New Sponsor! Have you ever had to sit down and ask yourself, “What’s Next?”
#12
01-27-2010, 09:04 PM
Sponsor
Hi All,
Just wanted to let you know that I have had a lot of replies to my posts and a lot of questions about my new venture as well as a lot of sales from this site for which I am VERY THANKFUL. It has been a bit of an uphill climb, but I now have all of my new boot guards completed for H-D Baggers, Softails® and Dynas®. http://www.bitchin-guard.com
Sometimes, in life, things happen beyond our control that causes us to have to seriously sit down and ask ourselves, “What’s Next?”
So, my comment to everyone is, “Don’t Panic! No matter what may get thrown in your road that forces you to take another path, if you make your steps with confidence, keep a positive attitude, don’t give up and trust that there is a grander force in life that will open doors and steady your footsteps, things will work out. Doors can open that you had never envisioned if you just look for them.”
When I had to ask, "What's Next?":
Less than two years ago, when I found myself asking, “What’s next?”, one option that presented itself was to take a couple of things that I had built for my personal bike and test the waters to see if they were viable for other bikers. After showing my products around a bit and hitting a couple of bike shows, I decided that I should make a run at seriously selling my products. My first boot guard was made for my 07 Fatboy®. www.bitchin-guard.com I had designed a boot guard for my passenger’s foot peg that would mount without having to modify the bike in any way and would not interfere with the passenger foot peg folding up into storage position. And… I designed it so as NOT to look like an aftermarket bolt-on which was very important to me, personally. This design led to another design for other Softail® passenger foot pegs and another for the Dyna® passenger foot pegs at the request of some of my riding buddies. I also took a little piece of stainless steel that had milled out with a tabletop mill I purchased off of Ebay® to hang my ride bell and I put it into a production mode. www.bellhanger.com.
At my first bike show, I sold a good number of boot guards, though not as many as I would like. At my second show, Sturgis, I sold more guards and I also sold a bunch of bell hangers. But, even between the two types of products, it didn’t quite pay for my trip. I had under estimated the total cost of having a booth at Sturgis, but I didn’t give up. While at Sturgis, my most prominent question was “Can you make one of these boot guards for my bagger’ footboards?” On some touring H-Ds there also seemed to be an issue with the right front rider boot and the left side passenger boot hitting on the pipes. (The 2009 s fixed the passenger, but amplified the rider) At first, I was hesitant to invest in tooling and the start up costs associated with bringing on another design. Then, after reviewing what was already available, I made a decision that I was going to make a new kind of boot guard for the H-D footboards. In order to separate my products from the status quo, I added value, quality, huge cosmetic enhancements and I engineered the footboard guards so they do not require that they be drilled into the footboard. I didn’t want to make a product that introduces the possibility of letting rust penetrate the chrome and nickel plating of the footboard pan. This new “Premier” type of Rock Hard Boot Guard is starting to gain attention and I know it will be a fantastic product for my company as well as my new customers. In fact, this past week, I signed up my first out of state Harley Dealer. Thunderbird Harley-Davidson® and Buell in Albuquerque has ordered and is stocking my Rock Hard Boot Guards.
The set of circumstances that led me to ask, “What’s next for me?” has opened doors for me that were totally unforeseen 2 years ago. By trusting that things will work out I started my venture and then by overcoming some initial hesitations, I rounded out my product line with my new boot guards for the touring models. By sticking with it, I have pretty firmly set my new path. I plan on selling chrome and stainless steel to bikers for quite a while. Rock Hard Boot Guards™ and Bell Hangers™… Go Figure! It wasn’t too long ago, I could not have imagined where or what I would be doing today.
I believe there is truth to the old saying, “ As one door closes, another opens”.
In today’s uncertainty, there may be a long list of reasons to throw in the towel, but if you keep your faith in yourself and your God and always look for a newly opened door, I believe you will make it through.
Thanks for all of your support. I realize that my products may not be for everyone, but if you can’t personally use my boot guards, I am in hopes that you will take time to tell your friends about my boot guards and bell hangers.
Also, a special thanks to all the guys and gals at Mile High Harley Davidson® in Aurora who let me measure and fit all my guards on their new and used bikes in my proto-type phase. Without their support and help, I would not have been able to create such a perfect fitting product line for so many different H-D models.
Thanks again and best wishes,
Doug
Rock Hard DesignZ, Inc. / President/Engineer/Sales guy/Marketing guy/Dishwasher…
OH YEAH!..... If you find you need the absolute best boot guard for your bike or the latest "bling for bikes" and you enter HDF0405 in the promo code area when you are filling out your information, you will get a 15% discount on your Rock Hard Boot Guard™ at www.bitchin-guard.com
Just wanted to let you know that I have had a lot of replies to my posts and a lot of questions about my new venture as well as a lot of sales from this site for which I am VERY THANKFUL. It has been a bit of an uphill climb, but I now have all of my new boot guards completed for H-D Baggers, Softails® and Dynas®. http://www.bitchin-guard.com
Sometimes, in life, things happen beyond our control that causes us to have to seriously sit down and ask ourselves, “What’s Next?”
So, my comment to everyone is, “Don’t Panic! No matter what may get thrown in your road that forces you to take another path, if you make your steps with confidence, keep a positive attitude, don’t give up and trust that there is a grander force in life that will open doors and steady your footsteps, things will work out. Doors can open that you had never envisioned if you just look for them.”
When I had to ask, "What's Next?":
Less than two years ago, when I found myself asking, “What’s next?”, one option that presented itself was to take a couple of things that I had built for my personal bike and test the waters to see if they were viable for other bikers. After showing my products around a bit and hitting a couple of bike shows, I decided that I should make a run at seriously selling my products. My first boot guard was made for my 07 Fatboy®. www.bitchin-guard.com I had designed a boot guard for my passenger’s foot peg that would mount without having to modify the bike in any way and would not interfere with the passenger foot peg folding up into storage position. And… I designed it so as NOT to look like an aftermarket bolt-on which was very important to me, personally. This design led to another design for other Softail® passenger foot pegs and another for the Dyna® passenger foot pegs at the request of some of my riding buddies. I also took a little piece of stainless steel that had milled out with a tabletop mill I purchased off of Ebay® to hang my ride bell and I put it into a production mode. www.bellhanger.com.
At my first bike show, I sold a good number of boot guards, though not as many as I would like. At my second show, Sturgis, I sold more guards and I also sold a bunch of bell hangers. But, even between the two types of products, it didn’t quite pay for my trip. I had under estimated the total cost of having a booth at Sturgis, but I didn’t give up. While at Sturgis, my most prominent question was “Can you make one of these boot guards for my bagger’ footboards?” On some touring H-Ds there also seemed to be an issue with the right front rider boot and the left side passenger boot hitting on the pipes. (The 2009 s fixed the passenger, but amplified the rider) At first, I was hesitant to invest in tooling and the start up costs associated with bringing on another design. Then, after reviewing what was already available, I made a decision that I was going to make a new kind of boot guard for the H-D footboards. In order to separate my products from the status quo, I added value, quality, huge cosmetic enhancements and I engineered the footboard guards so they do not require that they be drilled into the footboard. I didn’t want to make a product that introduces the possibility of letting rust penetrate the chrome and nickel plating of the footboard pan. This new “Premier” type of Rock Hard Boot Guard is starting to gain attention and I know it will be a fantastic product for my company as well as my new customers. In fact, this past week, I signed up my first out of state Harley Dealer. Thunderbird Harley-Davidson® and Buell in Albuquerque has ordered and is stocking my Rock Hard Boot Guards.
The set of circumstances that led me to ask, “What’s next for me?” has opened doors for me that were totally unforeseen 2 years ago. By trusting that things will work out I started my venture and then by overcoming some initial hesitations, I rounded out my product line with my new boot guards for the touring models. By sticking with it, I have pretty firmly set my new path. I plan on selling chrome and stainless steel to bikers for quite a while. Rock Hard Boot Guards™ and Bell Hangers™… Go Figure! It wasn’t too long ago, I could not have imagined where or what I would be doing today.
I believe there is truth to the old saying, “ As one door closes, another opens”.
In today’s uncertainty, there may be a long list of reasons to throw in the towel, but if you keep your faith in yourself and your God and always look for a newly opened door, I believe you will make it through.
Thanks for all of your support. I realize that my products may not be for everyone, but if you can’t personally use my boot guards, I am in hopes that you will take time to tell your friends about my boot guards and bell hangers.
Also, a special thanks to all the guys and gals at Mile High Harley Davidson® in Aurora who let me measure and fit all my guards on their new and used bikes in my proto-type phase. Without their support and help, I would not have been able to create such a perfect fitting product line for so many different H-D models.
Thanks again and best wishes,
Doug
Rock Hard DesignZ, Inc. / President/Engineer/Sales guy/Marketing guy/Dishwasher…
OH YEAH!..... If you find you need the absolute best boot guard for your bike or the latest "bling for bikes" and you enter HDF0405 in the promo code area when you are filling out your information, you will get a 15% discount on your Rock Hard Boot Guard™ at www.bitchin-guard.com
Hey Doug,
Long time no hear. How have you been?
It’s great to see you here on the forum supporting those that still stand for what makes America great (that’s right a Harley Dealer within driving distance of every city).
Anyway, I truly wish you the best and hope that your new product brings you great success.
Respectfully,
Tom
HarleyGoodies
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#13
03-10-2010, 09:32 AM
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05-01-2010, 04:13 PM
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#20
08-08-2010, 01:38 AM
a few years ago i thought of the idea of using the crash bar for an engine oil cooler. then i found out that someone had recently started doing just that. now if someone could come out with handlebar risers for the batwing fairing that stuck up through the switch panel where the dogbones were accessible so we could use heritage or other types of bars and change them out easily, rather than the high dollar or high effort method that we are using now to change out our handlebars. all it would require is properly spaced holes cut with a hole saw of the proper size, two nylon or rubber grommets, and the proper height of risers. i'm unsure if there'd be enough swing to allow the risers to work properly, but that's for the engineering department.