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Destination Harley®

08-19-08

Motorcyclist Ride For The Cure (Slide Show With Audio)

07-28-08

Channel 5 News Story (VIDEO)

07-28-08

Biker Haven Revs Up!

07-28-08

Channel 2 News Segment on Timpanogos H-D

05-22-08

An Homage To The Steel Days

05-22-08

News & Press

Destination Harley®

› Posted August 19, 2008

Destination Harley®

Story By Geoff Griffin and Kathleen Curry. Photos by Dana Sohm and Harley-Davidson - For Utah Rides Magazine

LINDON – Opening a place that sells a product qualifies as a “store.” Opening a place that offers an experience beyond buying a product qualifies as a “destination.” Beyond that, what does a destination need to have to qualify as a “resort?” That question is being answered at Timpanogos Harley-Davidson. As one of America’s most well-known brands, Harley-Davidson has previously referred to some of its stores as “destinations,” but the six-acre complex just off exit 273 along the I-15 is the first to be given the title of “resort” by the company.

Timp Harley earned the moniker because beyond being a place to buy motorcycles, equipment and HD clothing for men, women and children, it’s a spot where a biker, or somebody looking into becoming a biker, would want to go hang out for a variety of reasons. There’s a restaurant called “Marley’s” which offers gourmet sliders. Stop by before a ride and use Doppler Radar to plan your trip. Long-distance travelers can use it as a place to take a rest in the lounge and get cleaned up in the showers. Men and women who are curious about becoming riders can take a class on a special riding course in the back. Harley owners can join the H.O.G.s, (Harley Owners Group) and go on regular group rides. Or, you can simply go by to check out a unique building made mostly of scrap materials from the old Geneva Steel plant.

The fanaticism the Harley-Davidson brand generates among its customers is legendary. “You don’t see anybody with a ‘Costco’ tattoo or a ‘Toyota’ leather jacket,” Timp Harley owner Dave Tuomisto says. He previously built up the Bajio Grill chain of restaurants, and now wants to “bring the restaurant mentality of customer service to Harley-Davidson.”

Tuomisto first pitched the concept of an HD “resort” to general manager Rick Story in July of 2006 while the two were attending a Padres game in San Diego. Tuomisto grabbed a napkin and drew a building he envisioned as being a football field long and a football field wide.

“He took things way over the top from the original concept,” Story laughs. Less than two years later, much of the “resort” is open with a special Grand Opening Celebration set for the weekend of July 25.

Tuomisto and Story have put together a staff that includes a variety of people, all united by their love of Harleys. “We even have a pregnant accountant who has a cycle license,” Story says.

While Tuomisto notes, “There used to be a stigma about riding a Harley, it meant you were a rebel,” riding a hog has become culturally acceptable to the point where the Timp Harley staff includes several former law enforcement officers, particularly in the area of teaching courses for new riders.

One of those is Lance McDaniel, who is in charge of a motorcycle safety course for men and women who think a hog might be in their future. “The course starts with the idea that this person has never sat on a motorcycle before,” McDaniel explains. “It creates the perfect opportunity to determine if this is something you want to do.”

Timpanogos Harley-Davidson also offers rental opportunities, and the H.O.G. group for owners, which regularly takes groups of 20-40 riders on scenic rides.

“We’ve got people from all walks of life,” McDaniel says. “When you get together to ride, what you do for a living doesn’t matter anymore.” Or as Tuomisto puts it, “Harley-Davidson brings the street hipster and the businessman together to do rides for charity. It brings the billionaire, and the gearhead, or the lawyer or the dentist together as brothers because of the motorcycles.”

No matter their background, the one thing they can all agree on, it will be nice to have a Harley-Davidson “resort” in Utah.

Motorcyclist Ride For The Cure (Slide Show With Audio)

› Posted July 28, 2008

Motorcyclist RIde For The Cure

Audio & Photography By Tom Smart - DESERET NEWS Saturday, July 26, 2008

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Channel 5 News Story (VIDEO)

› Posted July 28, 2008

Biker Haven Revs Up!

› Posted July 28, 2008

Biker Haven Revs Up.

Sara Israelsen-Hartleyn - DESERET NEWS Thursday, May 22, 2008 12:34 a.m. MDT

LINDON — The newest steel trusses in the ceiling were made in 1903, and the wooden floorboards are weathered from decades of service as roofs of Geneva Steel brick buildings.

It's definitely not the average motorcycle dealership, and that's just the way Dave Tuomisto wanted it.

"I wanted to build a building that was kind of an all-American building, selling an all-American vehicle," said Tuomisto, owner of the new Timpanogos Harley Davidson dealership at 935 N. 1200 West in Lindon.

The walls, floor, ceiling and lights of this shop echo with the now-silent sounds of Geneva Steel and other aged Utah landmarks, including the old Coca-Cola plant in Salt Lake City and an Ogden military base.

In fact, 70 percent of the building is made with reclaimed materials — bits and pieces Tuomisto gathered and saved from the landfill or from the energy-wasting process of melting down and re-creating.

One glance around the building and it's obvious — the weathered steel trusses, riveted lattice columns from old railroad bridges and Douglas fir, tongue-in-groove floorboards all ooze decades of history.
"My dad hated everything old, so I grew up with everything new," Tuomisto said. "I hate everything new, and now I like everything old."

The only new things Tuomisto wants for his Harley Davidson "resort" that will open quietly in June, but with an official kickoff on July 25, are the sleek, chromed-out motorcycles.
Since buying the dealership in 2006, he's gone from 200 sales a year to nearly 700.

This resort will not only be a haven for those bike lovers and a memorial to a company that created and propelled the Utah County economy — it's also Tuomisto's first attempt at a "green building."

"This building is my attempt to lighten my footstep on Mother Earth," Tuomisto said. "You take a bunch of scrap iron and spend a lot of money and build a really neat building."

Near the repair shop and showroom, giant acorn-shaped lights dangle from giant hooks and chains in the high ceiling. Those lights used to line the railroad tracks by Geneva. Now they'll light up Marley's restaurant, which will serve gourmet "sliders" — small hamburgers, turkey or chicken on dinner rolls.

As founder of the Bajio Mexican restaurants, Tuomisto has the restaurant experience to ensure that motorcycles and menus won't be mutually exclusive, as they've been for other dealers.

Downstairs, ridiculously heavy 14-ton shelving units serve as more steel foundry reminders, and all the building's bricks spent time in the walls of the Geneva fire station.

"I was able to save things that you can't afford to buy new," Tuomisto said. The lattice columns that line the showroom would have cost $300 to $400 a foot to manufacture, but Geneva officials sold them for $180 a ton.
But in the end, the two-years-in-construction, $16 million green building wasn't any cheaper or easier than a regular modern facility, Tuomisto said. It's just more unique.

Lindon Mayor Jim Dain and members of the Lindon City Council and staff came Wednesday to tour the building and help seal a time capsule to be opened in 50 years.

"I've told you before," Dain said to Tuomisto. "As an architect, this building is a great accomplishment. You've brought something to the city we can all be proud of."

Channel 2 News Segment on Timpanogos H-D

› Posted May 22, 2008

An Homage To The Steel Days

› Posted May 22, 2008

New Lindon motorcycle shop uses reclaimed materials from Geneva Steel.

Janice Peterson - DAILY HERALD Thursday, 15 May 2008

A water tower was hoisted on top of a new Lindon building Wednesday that has some very deep Utah roots. The brand-new Timpanogos Harley-Davidson, just off the 1600 North exit on Interstate 15, may still be under construction, but many of the materials being used come from the demolished Geneva Steel factory, including the water tower.

Dave Tuomisto, owner of Timpanogos Harley-Davidson, said the Harley-Davidson brand is nostalgic, and he wanted the building to be so as well. The building is made of 70 percent reclaimed materials and will stand as a monument to Geneva Steel. The building will be finished in June, with a grand opening in July.

"I'm going to show that you can build a big, beautiful building out of stuff that usually goes to the landfill," Tuomisto said.

Tuomisto's grandfather worked at the Geneva Steel power plant, and his mother was a crane operator there for three years during World War II. Tuomisto said Utahns have more history from the factory than they realize, and he wanted to do something to preserve it.

Tuomisto, founder of the Bajio restaurant chain, said one of his customers at the Orem restaurant was working on the demolition of Geneva Steel and got him in to see the factory before it was destroyed. Tuomisto sold the chain and bought the Harley-Davidson shop on 800 North in Orem. When he wanted to use the materials from Geneva Steel to construct a new building in Lindon, Tuomisto was told he had three days to take what he wanted before everything was torn down.

"We would be in there with torches taking down columns of steel, and behind us would be a giant crane tearing things down," he said.

Despite all of the brick and steel Tuomisto was able to salvage, he said some things were lost to demolition before his crews could get to them.

The Timpanogos Harley-Davidson shop uses original brick from the Geneva Steel fire house and doors from the administration building, and the wooden roof and floors come from the factory's roof. What the crew could not get from Geneva Steel came from other old buildings in the state.

When complete, motorcyclists will be able to watch mechanics working on bikes through large windows, which are old train doors. The oldest pieces in the building are sets of trusses from the 1870s, brought in from an old train depot in Ogden. Other sets were salvaged from a Salt Lake City Coca-Cola factory from the early 1900s. The materials give the shop an imperfect, rustic feel, which is just the way Tuomisto wants it.

"I want it to look like a 60-year-old steel plant," he said.

Although old materials are being used, site foreman Kyle Rose said the building will be completely safe. An engineer stops by once a week to oversee the safety of the structure, and Rose said new materials are used where necessary, like some framing and all the heating and air conditioning systems.

Some things have been changed in the engineering for safety, but Rose said the building was already safe and changes are only upgrades. Where engineering plans specify six-inch columns, Rose said 18-inch columns from Geneva Steel are used.

"Everything's been upgraded," he said. "This building is way over-engineered."

The building will help to preserve some of Geneva Steel's history, but the amount of reclaimed materials used is also meant to preserve the environment. Tuomisto said a new building creates the biggest carbon footprint that can be left, and reclaimed materials help to reduce that impact. A lot of effort was put in to reduce energy use, like using a swamp cooler for half of the building and using large windows in the front of the store. On a good day, the lights won't even need to be turned on. "It's bright enough in here to play tennis," he said.

Tuomisto said the new shop is one-of-a-kind in many ways, and motorcyclists will be attracted from around the country to see it. Where most shops would have only a Subway inside for patrons, Timpanogos Harley-Davidson will feature a gourmet eatery, Marley's, named after his young son. Showers and a lounge will also be featured, and bikers can watch while their bikes get a tune-up for the road.

Utah's backcountry will also be promoted at the shop, where scenic rides can be seen on big-screen TVs. Tuomisto said he hired riders to wear high-definition cameras while driving through the great rides of Utah, such as Highway 128, the Alpine Loop and Indian Canyon.

Rick Story, general manager of Timpanogos Harley-Davidson, said he believes the new shop will bring riders and their business to Utah County. This kind of shop is a new idea for riders, and he said people from all around the country are already talking about it.

On a recent visit to Tennessee, Story said he was approached by dealers asking about the new shop and expressing interest.

"We're calling it a resort," he said. "What it becomes is a destination, like Cabela's is a destination for hunters."

Not only will riders be attracted to the site, but Story believes locals will be interested because of its historical significance. Whether they like it or not, Utahns have all been affected by Geneva Steel in some way.

Story said he worked for 20 years as a carpenter in the central maintenance building, which is where the roof materials for the dealership came from.

"It's nostalgic," he said. "You go in there and see all this stuff [from the steel factory]. They paid my family's bills for 20 years."