Since 1994, our Dacono location has defied all conventional wisdom about retail by surviving, even thriving, in a location that was anything but "location, location, location."  We've laughed for years that when giving directions to the north store, you have to talk about being "behind the junkyard" and "down the dirt road about a 1/2 mile."  Over the years, the city has talked about getting the road paved, but it's still mostly gravel from the frontage road to the store.  It's really a great testament to the relationships that we've made with our customers over the years that folks have continued to drive down that road to continue to do business with us.  We truly do appreciate the effort that everybody has made over the years to support our snowmobile, ATV, and trailer business. 

In a conventional motorcycle or powersports business you tend to see a big surge of sales in the middle six months of the year.  Typically, that's where all the money is made and the store tries to stay busy enough through the winter to break-even or at least minimize losses.  In our case, the snowmobile business has always been so big that we had the exact opposite seasonal trend.  We were really busy in the winter but struggled to stay busy enough in the summer, especially in parts and service.  Although the ATV business has been really good in the summer, ATV customers simply don't tend to need as much "gear" as sled guys and ATVs are typically not used as intensively as snowmobiles.  That intensive usage tends to generate more parts and service business per machine sold.   

In mid-2005, we had the opportunity to add Yamaha and Suzuki in Castle Rock, build a new store, and really engage in the motorcycle business.  With a good selection of metric bikes, plus Victory and now Spyder, Castle Rock has a much flatter seasonal trend.  While there are still ups and down in the trend, the business is really much closer to being round throughout the year.  Naturally, we started thinking that some bike business at the north store would be good, but it's difficult to pitch that idea to any manufacturer when there's a dirt road in front of your store. 

As our business grew in Castle Rock, we also became friends with Stan and Scott Elmore at Twin Peaks Powersports.  They were a natural trading partner for us.  Our two stores were close making it easy to share inventory and we were selling a lot of the same products.  Like in Castle Rock, eventually it became clear that our two stores really each had half of the business that we needed to be successful year round.  They were slammed in the summer when we were slow in Dacono and they were dead in the winter while we were buried in snowmobile season.  About a year ago, we started talking about how we could combine the operations to really make one bigger store work.  In the end, we decided that it made the most sense for us to buy their business, combine it with ours, and move in to their facility.  With their store's location, accessibility, and size, it's a great upgrade for us.  Logistically it will work much like Castle Rock - we can continue to store crates and excess inventory at our old location while keeping a great selection on hand at the store without all the clutter.  Over Easter weekend, we moved to the new location.  The new store is located at Highway 66 and I-25, about 8 miles north of our current location.  If you're coming from Denver, it takes about 5 minutes longer to get there.  Although it's further, you do save all the time spent on the frontage road and going slow down the dirt road. 

As we grow the business again, we're always mindful of the challenge of maintaining great customer service and the small store feel that our customers value.  In the last year or so, we've focused a lot on building and defining our corporate culture.  When the business consisted of Mindy, Dad, and myself, plus a couple technicians, defining and maintaining our culture and values was relatively simple.  We agreed (mostly) on how to handle situations and if we didn't agree, we discussed it and made a decision.  As a company grows and more employees join the team, that question of culture and values becomes more complicated.  Everybody has their own set of personal values and in a large group, even if everybody shares similar values, there will be some differences.  In order to ensure that we, as a business unit, are acting as a cohesive group and making decisions with the same frame work, we've defined our company values.  Those shared values now guide all business decision making, irregardless of our personal values.  This process is, for sure, a work in progress but I believe we've seen our team really evaluate situations keeping our core values of integrity, team work, success, and quality in mind.  I know we've handled some challenging situations better in the last year than we would have ten years ago.  In spite of a strong focus on budgets and making our numbers work, we've also clearly stated as a group that we will not violate our integrity and team work values just to make money. 

With that all having been said, one of the really neat aspects of this acquisition and merger is that Scott and Stan share our values and their business culture is very close to ours.  Although it seems that the culture and mentality of that store wasn't that way before they bought the store, great customer service has been one of the pillars of their business.  It's worth knowing that Stan was the founder of Stan's Automotive and I think it's fair to say that you don't make it in the auto repair business for long without great service and being fair and honest with customers.  With the business growing again, it's awesome to be gaining staff that shares and understands how we want to do business.  I also truly believe that customers choose businesses that share their values.  Since our philosophies have been very similar, I believe both our existing and their customer bases will enjoy continuing to do business with us. 

The new north store now carries Polaris ATVs, snowmobiles, Rangers and Victory, BRP Can-Am ATVs, Can-Am Spyders, Sea-Doo, and Ski-Doo, and Yamaha motorcycles, ATVs, Rhinos, and snowmobiles.  We will continue to carry Suzuki and Kawasaki motorcycles and ATVs at the south store. 

For our new customers that did business with Twin Peaks, it will be business as usual.  All prepaid maintenance packages, service work in progress, etc. will continue seamlessly.  For our customers, we hope you'll stop by the new location and check out all the cool new stuff we have to offer. 

Once again, thanks for the business and helping us continue to grow!
Donavon

Test & Tune:  As is the tradition at Xtreme, we'll spend a weekend up on Rabbit Ears with our fleet of demo sleds to give as many folks as possible the opportunity to try the new iron before buying.  This year, we have a lot of really neat sleds to throw a leg over.  Here's the tentative list of all the sleds that will be available to ride:

'08 Ski-Doo Summit 800 X (with RMX kit, skis, suspension upgrades, etc.)
'08 Ski-Doo Summit 800 Everest
'08 Ski-Doo Summit 800 Everest with electric start
'09 Polaris Dragon 800 155
'08 Polaris Xtreme Mountain King (700 Dragon RMX with 50# weight loss, RMX++)
'08 Polaris Dragon 800 163 Turbo
'08 Polaris Dragon 800 155 RMX (+7hp from stock)
'08 Polaris Dragon 800 155 Stage III (+15hp from stock)
'08 Yamaha Nytro MTX
'08 Yamaha Apex MTX

Since there are really no new engine or chassis configurations from anybody in '09, the '08s should give you a great feel for next year's product. 

For 2009, we'll be offering an XMK package once again.  It's a 700 RMK with about 50# of weight loss and a super tight, RMX++ head.  It's the most fun snowmobile I've ever ridden and is simply the easiest to ride boondocking sled we've ever built. 

For the big horsepower fans, you won't want to miss the Turbo Dragon 800.  We look forward to seeing everybody there! 

2009 Xtreme Test & Tune / Demo Rides
March 29-30
Sat 10am-5pm
Sun 10am-3pm
Muddy Creek Parking Lot at Rabbit Ears Pass

Thanks,
Donavon

Although we hosted several Spyder demo rides last summer and fall, we know that many folks haven't yet had the opportunity to take the new Can-Am Spyder Roadster for a spin yet.  Therefore, to make it as easy as possible for everybody to experience this new vehicle, Xtreme now has a dedicated demo unit available every day in at both stores (Castle Rock and our new store in Longmont).  Although you will need a motorcycle license to ride on the street, no reservations are needed...just bring your helmet and stop by to take it for a spin.  The Spyder is really unlike anything you've ever ridden and no amount of conversation illuminates how well it works like a test ride. 

While there is currently a waiting list for deliveries, we do have a very limited allocation of Spyders available for delivery this spring and summer.  Thanks to the generosity of our friends at BRP and to acknowledge our involvement with the Spyder Dealer Council, Mindy and I will be riding one of the very first Spyders to roll off the line this summer.  We hope you'll be riding one too! 

Thanks,
Donavon

For most folks that have ridden all the new sleds, the Polaris chassis comes across as being the easiest to tip over.  For some, that makes them the easiest sleds to ride.  For others, it's a disconcerting feeling because the sled has very little on-center stability.  For me, the new IQ Raws are a hoot.  I've jokingly said that when you're riding with Jon and Kellie Bayne, it's really a contest and you lose points for every moment that both skis are touching the ground.  For those of us that like to carve and sidehill continually, the chassis really is fantanstic.  It's a little skittish when you're playing the highmark game, especially in the groove, but for tree bashing and generally powder playing, it's a blast.  For as many years as we've been riding snowmobiles, however, I wasn't prepared for what you see in the picture.  A couple of weeks ago, I was over at the dyno and we were taking the skags off to get this new 800 Dragon up on the table.  I had tipped the sled up on one ski so that Bill could easily remove the carbide.  One of the things that you notice when riding the new Polaris chassis is that it doesn't take much effort to hold it up or ride it on one ski.  I had always assummed that was a dynamic property of the chassis but standing there holding the sled, I wasn't making much effort to keep it tipped up.  After a little bit of adjusting on the bars for the right amount of countersteer, I let go of it and it just stayed there on one ski.  I know the skeptics will say that the photo has probably been Photoshoped, but if you have a new Raw, try it.  It's really not tough to get them to balance.  It's no wonder the sled is so easy to ride and roll over when the balance is this good.  Consider the fact that the sled is essentially sitting on the ski and a very small amount of the edge of the track and yet it stays right there.  Although the chassis dynamics are probably not for everybody, Polaris clearly understands something and has built the easiest to ride mountain sled we've ever had.  Well, it's time to head for the Ears again to burn up some gas and enjoy the fresh snow.

Take care,
Donavon

I've added some updated dyno numbers to the dyno results page based on this year's crop of new product.  The Rev XP 800R engine backed up last year's dyno numbers almost exactly and as I mentioned before, the new Cats are about 3.5hp better than the '07s.  On the Polaris front, obviously the 800 was the big news.  The 800 feels really good when you ride it, but further testing in deep snow and against the XPs with the clutches fixed has revealed what we felt like was a slight deficit in horsepower.  As always, the dyno numbers and real world testing are right on.  As you can see from the dyno curves, the 800 has lots of bottom end and mid-range but only bests the 700 RMK by about 4hp on top.  The RMX 700 is also very close to the 800, especially at peak horsepower.  We are still testing heads, pipe mods, etc. but so far the gains have been minimal. 

In addition to stock Dragon 800 numbers, I've also posted the dyno results for the Turbo M8 and Turbo 700 RMK.  When you look at the turbo results, keep in mind that you're seeing a Boondocker Kit with a Garrett turbo turned all the way down in both cases.  Given the Air/fuel ratios, it's also safe to say that leaning on the fuel would bump the horsepower some more.  Based on our previous 5000+ dyno runs, these are very impressive numbers for sleds with the boost turned down and the excess fuel running out of the tailpipe.  We also have a Turbo 800 Dragon with about 400 miles on it under boost and 30+ demo rides in Gould last weekend that is proving to be a lot of fun.  The Apex Turbo really was a hoot but similar weight/horsepower numbers in a lighter and easy to ride sled really is fun.  So far, the bottom end is not as smooth and predictable as the Apex yet but the sleds are proving to be very ridable.  They're still not the weapon of choice for a day of serious tree bashing but that horsepower is a real rush headed uphill.  Last weekend at Rabbit Ears, we literally couldn't find anything to point it at that making it to the top was ever in doubt.  Let's hope the deep snow continues!

Polaris 800 RMK Dyno Sheet

Polaris 700 RMK Turbo & Arctic Cat M8 Turbo Sheet

Thanks,
Donavon