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Visionary
Posts: 3006
San Antonio, TX | Back in December of 2010 I visited family in Memphis, TN for Christmas. Knowing I was going to be in SongFan's backyard I made some arrangements to meet up with him. This will be the second time we have met. Our first was in Blanco, TX in the Spring of 2009. For that old story click the link below.
http://www.vision-riders.com/bb/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=3218
We met at FRS Powersports and walked across the street for a pleasant lunch at the Sidecar Cafe.
http://www.frspowersports.com/
After Lunch we went back to his hometown dealership. This Victory Dealer is across the street from a huge Harley Davidson dealer, Bumpus H-D. Bumpus is also a very nice place to visit.
http://www.bumpusharleydavidson.com/
While at the Victory dealership I shot some video while talking to the owner and also got some footage of Songfan describing his ride before he rode off into the sunset.....
Ok, it was not really a sunset because it was 3:00 PM and he was riding South...not West. Close enough for December.
Tom, Thank you for your hospitality, your posts and your posters!
Ride Safe
Enjoy!
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Cruiser
Posts: 206
Lumber Bridge, NC United States | nice. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1117
Northeast Ohio | That is a nice store. Thanks for sharing. |
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Visionary
Posts: 2027
Brighton, TN | radioteacher, yep you were talking to the big Kahuna who is rarely there, his son runs the place. The did a nice job when they built it. Huge rooms in back for storage and keeping bikes pulled in. Nice little service area where you can pull your bike in and close the door and talk over what you need done. It is used I think more for pre delivery with the customer.
I thought it was one heck of a ballsy move to erect such a large shop and Victory sign almost directly across from Harley, especially that dealer they own 4 different places in the area. Otherwise, awesome place and good help. |
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Visionary
Posts: 3006
San Antonio, TX | pollolittle,
I really liked the place. Consider this a warning that I will be back in your area in the next six months. Looking forward to another meet up.
I would like to ride the Vision there but not sure that would work out.
Ride Safe |
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Visionary
Posts: 3204
Memphis | Good visit as always Paul. Thanks for the props to my guys at FRS. When Po and I bought our bikes in the Fall of '07, they were in a tiny building about 1/2 a mile from their current location. It was off the main drag, tucked away on a side street. The Bumpus Harley sign had more square footage than the entire FRS showroom. Harold Gaither (the guy you were talking to) bought the lot across from Bumpus and committed to building the Taj Mahal you see today. They broke ground at exactly the same time the economy was tanking. Harold owns another business and it really tapped him out to follow through with the Victory expansion. He had started FRS Powersports in 2003 for his son, Brantley, to run. Brantley and his best friend, Denny (the head mechanic), both got certified as Victory mechnics. When I walked into their tiny shop in July of '07, I talked to Brantley about the Vision. I had hit the internet hard and gleaned as much as I could about Victory and Polaris. When I was ready to leave a deposit on an '08 Vision, sight unseen, Brantley asked what model I wanted. Midnight cherry Premium Tour. He said "Well, that's what I have on order as my dealer demo bike but I'll sell it to you and order another one later. That should get you your bike about a month ahead of the general public." Needless to say I was blown away. That was my initial experience with FRS and have been treated like their most prized customer ever since. I can't say enough good things about those guys. Harold is a great guy. I dropped in after Thanksgiving last year and he walked up and shook my hand. "Hey Tom, I didn't see you at our VIP open house where we had clothing and accessories 50% off a couple of weeks ago." I told him I work weekends and never get to make stuff like that. He said "Walk through the store and get anything you want, half off." I asked if I could wait and bring my daughters in and get them fitted for jackets. Of couse he said "Sure!" I ended up buying over $1000 worth of stuff for about $500 out the door. Took them 10 minutes to ring me up. Give me a holler when you head back this way. We'll check in with my boys! |
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| If I had that dealership I wouldn't sleep at night thinking of the nut I had to crack every day.
Very smart on there part putting across from harley now I guy can do one stop shopping for his new bike. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 880
Orlando, FL | What a nice dealership! And I think he was smart to put it across from the Harley Dealer. That way people who might be curious about Victory see it and might walk over!! Hope he does well. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 64
St. Louis, MO United States | Glad your visit went well, wish mine would have been better. I was in Memphis about a year and a half ago for my kids soccer tournament. During a break in between games me and another Dad went to FRS Powersports. I walked around the store for 30 minutes and could not get anyone to help me in purchasing a particular Victory shirt and hat. Went to the counter and asked for some assistance and, well lets just say did not get any. So I left and went across the street to the Harley dealer, Bumpus. Bought my buddy a Harley hat, so my loss was his gain.
Good to know it worked out well for you guys though!  |
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Visionary
Posts: 3204
Memphis | mleiten, I remember when you mentioned that about a year ago. Said it happened to you at five different Victory dealers and you even asked for help. That's pretty amazing. |
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Tourer
Posts: 554
2 mi from Jim Beam n KY | Nice vid! Glad to see folks meet up!! |
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Tourer
Posts: 337
san antonio, tx | Been there, got the T-shirt! It was one of the few dedicated Victory Dealerships I'd been to then, and I was impressed with it. Escpecially that it's right across from the big HD dealership. I drug some of my office coworkers to bike night at the side car that evening too. mmmmmm. beeeeeer. |
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SongFan Speaks!