Top Gear Powersports is the new kid on the block for us motorcycle riders in the area who are hungry for gear. They opened in Fall 2012, and it's nice that they're around. There aren't a lot of brick-and-mortar shops around here that offer gear, and it's really important to be able to try gear on for proper fitment. With the rise of online shopping, it's very easy to order stuff -- but brick-and-mortar shops have an advantage in that you can actually try things on in person before you buy them.
Top Gear has a little bit of everything. Rather than just catering to sport or touring or cruiser or ATV or off-road enthusiasts, it has a little something for everyone. They also carry a lot of Spectro oils and various other fluids, including Engine Ice coolant and even mineral oil (if you have a KTM, for example). Prices are consistent with other shops' pricing for those fluids. Top Gear also has several different colors of bungee nets to strap stuff to your pillion seat, as well as various bike and gear locks.
Now here's where they can improve: offering more niche items to differentiate themselves from the few other shops there are in this market. Shops like MCC and the D-Store will succeed, because they're offering this area something that no one else in the area is. Top Gear isn't -- so far.
It's a young shop, so my hope is that they'll become something great. As I said, there aren't many shops around that offer motorcycle gear in the first place (and there are even fewer since Chicago Cycle closed up shop), but two others that do are DGY and the newly-opened Cycle Gear in Schaumburg. I mention these two particularly because their gear selection and Top Gear's overlap. All three shops carry lots of stuff in the Parts Unlimited catalog. Nothing wrong with that, but if three different stores in the area offer it, what's going to make you choose one over another? You'll probably choose based simply on geography, assuming pricing is similar across the board and all the shop employees are reasonably nice.
I really want to see Top Gear succeed. To do that, I really hope they'll consider carrying boutique items that you can't find anywhere else around here. Stuff like Suomy helmets, for example. Until the D-Store arrived, where could you find AGV lids to try on? Nowhere. You had to order that stuff online. Vemar (especially the Powerpuff Girls lids) would appeal to female riders. Held gear is wonderful, but you can't find that in stores around here, either. RS Taichi is another high-end brand that you can't find in stores. Dainese gear is now pretty well covered by both the D-Store and MCC -- which both saw a niche and sought to fill it. Even stuff like the DOT-approved Atelier Ruby helmets from Paris. (OK, maybe that would be a tougher sell given their price -- but maybe not. If they're the only game in town for this stuff, customers who are interested will have no choice but to go to Top Gear to try it and buy it.)
So that's one step. Another step will of course be getting the word out that this shop exists, and that it carries all this wonderful specialty stuff. Top Gear already has a web presence, and offers its wares for sale online. That's a good and important step. They also have a Facebook presence that one of the employees tells me is something they're trying to expand. When I asked if they were on Yelp, he said he didn't know, and that someone else (who I later realized was a friend of mine) had asked the same thing. Try as I might, I couldn't find it -- so I listed it. As I said, I really want to see these guys succeed (after all, they're right by my house).
Their shop is tiny, and their sign is easy to miss from the road as you go by if you're not looking for it. I live in the area, and I'm interested in and frequently riding my motorcycle, and I still wouldn't have known about it if a fellow rider friend hadn't told me about it. Even then, we drove and rode past it several times before realizing exactly where it was.
So more people need to know about this place, and this Yelp listing and review will hopefully help. I've found out about a bunch of stuff I never would have known about because of Yelp. Establishing themselves in the local motorcycling community would also help. Maybe they could host bike nights or encourage local riders' groups to begin group rides there. I know right now is the off-season, but that's exactly the right time to start this stuff. Motorcyclists get frustrated when they can't ride for long periods of time. Maybe arranging a showing of motorcycle races at the shop and advertising it would help build their community presence. (Hint: the WSBK season starts at the end of February. Unfortunately, it looks like Speed will no longer be carrying it in 2013...grrr. But if Speed will still be showing AMA races, that's something they could show, and that people would come watch!)
C'mon, Top Gear. I'm cheering for you. I know you can be awesome if you try. ;) read more
