Tuesday, February 3, 2004

Minibike replica importer gets off to roaring start

By DAN RICHMAN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The older the boys, the better the toys. For proof of this developmental principle, one need look no further than a drab industrial building in Redmond.

There, entrepreneur Larry Hooper, 44, stockpiles Chinese-made versions of the tiny but powerful Classic minibikes he loved as a child. Dealer Erik Moseid, 49, greets local customers who gleefully tear around the parking lot on the blue, red and silver four-stroke bikes.

		Phil H. Webber / P-I
	Erik Moseid, owner of Fun-Bikes.com, assembles a minibike at Hooper Imports in Redmond. Larry Hooper began bringing the bikes in from China after he and Moseid talked about how expensive similar small Classics are.

Like Hooper and Moseid, many of those grinning riders are adults -- though the two Redmond neighbors swear they got the idea to commission the bikes a few years ago only because they couldn't find real Classics for their kids.

A mint-condition ClassicTrail 50, like the one Hooper remembers buying for $50 growing up in the Midwest, now sells for $2,500, he said. Cheaper ones are too old to repair economically.

"We got to chatting at one of our kids' football games about how outrageous the prices were. I told Larry, 'If you can bring 'em in, I'll sell 'em,' " recalled Moseid, whose Fun-Bikes.com is the exclusive Washington dealer for bikes designed and imported by Hooper Imports LLC (www.hooperimports.com/).

Larry Hooper started that company in 2000 with his brother Mark, a general contractor. He had plenty of money to finance his notion, having retired after a short career in sales that featured imaginative ideas like selling heavy athletic jackets in Honolulu.

"The manufacturer said I was nuts, but it was a young man's fashion, what every gangbanger had to be wearing, and I knew every kid of Japanese and Australian tourists who came through would have to have one," he recalled. "I sold $1 million worth."

Pursuing his minibike dream, Hooper did extensive Internet research and found a Chinese factory called Lifan that was willing to turn out bikes to his design.

"There was no information. It was all a leap of faith," he said. But it worked.

OK, the first one arrived bearing the name "Yiper" rather than the requested nameplate "Viper." But "the quality was there -- it just has to be the American business that's managing it, to be sure they're making it to the specs," he said.

		Phil H. Webber / P-I
	Larry Hooper was sure that importing minibikes would succeed. "The market for little motorcycles is hot," he said. "If they see it, they buy it."

Since April, Hooper has imported six cargo containers of bikes, in about a half-dozen models. Among them are faithful copies of the claasic popular dirt bikes.

Some of the classic models aren't made any more. Some are, but they cost roughly twice as much as Hooper's imports.

His line, at Moseid's retail prices, includes:

 

• The Cub, an $849, 50cc, three-speed automatic with no lights or mirrors, modeled after the classic discontinued 50.

   

   

• The PitBull, a $949, 50cc, three-speed street-licensable automatic with lights and mirrors, replicating the classic diminutive, discontinued 50.

   

   

• The Badger, a $999, 70cc, 3-speed automatic replicating the larger classic 70, which is still in production. It's also available with a four-speed manual transmission (also $999). There's a 90cc model with a four-speed manual and a 90cc model with a three-speed automatic (both $1,149).

   

They're intended for off-road use only, though some can be licensed, for riding in campgrounds and on Forest Service roads.

The first 40 bikes, Hooper sold out of his garage within a month with a single classified ad. Through eBay, he has recruited seven dealers, each of whom gets exclusive rights to sales in one state.

Moseid's territory is Washington, and he said he's sold "several hundred" since opening for business in April. To save money, he doesn't have a showroom, displaying bikes at fairs and shows, even at roadside fruit stands. A laid-off computer network engineer, Moseid said his new full-time job "is a lot more fun than explaining why a virus has wiped out their entire system."

It's also lucrative. Selling 500 bikes a week, a goal Hooper thinks is realistic, would yield at least $50,000 per week directly to him, and an equal amount to be split among the salespeople. Hooper owns all the inventory -- about $600,000 worth at retail -- which he said can be "logistically difficult." But he's not worried.

"The market for little motorcycles is hot," he said. "If they see it, they buy it."

The competition includes at least a half-dozen other importers of replicas of Chinese bikes. Hooper said he has far more inventory than them and uses higher-quality engines.

The competition also includes Honda itself, of course.

"On one hand, it's flattering that they'd go off Honda's success," said Scott McMillan, manager of Lynnwood's Cycle Barn. "My fear is that somebody will think it is really a Honda. They (Hooper's bikes) will not have continued operational success like Hondas do."

Hooper said the bikes don't infringe on Honda's intellectual property because the Japanese company's patents, at more than 30 years old, are outdated. He's also careful not to identify his bikes with the Honda brand.

Some might worry that putting 4-year-olds on dirt bikes -- yes, that's widely done, the men said -- is irresponsible. Not in their view.

Their arguments: It's a good way to learn balance, it teaches principles of internal combustion engines, and it's safer than skateboards and Razor scooters because safety gear is commonly used. And it's "perfect family fun," Moseid said.

"It's hard to get kids excited about going on a hike with their parents, and with video games, they're in their own little world," he said. "But if you get a couple of motorcycles, the kids are excited about it."

Four-year-olds need a little help starting the bikes, he conceded. But "at 5, they're riding on their own and racing. All the kids who are 10 and really good racers started at that age."

But again, the older boys -- and their wives -- also want the toys.

Pat and Larry Shrout of Renton, both 66 and retired, each bought one from Moseid last week to carry in their RV and aboard their 34-foot trawler.

"We've been riding them around in the back yard, and they're very fun," Pat said.