Bartels' Racing Program

The Origin of Bartels' Race Team

"Bill Bartels" - According to the motorcycle industry's own thesaurus, is a synonym for: honesty, good nature, modesty, camaraderie, an open-mind, commitment and hard work; all adjectives very well suited to the man!

Born in Springfield , Massachusetts in 1939, Bill grew up in a family where the men mostly worked in the motorcycle industry (Indian), but where riding a motorcycle was taboo. So, when at age 15 Bill bought a 125cc Harley-Davidson®, he had to hide it in the woods so that his parents would not know about it. Well, someone with less than pure intentions decided to borrow it for a long time, and that was the end of Bills' riding endeavors until he was 24 years old. Then, within six months in 1964, Bill went from a BSA to a 250cc Honda Scrambler, to a Sportster®. At that time Harley-Davidson® motorcycles were very popular, and ... yes, the fastest bikes! Once he committed to a Harley-Davidson®, he never changed.

In 1966, Bill and a good friend headed for the "new world" of California with his Sportster® on a trailer, little money but lots of dreams. After a short stay in Northern Califomia, Bill moved down to Los Angeles with racing as his first objective. By 1967, Bill was racing scrambles and short tracks on a 250cc Harley® Sprint. After obtaining his professional license in 1969, he started racing T.T. and short track five times a week. He lived for racing and loved every minute of it. In those years, Bill raced with talents such as Kenny Roberts, Dave Aldena and Gary Scott. While Bill was pretty good at T.T. Scrambles, and extremely competitive, his size at 6'3", 185 pounds, did not make it easy for him, especially when racing half mile.

To support his endeavors, Bill worked in an office ... behind a desk ... processing automotive warranty claims, but for only four years. By 1971, and for the next 12 years, Bill was Service Manager at two Los Angeles Harley-Davidson® dealerships.

In 1983, Bill had the opportunity to open a Harley-Davidson® franchise in Culver City . Never mind that times were tough and money was scarce, determination was plentiful. Bill mortgaged his house, and borrowed all that he could to get the business going.

While Bill might give the impression of being unassuming, which he is a little, there are other facets to his personality; he has a lot of imagination, aggressiveness, competitiveness and resourcefulness. When cash flow was low, Bill would review his self-made man's business training manual and come up with promotional ideas that were inexpensive, yet worked. Today, Bartels' Harley-Davidson and Buell is well renowned, well established and very highly respected. A respect that Bill has earned. He never tries to mislead anyone, always does his best to fulfill his commitments and shares the spoils. Being close to Hollywood, Bill had his moment of fame when Gary Busey had his infamous accident on a Harley-Davidson® after he left the Culver City dealership, and all the media had their lenses focused on Bartels' for the latest update.

Bill never lost sight of racing during the time that he was developing his business. In 1987 Kevin Schwantz had a short lived dirt track experience aboard a Bartels XR750. Then, in 1988, Harley-Davidson proposed helping him develop a dirt track team with Jay Springsteen and Al Stangler. Bill did not think about it twice, he started what would be a long-standing commitment to racing and the Bartels' Race Team.

In 1989, when Roger Edmonson came out with the U.S. Twin Sports class, the Bartels race team immediately prepared a motorcycle and won the road racing championship in 1990 with Nigel Gale. In 1992, Mike Hale was riding dirt track for Bartels and wanted to try road racing ... the rest is history.

In 1994, Bill opted to offer up-and-coming racers a chance. His commitment to youth is an important factor for many youngsters such as Ben and Eric Bostrom and Shawn Higbee among others, who might not have had a chance to ride professionally if it wasn't for Bill Bartels. To this day, Bill is still very unique in his approach to bringing up young racers.

From a motorcycle shop to a full fledged dealership ranked among the top five in the nation, Bartels' Harley-Davidson and Buell offers not only motorcycles, but also MotorClothes®, service, performance parts, insurance services, a race team and best of all, a great attitude! Bill was the originator of this notable domain, his wife Merle and his children are his followers. His six children, all boys, are involved in the business, directly or indirectly. Ron the oldest, is Service Manager and he races modified cars with Dad. Scott heads Performance Products and races stock cars. Rick is Sales Representative for Performance Products. Billy is a computer guru and developed Bartels' internet home page. Danny works at Bartels' Performance Products while going to school, and Glenn started his very own business, Route 66, a motorcycle rental company, independent from the Bartels' operation, but located adjacent to the dealership.

Once a year, at least, the family gets together for a return to its roots; a motorcycle ride led by Bill' son Ron. Now, there is Nicholas, a 9-year old grandson who shows ability and riding talents. Maybe we will see a Bartels in victory circle in the next few years. Every time Bill has a chance, he goes car racing and is presently preparing for the Western Dirt Track Late Model Tour which races in Northern and Southern California as well as in Nevada .

The Bartels' family-oriented business reflects quality, amiability and again commitment to all the people and entities they interact with. Bill has instilled in his sons a sense of fairness and a sense of what is Right vs. Wrong. You will get the same great service and welcome from all the Bartels, they are sine qua non. Bill sees business as a means to an end; it proves to be true as Bill has never lost respect for people or his integrity even with the success that he enjoys today.

After spending time around Bill Bartels, you will conclude that when he finds a good thing, he is loyal to it - a precious attribute these days. You will also realize that he is just a plain great guy!

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