Local motorcycle dealer partners with Italian company to provide luxury scooter brands
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Do you want to know what’s happening in the eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.
BIZ BUZZ
IDAHO FALLS
Motorcycle dealership catering to the luxury rider with new partnership
IDAHO FALLS – Eagle Rock Indian Motorcycle at 845 Milligan Road in Idaho Falls has been selling motorbikes, riding gear, apparel, helmets, parts and accessories since 2017. It recently partnered with Piaggio Group, an Italian motor vehicle manufacturer, to provide additional luxury brands.
Did you know …
- The first self-propelled transportation device with two wheels was a steam-powered bicycle. Sylvester Roper of Roxbury, Massachusetts, invented it in 1869, according to the American Motorcyclist Association. It would be another 16 years before the world’s first petroleum-fueled internal combustion motorcycle was created.
- German-born steam engineers Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand partnered with inventor Alois Wolfmueller to produce the world’s first two-wheel motorized machine that was referred to as a motorcycle in 1894, according to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. However, Gottlieb Daimler, who invented the Daimler Reitwagen in 1885 (which Wired describes as “a wooden bicycle frame with foot pedals removed powered by a one-cylinder Otto-cycle engine”), is considered the father of the motorcycle.
- Superbike Newbie reports that on Sept. 25, 2010, Rocky Robinson broke the record for the fastest land speed on a motorcycle. He averaged 376 mph over 1 kilometer. That’s faster than half of Cessna’s private jets made to date.
- With 15 titles, Giacomo Agostini has the record for winning the most motorcycle racing championships.
- In 2014, Kharat Sinh Parmar of India constructed the longest ridable motorcycle in the world. It was 86 feet long, according to a motorcycle website. Similarly, the world’s smallest motorcycle was created in 2003 by Tom Wiberg of Sweden. It was only 80 millimeters long.
The expansion launched over the weekend in a separate building across the parking lot. Todd McKelley, one of the partners in the business, tells EastIdahoNews.com this allows the business to become a motoplex, a motorcycle destination for customers. It now includes a new showroom environment to exclusively display four motorcycle and scooter brands: Piaggio, Vespa, Aprilia and Moto Guzzi.
He describes the place as looking more like an art gallery than a showroom. See what it’s like in the video above.
“We are very excited to have introduced the concept of a motoplex,” McKelley says. “We’re bringing a slice of Italy to the region. I’m talking about the finest quality motorcycles and scooters that you can buy.”
Piaggio is the umbrella organization for the four brands. It was founded by Rinaldo Piaggio in 1884, according to it website, and got its start as a locomotive and railway carriage manufacturer. During World War I, it entered the submarine, airplane and seaplane market. It became a prominent producer of aircraft engines in the 1930s.
Aprilia and Vespa were founded after World War II in 1945 and 1946, respectively. Aprilia started as a bicycle manufacturer, according to Wikipedia, and later produced a motocross bike in 1970 called the Scarabeo. It began producing scooters 20 years later.
“Aprilia has 54 consecutive world cups for super bikes,” says McKelley. “They have the Tuareq 660, which (was the brand’s) motorcycle of the year in 2022. (It is a) very popular dual-sport bike (for on- and off-road).”
Vespa, which means “wasp” in Italian, “has evolved from a single model motor scooter … to a full line of scooters and one of seven companies owned by Piaggio today,” according to Wikipedia.
Moto Guzzi is a world-renowned brand in motorcycle racing and is “the oldest European manufacturer in continuous motorcycle production.”
Accessories like the motorcycle stand, wind tunnel and eight-cylinder engine were first manufactured by Moto Guzzi.
“It’s a bike that is hand-made in a small fishing village in Mandello del Lario near the banks of Bellagio. It’s built by the great-great-grandchildren of the same people who started the company,” McKelley says. “There’s so much heritage and history and it’s what makes motorcycles cool.”
Dual-sport motorcycles are the fastest-growing segment of the industry’s growth, McKelley says, and being able to provide them in eastern Idaho “on the doorstep of biker’s paradise” was appealing to him.
Mckelley says the idea behind the partnership with Piaggio is to build a scooter culture in eastern Idaho, which he says is already becoming a trend.
“One-hundred-mile-to-the-gallon scooters when gas is at the price it is suddenly makes a lot of sense to people,” he says. “Scooters are fun, they’re effortless. You cannot ride a scooter and not smile.”
McKelley’s been riding motorcycles since he was 6. He has firsthand experience feeling the freedom of riding a motorcycle and he’s grateful to share that passion with customers through the dealership.
The expansion was unveiled during an open house on Saturday, and McKelley is “proud to be a part of” this new partnership with Piaggio.
“We’ve had a lot of wonderful supporters and customers over the years, and we continue to be a powerhouse of Indian motorcycles,” he says.
BIZ BITS
Bank’s regional president retiring after 44-year career
The following is taken from a Zions Bank news release.
IDAHO FALLS – Zions Bank’s eastern Idaho region president Merri Johnson will retire July 28 after more than 22 years of service to the company and a 44-year banking career.
Clients and community members are invited to the bank’s Idaho Falls branch at 1235 South Utah Avenue on Friday, July 21, to enjoy refreshments and visit with Johnson from 2 to 4 p.m.
Johnson was recruited to the bank in 2001 to serve as a customer service manager and was promoted to regional operations manager in 2002. In 2015, she was promoted to the region president role, where she was responsible for the profitability, strategic direction and operations of 15 branches in eastern Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.
Her leadership has brought value to local communities, including nearly $93 million of Paycheck Protection Program loans to help preserve payrolls for thousands of workers in eastern Idaho.
Johnson is also the executive director of Regional Economic Development for Eastern Idaho and a board member for the Idaho Bankers Association and Bear Lake County Farm Bureau.
She’s recognized multiple times by the Idaho Business Review, including the Power List: Money Makers, the Excellence in Finance award, and the Woman of the Year award.
Johnson is planning to spend more time with her husband, children and grandchildren and enjoy the outdoors.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…
Idaho Falls business accused of racial discrimination by federal agency
Local MMA gym hosting benefit to raise funds for teen battling Hodgkins lymphoma
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