Dog would cost about as much as the Big Dog. And you’d have to wait for nine months to a year for delivery.
Big Dog guarantees delivery in 60 days or less.
Coleman doesn’t see his Big Dog company getting as big as Harley. But he sees plenty of business from motorcycle riders wanting something different.
Coleman’s business has its roots in his first motorcycle, a 250-cc Suzuki. That was 26 years ago; he was 16. Coleman progressed through larger street and dirt bikes until he stopped riding at 25. Ten years later, he bought a big Honda.
“I sold that Honda after six months and bought my first Harley. I never looked back from there,” he said.
After riding cross-continent rides with friends, Coleman decided there was room for a custom-made motorcycle. “All these guys were waiting months, sometimes a year, to get a new Harley, then spending hundreds or thousands more for the custom work they wanted,” he said.
With a huge pool of after-market parts available for Harleys, the next step was easy: build a one-of-a-kind prototype, which became the Vintage, a Big Dog cruiser with the nostalgia factor as deep as the paint. That was 18 months ago. Then came a second, sportier version, the Pro Glide.
In February, he moved out of a private garage he owned and into the new shop.
The appeal of Big Dog’s products is catching on only a month after the store’s doors opened. Orders have been placed from Holland, South America, Africa and Canada, as well as from across the U.S.
“We hope to sell 100 bikes this year, and that’s getting our manufacturing operation started late in the year,” Coleman said. “It could be three or four times that next year.”
Big Dog’s custom engine is based on the traits of Harley’s Evolution engine; the frame is designed to use rubber shock mounts that Harleys lacked until recent years.
“It’s a ’60s look with ’90s technology,” said Frank Aliano, Big Dog’s operations manager.
There is little Harley Davidson in a Big Dog motorcycle; and what little Harley there is in these motorcycles is declining. “We’re working to take everything Harley out of both bikes,” Aliano said.
And Coleman is working to spread Big Dog to the far corners of the country. “We are qualifying dealers to handle the line; good, solid shops with reputations for good custom work,” he said.
Big Dog also provides shop service for Harley owners.
