Published: June 21, 2008 11:19 pm      

New vendor a boost for annual rally

Marc Wolfram’s been on the road for so long that he takes a good look around each morning to remember where he is.

This morning, Wolfram, marketing director for Kuryakyn motorcycle parts, is in Laconia, N.H., for one of the country’s largest motorcycle rallies.

Kuryakyn, the industry leader in aftermarket motorcycle parts sales, is out in force with displays at two different sites.

At the end of the day, they’ll pack up their store on 18 wheels and chart a course southwest for Johnstown.

It will mark the first time the Wisconsin-based company has shown its wares at Thunder in the Valley.

“We’ve been looking at it the last couple of years,” Wolfram said. “This year the schedule allowed for us to come in and take a shot at it.

“The attendance is pretty high, and it’s in a good part of the country for us. We’re always looking for good motorcycle rallies. Johnstown is big enough that it has graduated to the ‘Class A’ standard of a rally.

“That type of attendance is worth finding out whether it can support the large investment we make to attend a rally.”

Wolfram said Kuryakyn doesn’t make products motorcycle enthusiasts need, but the ones they dream about. It manufactures and distributes a wide array of accessories, accent lighting and specialty parts.

“It’s really nothing that’s essential, but the things people want,” Wolfram said. “Our products feature a lot of chrome, lighting or are performance oriented.

“Our customers are anybody that’s going to spend $9.99 on a throttle rocker to $1,000-plus on an exhaust system. So we have something for everyone.”

Karen Soliday, special events coordinator with the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she was a bit surprised this past spring when Kuryakyn reached out to Thunder in the Valley. She said that only a few years ago Kuryakyn was a vendor targeted by Thunder, but the company could not be swayed.

She said adding Kuryakyn to the vendors’ list shows that Thunder’s drawing power is getting stronger each year. She said being able to bring in a company like a Kuryakyn is important because it is the type of vendor that serves as an attraction.

“We’re really excited to have someone the caliber of Kuryakyn here,” Soliday said. “And I think it will go a long way in attracting other vendors their size and caliber to the event.”

The Kuryakyn crew will roll into town on Tuesday with a 12-person team ready to serve the crowd it’s expecting. Wolfram said if all goes well, the company could return next year with an even larger work force and possibly a second site like it employs at other major rallies.

He said that location is essential and landing a spot on the Washington Street side of the Suppes Ford lot was perfect.

“We have to be in a busy location but we also have to be in a location where bikes can easily access us because we do a lot of installations,” Wolfram said.

“Plus we don’t want to be in a location where we get in everybody’s way because our trailer does get to be a bit of motorcycle magnet.”