Dual Sport Plus owner Rob Long, General Manager Clint MacBride and their friendly staff welcomed hundreds of adventure enthusiasts to the new location at 581 West Street in Brantford, ON on November 8 for an open house to celebrate the next era of Dual Sport Plus. Former owners Les Clarke and Catharine St. Denis took a break from their No Agenda World Tour, flying up from Arizona to greet new and former customers. Industry stalwarts present included Larry Bastedo, Warren Milner, BMW’s Chris Duff, Honda’s Kim Moore and several others.
Inside Motorcycles was happy to reward the many riders who braved the cold and wet weather to make the trip on their bikes, as well as everyone else in attendance, with free IM and MXOR magazines/stickers. IM hats were added to the door prize bags that were being rewarded constantly throughout the day.
In the spacious back parking lot there was a constant flurry of activity. Clinton Smout from S.M.A.R.T. Adventures was on hand with bikes from Yamaha, BMW and KTM, gearing up riders of all ages to try his mini enduro course after receiving expert instruction from the master motorcycle rider. He also put on a clinic of riding skill, showing attendees how to safely control and power out of a skid on his Yamaha FZ-07, plus a simple method to easily pick up a dropped motorcycle. Road racing and trials champ Jordan Szoke had his Extreme Stunt Show setup on the other side of the lot with some truly mindblowing trials riding being displayed in the wet and slippery conditions. On top of doing it on their motorcycles, his team showed some seemingly impossible stunts on their trials bicycles.
Along with Inside Motorcycles and MX And Off-Road, other outdoor exhibitors included Rally Connex Dualsport Adventure Tours, Rob Baetz from Turncycle, and Strode’s Meats with a BBQ that included frog legs, bacon wrapped cherries and more. Strode’s was collecting donations all day and were happy to donate $127 to the Movember campaign.
Inside the building there were many treasures to be found including a huge inventory of the latest and greatest adventure riding gear/accessories, with experts from Motonation, Motovan, Parts Canada and Full Bore Marketing offering advice on the best products for different riding conditions and locations.
Situated on a ledge around the store, on the mezzanine and hanging from the ceiling is a beautiful collection of vintage off-road and road racing motorcycles. Also located on the mezzanine is a TV/dining area, kitchen and shower facility where the visiting long distance rider can freshen up and chow down while their bike is being serviced in the modern service bays located in the rear of the shop.
Lawrence Hacking took advantage of the TV to show pictures of his adventures in the recent Mongolia Rally and talk about his experience alongside his custom built Honda CRF.
To top the day off, the crowd moved back outside for some Segway demonstrations/test rides which included some impromptu but hilarious races around Clinton’s skid course by some unnamed hooligans.
All in all, it was an amazing day. Inside Motorcycles would like to thank Dual Sport Plus for having us and wish them all the best in their future business endeavours.
For extensive photos of the day’s events and a look at the new store for those who haven’t seen it yet, check out Bob Szoke’s photo gallery at http://photob0b.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Dualsport-Plus-Open-House/45580728_RwKcj2
– By Lee Kuhn Sr.
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