Oliver’s Motorcycles may be Brisbane’s newest motorcycle dealership, but it has ages of experience at the helm.
“Remember when a motorcycle dealership was somewhere you escaped to, not from?”
That slogan was developed by a good mate and riding partner, Carl Spencer of marketing, advertising and design company Carlosus, for a new dealership in Brisbane.
Oliver’s Motorcycles in Ipswich Rd, Moorooka, is a family business owned by John and run by his son Michael, and daughters, Kerrie and Susan.
The only bike brand they sell is Suzuki which is the brand John started selling back in 1971.
At that time he couldn’t even ride, but he pretty soon learned how, starting with a Suzuki TS125 Stinger.
A year later he went into partnership with his boss, four years later he started his own dealership, moving from Suzuki to Yamaha and a couple of years ago he sold his share in TeamMoto, Australia’s biggest motorcycle dealership, and retired.
But it didn’t last long for the now fanatical off-road rider who enjoys carving up the dirt on his Cunningham’s Gap property with his 11 grandchildren, including eight boys.
Oliver has returned to the motorcycle business with a new Suzuki dealership in Moorooka’s “Magic Mile of Motors”.
“I’m back where I started,” he says. “Being retired is not good. I was getting a bit bored. I wanted to start a family business so my children would be self-employed.”
The business is a far cry from the heady world of big business. It’s a boutique motorcycle shop, but with all the modern conveniences.
“Our business is all about customer service,” John says.
Oliver’s Motorcycles dealership has 10 staff including two mechanics and an apprentice.
The two-floor dealership has four service bays, room for 45 new bikes and about 65 used bikes, and has an upstairs accessories, spare parts and rider gear store with brands such as Alpinestars and Dainese, and about 350 helmets to try on.
There is also a carpark coffee area with picnic tables to encourage bench racers and tyre kickers to linger longer.