| Back in late 2001, I took a motorcycle trip to India, Nepal, and Sakim. It was a great ride with some good friends. We were challenged by constantly changing road surfaces, ranging from great asphalt to sand whoops and water crossings. We didn't see too many other bikes, but the ones we saw were adventure bikes. Having started out riding dirt bikes at 11 and then getting my first street bike at 17, I went from dirt bikes to cruisers to sport bikes, somehow missing this segment of motorcycle riding. I had been hoping to find a good "do it all" bike, and since I enjoyed touring, commuting, and sport riding, the adventure bikes intrigued me.
Once I got home from the trip, I started to research these types of bikes and discovered the Triumph Tiger. There were only a few choices, so I researched each one and tried to learn as much as I could about each company since all the offerings were European. During my research process, I was really impressed with Triumph. John Bloor, the man responsible for the great British marque's resurrection, was of particular interest as entrepreneurs have always intrigued me. His story of seizing opportunity at such a young age and becoming a self-made millionaire before most people graduate from college was inspirational. Mr. Bloor's savvy alone was enough for me to feel comfortable in buying a "new" Triumph.
So off I went to the local dealer, only to be disappointed because they did not have a Tiger available. In fact, they had almost no Triumph stock at all. I lost confidence in becoming a Triumph rider, as dealer support was something on my shopping list, as well. About six months later, I was riding the Crest Road on Sunday morning, like I do nearly every Sunday in the summer. I stopped near the top to chat with some other riders. Someone said that they'd heard the store that was carrying Triumph was no longer going to be the dealer and Albuquerque would be left without a Triumph store. A light bulb went off over my head. I felt, after all my research, that Triumph was poised to do something special. This was one of those opportunities that doesn't come along too often. The only problem was I had almost no money, no experience, and, quite frankly, no business thinking I could pull off such a big undertaking. I did have a good understanding of business and retail—and I also had a desire to succeed. So I decided to leave my life in the musical instrument-manufacturing business and as a working musician to become a motorcycle dealer.
In October 2002, I made first contact with Triumph Motorcycles America. They sent the area manager to come visit me. It was a good meeting and I got an idea of what I needed to do to get started. The first steps included writing a business plan and finding a location. There were numerous other steps along the way and the obstacles were pretty big. Despite the difficulties, I was determined to make the dealership happen. After six months, that felt like a lifetime of hard work, we opened the store in the spring of 2003. With only three employees, including myself, and a very modest inventory, we were off and running. We knew that if we simply provided great service with a great product, we would make it. The remainder of 2003 was filled with more hard work, but was rewarding in that we were making the store go, exceeding our expectations, and having fun. 2004 was more of the same—growth and success. This was the first year we cracked into the top five dealers in annual sales for Triumph in the American market and we've been there every year since.
2005 started with more of the same—growth and work, growth and work. During our grand opening in 2003, our Triumph area manager, Clay Carson, let me know that despite all he'd done to help open our store, he was leaving Triumph for a job at Ducati. I let Clay know that I'd always been a huge Ducati fan, and that if the opportunity presented itself down the line, I'd love to be the Ducati dealer in Albuquerque. Around the middle of 2005, the opportunity came. We were thrilled, but also had to figure out how to go from being a Triumph-only dealer to becoming multi-line. We reworked our logo and the showroom and somehow managed to pull it off. We had immediate success with Ducati, and 2005 was another growth year for the business. This trend kept rolling along in 2006.
In the spring of 2006, we were approached by Piaggio about taking on the Vespa line. We had to move quickly, but went ahead and made the room to bring aboard the scooters. Still in our small 5,000-square-foot building, things were getting very tight. We managed, and we were named the #1 new Vespa dealer in North America. We had a good year and dealt with the challenges, but the space issue was very real. Going into 2007, we were loaded with product, now having three lines and stretching to make it all fit. Another year of growth ensued for 2007, but the challenges of working with three lines was becoming too much. After the season, we sold off the Vespa franchise so we could regain our earlier sanity.
2008 started off much the same as previous years. We were busy and feeling good about another year of growth. As we got further into the year, things started to change as our country's economy began to implode. By late in the year, we had to make some difficult decisions and started scaling back in all areas. As 2009 came, it became apparent that the decline was not stopping. Throughout 2009, we continued to tighten our belts and work harder than ever to ensure our viability. There was a huge upside to the economic downturn, though: We're able to provide a very high level of personalized customer service with a small, dedicated staff of motorcycle nuts. It was the opportunity to get back to our roots, where we'll be staying.
After two down years, I decided that we needed to take some risks and make 2010 a year of growth and renewal. It started with a call to an old friend, Mark Brady. Mark was running Triumph America when we became a dealer and was instrumental in getting us started. Mark had been gone from Triumph for a couple years and working for BMW as the CEO of Husqvarna. We discussed the possibility of us taking Husqvarna on here in New Mexico. The talks started in August of '09 and we got the bikes here by January 2010. Having a new line gave us the boost we were looking for going into 2010. Husqvarna proved to be good medicine as it got us energized and thinking forward again. Personally, it helped me to fall in love with riding all over. I can't wait to get out and ride dirt these days. It takes me back to my earliest days as a rider. If the addition of Husqvarna wasn't enough, we also decided to be the first Triumph dealer to offer motorcycle rentals through Eagle Rider. The opportunity was too tempting to pass up. Being able to offer rentals to local and visiting riders is a great thing. I felt that not everybody local is going to want to own their own machine right now, and the beauty and roads that New Mexico offers must be shared with tourists from all over the world. 2010 proved to be a year of growth and renewed passion.
Well, here we are, then. Hopefully, I'll update this page once and awhile. Even after seven years, I'm still committed to making a store that I would want to shop at. I will always work to make PJ's the best dealership I can, and I hope that you enjoy shopping with us as much as we have enjoyed creating this place. Here's our mission and it's never changed: Through great products, customer service, and integrity, PJ's is committed to bringing the best of motorcycling to Albuquerque. Ride safe—PJ LaMariana
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PJ's Motorcycles
12910 Central Avenue SE Albuquerque NM 87123
Phone: 505-323-6700
Fax: 505-323-4335
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