Catching Up with Eagle Rider's CEO

Ron 0:13

What a pleasure it is to get to know and visit with the first time and then visit with the second time people I really like , people I like to hang out with and like to get to know , and especially Sebastian Schultz , who is with us again today , the CEO of Eagle Rider . It has been right at a year , I believe , since we visited before . So welcome back , sebastian .

Sebastian 0:37

Perfect . Thank you so much , ron . Thanks for having me back , and it sure doesn't feel like a year it doesn't ?

Ron 0:43

I was really surprised . I was thinking it was like the first of the year , but now it was like last August , I guess it was . But hey , I know that you were beginning to launch and had launched a number of changes relating to the brand of Eagle Rider and the offerings , and hey , do you mind catching us up on all of that ? Yeah , sure .

Sebastian 1:03

I mean we spoke after I recently joined Eagle Rider and I think I talked about the plan , of what we're thinking about doing with the business , and one year later , I can report now that most of these things have actually happened . So that's , I think , a good thing . I think we mentioned it before . We have our 150 locations worldwide and we still are the number . We're adding new , new uh locations nashville , for example , we're moving into a new location there . Uh , that's coming in about a couple months . Uh , for a tale of the dragon and some good riding there , also , hopefully offering some tours . So , uh , you know , rentables is still obviously the biggest part of the business , but also tours that I've focused on more over the last uh , you know , few months now , having been on a couple tours , uh , guided tours , uh , where you follow a guide on a motorcycle and they point all the cool , point out all the cool stuff that you see along the road . And uh also , uh , you know , we're able , was able to uh create my own little tour from uh Las Vegas to uh Sturgis . Uh , for the 85th anniversary of the motorcycle rally there . Yeah , five German buddies that came out and you know we we wrote for about 2000 miles and five or six days . So that was , that was good . So I'm happy to talk about that as well .

Sebastian 2:14

And , you know , looking into the off-road adventures that we offer with our , with our side-by-sides , and now we actually have a license as well to do motorcycle off-road tours as well through the Mojave Desert oh , cool , we got that approved a couple months ago . So we're looking for the right partner on the bikes there to take people out into the desert and experience the wildlife on two wheels rather than in a cage . You know it's a motorcycle subscription where you pay you know , 29 or so , uh , depending on the package per month and you get a credit and use a credit for a motorcycle so you can try any and all motorcycles that we have in the fleet uh , you know , for as many times as you like . And the speaking of the fleet , we added , uh , besides , you know , our harley davidson's and yamaha's , as well as BMWs and Triumphs and Zeros .

Sebastian 3:07

We now added last fall , I believe it was we added Ducatis as well . So Multistrada , the Desert X and also the Scrambler . You know , for the urban rides , we're looking at diversifying more and more . You know our product offering to make Eagle Rider accessible for more and more riders , more you know our product offering to make Eagle Rider accessible for more and more riders .

Ron 3:27

I got to tell you I was , as you know , I still got my day job in corporate America , which I love , I do , I do . I'll retire someday soon , I hope , but anyway . So I've been traveling , traveling a lot for work . I was leaving Denver International Airport , just went through security and there were three clearly motorcycle riders standing in front of me . They had on their Harley Davidson leather vests and I just went up to them , like I approach strangers all the time . I said , oh , did you guys been out here for a tour ? And they said yes , we have . And I said , did you ride with Eagle Rider ? And they said yes , how'd you know that ? And I just told them because I met the CEO and it's a really , really good company . I just had a feeling . They said yes , they said they had a very positive experience , so it was great .

Sebastian 4:17

I'm glad to hear that because you know , you see them around the world and I always say know , we find our locations uh similar to golf courses in the most beautiful areas , uh yeah , world , and uh you know we , we're lucky that we can be in those in those areas . In denver , obviously , you know , right at the uh edge of the rockies there is uh beautiful for riding , um as famous you know , milan , or uh going into the alps , uh straight away from there , like an hour north , and you're riding the most beautiful areas of the world . It's really nice to see . And then also that people you know with motorcycle riding . It's interesting because everybody has their own bike and ideally you want to do every tour on your bike but you can .

Eagle Rider's Growing Business Offerings

Sebastian 5:00

So I'm glad that we can be an option to those riders and that they will , you know , leave their bike in the garage at home , but also trust us enough to give them a great bike for a great experience . That's always nice to hear .

Ron 5:10

Yeah , we had talked about it before too the tremendous advantage of someone who's interested in buying their next bike , or their first bike rather than I think maybe the way you put it one time , rather than take a three-mile little loop around the dealership and determine in three miles and five minutes is this going to be my next investment . Your option is just so much better . You know , take it out for X number of days and then determine . You know what . This bike is great but or this bike is just not for me . Can I try another one ? And I love that . You know just making it a free option .

Sebastian 5:47

Yeah , it's great for new riders because it's very overwhelming . You know one . The information online is rather limited on how to get your license . What do you need to do ? It's not as easy . I think chat GPT will now tell you what to do in each state . But you know , you go through the writing Academy or you take a test at the DMV and , but then what's next ?

Sebastian 6:06

And you know people and I'm stereotyping you , but mostly they look at a bike like that looks like a cool bike , and then they maybe go for test rides like , yeah , I'll do it and I've , I've been on bikes . You know that I really , really , really wanted to love and I didn't . For me , you know , maybe , the , the position of the handlebars , or you know the ways that , the way the , the legs sit on it . Or you know I , I there's one specific bike I , just I , I , um , you know I , I kill it at the light . You know , every day , every time I ride it , I do it at least once . For some reason , you can't get the clutch to work . It's a me problem , it's not the , but there are some models out that I really wanted to like and I didn't in the end because of certain reasons which usually come back to my preferences .

Sebastian 6:51

But being , for example , a Club Eagle Rider member and you have this membership , you can come and test out all these different bikes and if you sign up for the year , you're putting $300 at risk but you're not buying the wrong motorcycle . It starts at $5,000 , $6,000 , $7 , $8,000 , goes up to , you know , $35,000 for some of these big touring bikes . So I think it's a great deal and you know that's we like people coming in and building the community and trying those different bikes to find the perfect for you . And sometimes it's like a magic wand right , it will find you and not the other way around . So , and not the other way around . So that's always cool to see when people come in and try these different bikes before they make a decision .

Ron 7:27

Yeah , you know something I'm visualizing right now , something that you described , I believe , last time , was how , after a tour and someone's walking away from their bike or whatever , they put a rose or whatever on the bike . That's love , man .

Sebastian 7:45

It is love . And you know , maybe I'll give you a little insight into the tour that I organized from Vegas to Sturgis . So I had this plan because we six of us and we met through a common friend who unfortunately passed away . But it was our way of honoring him and you know we'll move forward without you , but we won't forget you , was the basic message there . And I organized this tour from Vegas to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon . We're supposed to go to the North Rim but then the fires happened and unfortunately the lodge burned down . So we had to reroute through the South Rim and then through Monument Valley into the Rockies , through Wyoming and then into Sturgis Valley , into the Rockies , through Wyoming and then into Sturgis . And that was just a beautiful experience .

Sebastian 8:27

And you know , first you leave , you have to get used to riding in a group and I see this . You know , I saw this with my buddies , but then also I see it with . You know , groups that leave here . You know they're a little unsure about the motorcycle because they may ride a BMW back in Europe , but here they have the big Harleys and they look at , stand in front of the bike . He's like this is actually bigger than the photo , like this is a big , big bike and uh , you know , our tour guides are phenomenal and they , they uh , deal with all of these , uh , the different expectations for the for each tour .

Sebastian 9:01

But when we went on this trip , you know , and after like the third day , everybody's like really it's ingrained , like how to ride in this group and then you start enjoying it even more , especially if you're , if you're , leading this tour because you're riding up front , um , but you also have to check your mirrors . If , if you , if your guys are still there , you have to pay attention to the road , you have to pay attention to your gps or you know any exits you got to take . You got to be careful that you don't ride off a cliff because you're checking your mirror too many times and , uh , you know , if somebody stops , you don't know what happened . So you got to swing around and you know , keep calm . It's like what happened is did something happen to the bike or are you just hungry ? Like what , what , what happened ? And so this was really nice to see and when we dropped off the bikes , everybody was very sad .

Sebastian 9:41

You know that we that the journey was over , because the first couple days or so feel very long , but then , the the further you get into the trip , oh man , five hours of riding is nothing . Now , uh , and you drop off the bikes and unfortunately it's done and they flew back back home and I came back to vegas and um , so I , I just figured out . You know , I want to talk to all of our tour guides , because they're not just tour guides but they are somewhat therapists as well on these tours . Because if you look

Motorcycle Tours and Group Riding Experiences

Sebastian 10:10

at our customers from all different countries and all different riding skills and all different intentions for this tour , and we have up to 15 bikes on this tour , so up to 30 people if you go two up bikes on this tour , so you're up to 30 people if you go two up , and to manage that group is not easy because of the cultural differences as well .

Sebastian 10:31

But you know you have to four or five days and I see them , you know , when I was , uh in in , uh in , la , and they drop off afterwards , they hug and they cry and it's like this was a great tour and they stay connected through the text chain that we have and , uh , maybe see each other again on a different tour .

Sebastian 10:46

So that that's really a nice part of the business , seeing the excitement and it's it's fairly quiet when people leave , uh , because they concentrate it and it's like , okay , I don't want to tip over the bike , I don't want to be the first one to drop the bike and a new bike to me . And we got to get off this parking lot and you know , la , the first road we take is the 405 , which is not the nicest motorcycle , but you have to take a bad road to get a good road . But then they come back and they're like over the moon and this was amazing and you know we have a beer or two after we dropped off the bikes and it's really nice to see how freeing it is to be on two wheels and experiencing , you know this , this beautiful country , or any no-transcript .

Ron 11:31

You know that reminds me of what you said again before with your previous gig with with Gold's Gem and stuff , that just seeing the reward from that , that's that's what we are sometimes lacking in the IT industry .

Ron 11:46

I mean , at least my , my job role has been to be involved with or manage people who are just managing the infrastructure and stuff , and it's not like we're making chairs where , like , here's a beautiful chair I know someone's going to sit in for the rest of their life and I hope they really enjoy this chair and I'll create another one and all that stuff . And so that's a little bit lacking sometimes in many of us that have IT jobs . It's like maybe you wrote some cool software code or whatever , but next week it's updated and somebody else has managed it , as opposed to like you're just really you have the potential and I'm sure it's happened to change someone's life perspective , you know , from here forward , like maybe they started off with deep depression or despair or whatever and went out . Not only did they see great places and experience a cool brand new bike out , not only did they see great places and experience a cool brand new bike , they made maybe made some friends for life too . It's what it sounds like it .

Sebastian 12:42

It sure happens and you know , coming back to your it examples , it's , it's , it's very , it's very , like there's ones and zeros . There's only so much you can do and I think , once it's , all people take it for granted that it works , and if it doesn't , that's when they complain about all the IT things that happen . But if it works , it's like okay , of course it works . You know , it's like I always like to compare it to the kicker on a football team . Everybody expects him to make every field goal , but he has one chance . You know , the quarterback has four chances every 10 yards . He has one chance to make this . And if he makes it , of course he makes it . And if he misses oh what an idiot he may . He missed the cue , it's . It's something like that . There's so much pressure to make it work , and if it doesn't , people will be vocal about it . And uh , yeah , it does change people and I just uh , last week I wrapped up a trip to um , european bike week in austria and it's the largest motorcycle rally in Europe .

Sebastian 13:39

It's surrounded by five countries . You have Austria , you have Italy , you have Germany and then you have the Czech Republic and , I think , slovenia , and people ride in from all those countries and it's around a lake and they do a beautiful job . It's a fantastic event , a little different to American motorcycle events where this almost felt like a state fair . You see families there with the kids and it's it's less uh , you know , it's less intimidating to go to those , uh . Then you know , like the big biker rallies , yeah , but once you're in it , like there's super welcoming , it , just like , just from the looks of it . You know , it always feels a little intimidating , I think .

Sebastian 14:14

But we had , um , this was in in collaboration with the harley davidson motor company and , uh , we had four winners with us , uh , for the rolling campaigns that they have throughout their dealerships , and they didn't know what to expect from this tour .

Sebastian 14:28

So we worked with our franchise partner , marco in uh , italy , who runs eagle rider italy , and he was the guide for the tour and went through the Alps 75 degrees , blue skies , beautiful riding and they said we will never forget this . This changed our lives and we will never forget this , because we didn't have an expectation and we saw what you guys have done the organization , the cool routes that you picked , the safety that you create as well . Cool routes that you pick the , the safety that you uh , that you create as well , because we all made it in one piece and that's the most important thing . Yeah , that was just so nice to see and that's why I like to go on our tours with on tours with our customers , because , you know , you somewhat get used to it by writing a lot and in this being the business , but then you see first timers and it's just , it's just mind blowing how happy they are that they could actually make this trip . And you know , next year will be very exciting as well with the hundredth anniversary of Route 66 .

Ron 15:26

I have that on my list to ask you about that . So you , as I investigated , you're going to have 66 riders .

Sebastian 15:32

Yes . So we have a special centennial tour that we were putting on . So I approached our tours department and said , hey , how complicated would it be to put 66 bikes on a tour ? Because usually we , we uh , cap out at 15 . And they looked at me like , so what are we talking about here ? I was like we can also make it a hundred because it's a hundred anniversary . It's like , oh no , no , no , let's look at the sixties , can also make it a hundred because it's a hundred anniversary . It's like , oh no , let's look at the 60s , let's try 66 , um , and it will be the biggest tour we've ever done and it's uh , it's one or two days longer than the original route 66 tour and we stop at never seen , never uh , at locations we've never stopped before , which is quite cool to see . And we timed it in a way that during one weekend in Tulsa , oklahoma , they have this Route 66 Road Fest . It's one weekend where they celebrate the 100th anniversary of Route 66 . And we'll be in Tulsa and spend a couple nights there to experience that , before then jumping back on the bikes and moving on on Route 66 .

Sebastian 16:30

So that's going to be , and I'm going to be on that tour because , as I make it 65 bikes , I'll take one , but I really would like to see that one because it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to see that . And that's what I'm saying . People love to come and do these things and they save up for years to make that trip , especially our European customers , because the tour itself I think it's a fair price point , but it's a high price point , like a cruise or like a safari , but it's all inclusive and you don't have to worry about anything and it's so unique . But then you have , in addition , the flights from Europe coming to the US night before , night after and whatever else you want to do . So it's just nice to see that people still feel that they want to come and see that American dream and ride a ride a bike down route 66 . And next year I think we'll be very busy for us with with those tours .

Ron 17:23

Yeah , I'm excited too for the small towns and small businesses along the route too . That'll get a really big boost . Yeah , Um , I was out on a few days ride this past year myself and I stopped in on my way back in Barstow and that's on Route 66 there too , and never been through there before . Well , no , I had I'd done Route 66 before , but I didn't stay there . They ended up staying at the Route 66 hotel and yeah , I mean nothing against the hotel at all , but the whole town really needed a boost

Off-Road Adventures and Fleet Expansion

Ron 17:55

. And yeah , I mean nothing against the hotel at all , but the whole town really needed a boost . So I'm glad to see that this is coming through as a very big , positive thing too , and people realizing that .

Ron 18:04

Who was it ? I think it was this travel TV guy from years ago . He mentioned something about the combination of both flying , and I think he was referring specifically to the interstate , interstate connections across the United States , and he said these interstates give you the opportunity to cross the United States and never see a thing . So which brought up a good point . As opposed to going through these small towns having a hamburger at a place that's been there for whatever you know , 100 years or something , the locals and yeah , just taking it a little bit slower .

Sebastian 18:38

Yeah , no , I , I , I agree , and you know there's one interstate and it's very close to where you are . You know , I 70 , I think , is one of the more more scenic routes you can take , but then the other ones are pretty , uh , you know , uh , uh lame , if you will , if you will , it's not the greatest writing experience , but , um , I give you one example . We left uh just before he crossed from Utah to uh , colorado . There's a small town called Cisco , cisco , utah , and it's uh right off the freeway , um , but well , the freeway is like a ghost town . It all fell apart .

Sebastian 19:18

You see collapsed buildings and there is one store there that it's called buzzard's belly and it's , it's a , it's a , uh , you know it's a general store , that's the only building that's there , and it was the sweetest lady and we , we stopped there for a break and you know we had some drinks and some ice cream because it was quite hot that day , and , uh , we sat there for 20 , 30 minutes . You know that's some outdoor seating and nothing happened in that town . We saw one car drive by and that's it . There's , there's just this one building , wow , like out of this world . And you know they have some art installations around there , but all of the uh , all of the buildings are collapsed . Uh , because there's nothing there , because the freeway is put in right that that small town suffered .

Sebastian 20:00

So it was cool for us to see , uh , you know , and make it a stop there and I I really hoped it existed because it was one of the spots that I , uh , you know , uh planned out for the route because it was an hour or so hour 15 from arches national park . Yeah , our tours we usually , we usually stop after one hour , uh , because you have to get gas or get a drink or use the bathroom , whatever . So people always know the next stop is about an hour away and it gives them certainty of what happens and it also helps our guides not to be asked every single time how far to the next stop , right ?

Sebastian 20:34

it's always an hour , the answer is always an hour . So I really hoped on Google Maps and Google . There was conflicting messages there , so I really hoped this existed and it did , and it was a fantastic stop . So if anybody's driving through there , stop at Buzzard's Belly . It's a cool experience .

Ron 20:51

I've got my note right here because I'm not that far away technically . Yeah , oh , that's cool . Hey , you know you'd mentioned about , you know , families being able to see families gather together , and I think it's the coolest thing too . Are you guys still doing the off-road where you're in a rental four-wheeler and then the whole wife and the kids or whoever can all join together ?

Sebastian 21:13

Yeah , we still do that in Vegas and it's getting more and more popular . Um , you know , one challenge in vegas is there ? Well , you have everything in vegas right , it's it's . You're not competing for money , you're competing for time . When people come to vegas , um , because they come for a long weekend and they do certain things , and you know one one half day activity . But what is that going to be ? Is it a helicopter flight to the Grand Canyon ? Is it an off-road tour ? Is it Topgolf ? Whatever it is , you've got to make your way through that and we did . It's getting more and more popular .

Sebastian 21:46

We still have that out of the Pioneer Saloon , which is the oldest saloon , I believe , in southern Nevada . You have bullet holes in the wall . It's a really cool spot . I don't know if you're familiar with the video game Fallout . It's in the game Fallout . In Vegas , every year they have a Fallout fest where all the gamers come and they celebrate . It's a really fun spot . Then we go into the desert for about a couple hours , do about 40 miles side by side and up to 6,000 feet and back down Beautiful . And what makes our tour unique is that we have fresh air helmets , so you're not dealing with the dust that the person in front of you throws up . So we have ventilation and there's a little snorkel that attaches to the helmet so you get fresh air all the time and you're not sweating , obviously when you go through the Vegasgas or the mojave desert . And secondly , we have an intercom system within the car so every car , all the four occupants of the car , passengers , can talk to each other and perfect equals and the screams and nice , nice driving buddy .

Sebastian 22:51

Like you hear all these , all these comments and you're connected to the guide vehicle as well . You know when we make a left turn , right turn , they will call it out . So that's very that's unique to our tours that you know . We add a little more comfort and fresh air and also intercoms uh , for our , for our vehicles as well that make gives me visions of a disney world attraction .

Ron 23:10

Yeah , but real , real , the real thing , the real thing .

Sebastian 23:13

But it also makes you wonder . Disney does a great job to replicate this , the real nature , and you're walking in there like this actually looks pretty cool to the original . Yeah , I think Cars Land at California Adventure is based on Arches National Park and you can see I rode through there . I'm like this looks like Cars Land . How good is Disney at creating those experiences .

Ron 23:37

It's fascinating they are , they are . Uh , how long have you been officing out of the las vegas location ?

Ron 23:43

uh , only a few months now , like uh four or five months oh okay , the reason I ask is you know I went on this solo ride . Uh , here's the brief story . So , uh , I took my uh b50 GS Adventure and I made a big loop out of it . My goal was to leave here from Loveland , colorado .

Ron 24:03

I wanted to reach

Personal Journey from Vegas to Sturgis

Ron 24:06

Seaside , california , because that's where the old fort is , the Army Fort where my dad was stationed back in the 1950s . So both my mom and dad lived there right after they married and dad was in basic training for the army there at Seaside and then he was shipped off to Alaska from there . But I wanted to see it in person and I wanted to be able to take my phone with FaceTime and show mom and dad live , like the little church where they used to go to church , because it's still there . And so , anyway , I made it a big loop out of it for myself . I just went to swim by myself , went through Salt Lake City was day one , then over to Reno and then eventually over to Seaside , and then I worked my way back through Las Vegas and that's where I hit Barstow . But anyway , that was back in May and I was just thinking to myself just now like if you were there it would have been really cool , because I stayed at Harrah's overnight .

Sebastian 24:59

Yeah , yeah , no , I need to come and see you in Colorado and you know we'll go . Oh , love it . I love that story because , you know , when I laid out the tour from Vegas to Sturgis , I also wanted to go through Monument Valley and I've done it . Uh , you know , for a reason . Uh , you know , my , as we've talked about , my dad passed away and , uh , you know , I wanted to go there for him because he had . And after he passed away , I took his vinyl collection , uh , to the us with me from germany and and brought it here and he had this one um album . It's the best of eagles .

Sebastian 25:30

Oh , yeah , yeah , yeah , the cover has the , the road they call the forest gunpoint now where therest Gump stops running . Yes , so you have this road , and then you see Monument Valley in the background . And I was thinking to myself you know he bought this probably in the late 80s and just before the wall came down in Eastern Germany . But you're looking at this , you're listening to this music and you're looking at this cover , and at that point in time you didn't know if you were ever going to see it and unfortunately he didn't see it , um , but I wanted to go for him , so we stopped and you know that was one of the reasons why I went , uh , through monument valley with with my friends and and spent quite a bit of time there , you know , at that at that location and just , you know , remembered him and and , uh , all the , all the uh great memories and just go there in in his , in his honor , basically . So that was also part of this and that's what I like about those trips .

Sebastian 26:18

And when I see our customers coming in here , they may just pick up a bike for a joyride , but they may pick up a bike because there's a very significant reason behind it that you cannot see from the outside . And if you suppose riding through Monument Valley , it's like oh yeah , there's some turns and some twisties and you see the cool red rocks and that's cool , but there's actually a purpose behind it and you don't see it . And you know we talked about this last time we spoke Same in the gym Like you don't know why these people are there . Are they improving their bodies or do they do it for their mental health ? And that's . You know , it just shows that everybody has something that we don't know about . And I think a little more patience and myself included . You know , like to develop that a bit more . You know , a little more patience with myself and with other people probably goes a long way nowadays .

Ron 27:06

Yeah , oh , it really really does . I hope I've reflected in the podcast , yeah , a few times anyway , that you've got to be kind to everybody . You just don't know what that waiter was going through yeah , terrible service , whatever , terrible food , whatever but you just don't know what was being faced by the cook back there or by this individual who's serving you there , just going over the top with a tip , no matter what . I preach that all the time . I do it myself Because , yeah , there's just a lot of hurting people .

Ron 27:41

But looking back at us too this is something else that I try to relay on the podcast over and over again that if you happen to have a motorcycle or you've got the capacity to rent one and you've got the ability , both mental and physical ability , to ride it , you are lucky , you are blessed very , very much . So , so , much , so more more than so many other people out there who may look successful on the outside but they're just drowning on the inside . So I don't know I I , as we were , as we were talking about you know my plans for the future and I want to keep the podcast going and maybe expand on that and stuff . Um , I just feel like it's , it's more than an opportunity ahead of . It's ahead of us .

Ron 28:23

In a way , it's almost like an obligation , Like , yeah , we're really lucky , we're really blessed , we got to do something about that to help the next guy come along , who's just , uh , needs a little , who's just needs a little boost , whatever that looks like , yeah , but well , I want to begin to wrap up , but I want to ask you again and you and I had talked about this first and I would encourage the listeners if you haven't listened to the first interview from right at a year ago , go and listen to that , because I'm trying not to repeat myself too much . But what is it that motorcycling does for you personally ? One of the things that you did tell me before is that when you go for group rides or whatever , some people may be asking you , oh , let's do the Cardo thing , let's be in communication , and at that time you told me nope , we're not . Are you still of that attitude ?

Sebastian 29:16

Do you just say no , I'm still not connected to any fellow riders . There's no Bluetooth in my helmet . It's my time to not look at my phone or be connected . And what we started using now for Eagle Rider is those meta glasses that you can put on with the cameras in them . So we have those for our team . So whenever we go for rides , we collect content now with the cameras in it . So we have those for our team . So whenever we go for rides , we collect , collect content now . Wow , it does something that you know . You have the other cameras you can attach to the bike . But this puts you in the riders , in the , in the rider's seat , and you can see what it feels like to move this bike around . You see my hands , you see what I see . Basically , if I turn my head , everything goes with it . And , uh , with those glasses , you can obviously make phone calls and you can do uh , text messages and it's all turned off .

Ron 30:02

I just needed it for uh you had me going there for a minute . I thought you were about to turn all that stuff on that has not changed .

Sebastian 30:11

And to those glasses , I'm just trying to collect uh content and to put people in the seat that I'm in , right , and so that they can see and experience what I see . And uh , that hasn't changed . And I still like to ride , you know , for for our jobs , obviously we ride a lot as part of the business , but then also I enjoyed that time with my friends . You know those uh seven or eight days , including the sturgis time that we spent there on the road and just unplugging and and just enjoying this .

Sebastian 30:41

And you know , we're flying out to uh new orleans in about four weeks and we're riding from new orleans to daytona for bike toberfest oh , how cool is that bringing you know a couple of our team uh , mates as well on the on their first long ride and just to feel what it , to see what it feels like to live on that bike for three days straight and then just stop for the hotel and the next morning get back on the bike and the first morning is okay , the second morning is okay , third morning kind of hurts and then , but you still don't want to stop . But when you stop it's going to be a sad moment and I still feel , feel this way and I left my bike in Sturgis and I'm very , very fortunate that we have a great , great team at Eagle Rider and they were transporting it from Sturgis to New Orleans . So I can now fly in and take my own bike to Big Turbo Quest and then leave it in Orlando , and then I don't know where it's going to go . Let's see where else we can ship it and I'll fly out and ride it to the next store , I guess .

Sebastian 31:38

So that hasn't changed . I still use it as my outlet and now that the weather is not as hot in Vegas , I'm actually riding to work and back from work every day . So that helps at the end of a long office day to turn off the brain and focus on something else , because you have to pay attention to everybody else . Even if it's just a 15 minute ride , but it's still nicer than being in the car and being distracted by , you know , carplay and all these other things . So I'd rather still be on a bike , unplugged from the world .

Ron 32:08

Yeah , to me I've . Maybe I've used the expression . It brings out my inner cowboy out on the range . You know , I've got my steel machine underneath me .

Ron 32:17

And in the last episode I posted , actually I reflected on I saw this eagle two weeks ago . It was a bald eagle . I was riding out on the plains , actually kind of east of here to the northeast , on the southern Wyoming and northern Colorado out , where there's just acres and acres and acres of just plains and the roads are fantastic , and I reflected on how I came upon a bald eagle out there sitting on top of a pine tree and how that bald eagle followed me around and I was going relatively slow because it was on the dirt and I was standing in the pegs and stuff and that bald eagle just followed me . It was great . Then eventually swo was standing in the pegs and stuff and that bald eagle just followed me . It was great . Then eventually swooped down in front of me and so in last week's episode I tried to reflect on that and bring in a rock and roll song that was associated with that too .

Ron 33:08

But yeah , I mean , I just I'm in my going on 50 . Wow , well , going on 52 years of writing since I was a kid and it's new every time . I still love it . Every single time it's great . Yeah , I've had rides where I've been freezing cold and where I've been soaking wet , and it's still great .

The Emotional Impact of Motorcycle Tours

Sebastian 33:30

Yeah , I'd like to avoid it . So we always put rain gear in the saddlebag and once you have it , you don't need it . Yeah , of course you don't need it right ?

Sebastian 33:36

yeah , of course you don't have it , uh , so hopefully that that continues and we'll have a great ride here in october uh down uh , you know panhandle and into uh into daytona . So really looking forward to that one , and then also this weekend , because the weather is so nice , I might actually take one of my smaller bikes out and go to uh , do a red rock loop or something like that , just just to ride for a little bit and and then go back home . So always happy when I get it and can get on the bike . And I think that's the big thing when , when our customers come to Eagle rider , they see that we love what we do . Yeah , and it's not just a marketing stuff Like hey , you know , this is what we do and we build a company for riders by riders .

Ron 34:18

Yeah , sharing the joy it's like this makes me happy and maybe it will make you happy too , you know , and a lot of people— .

Sebastian 34:26

People see right through it if it's not the case .

Ron 34:28

Yeah , yeah .

Sebastian 34:30

This is our reality here with all of our team members . You know they don't get to ride a lot because we're obviously busy during the season and then once it hits off season the weather's not as nice . But they still love to talk about riding and their best rides . And you know , when you go to our locations let's say Salt Lake we have a GM that's been there I think 12 years or so and he will tell you the best roads . And he took me on a nice road up to Park City and then down again and around , and while we were riding he points out all the little waterfalls . Oh yeah , that's really cool . Like our guys really know in the locations where to go .

Ron 35:11

Yeah , yeah , that makes a big difference too . I believe that too and I work . I have worked very part-time in Rocky mountain national park as a tour guide and I've just seen it over and over again Tourists will go into the national park and they'll follow the main roads or they'll have the little pamphlet or whatever . And I see it . When I'm out there touring leading people , I'm pointing out like , by the way , there was a village right down here from the Native Americans and we talked through all of that , and they're all just wondering like , oh , that your guides are very , very experienced . They know what's super interesting that the tourists are going to walk right by and never have a clue .

Sebastian 36:03

Yeah , and it's also what I found out is , when you're riding in this group , it's different for everybody because people are going to talk . Did you see the cows ? Did you see this ? Did you see that ? I'm like no , but did you see that ? No , I didn't . It's different for everybody and depends on where your eyes are , hopefully on the road . But then also take a seat left and right , uh , and , and the ride is different , and what I learned , uh , also , you know , riding , for example , from albuquerque to santa fe , through the mountains , through madrid and then back down to santa fe . I did the same tour , the same same route , different way . It looks completely different if you go the other way yeah that's what it's fascinating to me .

Ron 36:37

It's a completely different experience yeah , yeah think this day and age I mean , as we kind of begin to wrap up , this day and age where everybody is getting everything from their phone the whole world's right there . Right , it's instagram , it's everything else , it's the news it's driving everybody completely crazy with crazy bad stuff going on . There's a time you just got to step away from that stuff , right , and get out there I use the expression to go have a conversation with your mom , mother nature , get to a great place , stop the bike a little bit and just listen and listen to the wind or listen to an owl at night or whatever . I just love that . These machines are the transports for that and , like I said , those of us that are lucky enough to own them or those who have the opportunity to rent and take a tour should most definitely do that at least once .

Sebastian 37:31

Yeah , I agree 100% . And you know , with the bike itself , it's not just about the stop but it's also about the journey . And you know , when you see these cars , um , when they stop at the same lookout that you're at and they step out of the cars like Ooh , it's cold up here , it's been cold for 50 miles and you just didn't notice , we didn't . We noticed because we're on the bike . Yeah , those are , those are fun moments . And I think , um , because you're cutting through nature and you're becoming one with nature . And we had this one stop , speaking of wyoming , you know , we had those the great plains there , and you know we had those cows by the , by the , by the road , and I stopped with my , with my buddies , I was like let's just stop you for a second , and it was so quiet . And then you saw another couple other bikers , you know , on their way to storage or back from storage , just taking the same route , and then , once they're gone , it's quiet again . Yeah , it's really fascinating . So sometimes you just unplug and that's what still motorcycle is for me , still today , is that moment to unplug and not worry about , uh , you know , text messages , notifications , emails , calls coming in , but just um , just just enjoying that for a moment .

Sebastian 38:37

And somebody told me I don't know if I agree with it , but I found an interesting quote . He said happiness is just a lack of information , because you get up in the morning everything's good , and then you check , you know everything else . It may be obviously coming in as well , but sometimes it's , you know . You're flooded yes , like you mentioned with bad news and , uh , you know , or something didn't go through or something didn't happen . But if I'm on this bike and I'm just riding , I take everything in , I'm in this happy place , and then as soon as you stop and you check what's happening and you know you see lots of great messages come through , as everybody does then it kind of takes away from happiness for a short period of time until you fire it back up and you're back on the road .

Ron 39:16

Yeah , that's true . But yeah , well , you know , I just want to thank you for what you choose to do with this company , and you know the spirit that you have being someone who gets it , and it's one thing I guess to . I know how it goes to having to please the stockholders there's that for sure but at the same time , realizing that there's a lot of people out there who really really may get a lot out of this , and I'd like to give them that opportunity . So thanks for doing that .

Sebastian 39:49

Of course . No , I appreciate it and I wouldn't be here if I wasn't excited about what we offer . And I believe if you focus on the product and the experience and your customers , the bottom line will follow . So that takes the pressure off a little bit .

Ron 40:03

That's it , sebastian . Either I'm going to come see you or you come see me , or let's meet in the middle somewhere . We've got a long ride and a coffee shop or two to meet at .

Sebastian 40:11

Yes , that sounds good . Thank you so much , Ron .

Ron 40:14

Thank you so much .