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Kickstarting a new career
Man ditches old job to sell cycles
Friday, Nov. 6, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by EMILY BARNES
John Bryner, owner of GRD Cycle in White Plains, decided to quit the construction business and open a used motorcycle sales and repair shop in 1997.
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Fed up, revved up: John Bryner got fed up with working in the construction business 12 years ago and decided to feed his longtime passion by opening a used motorcycle shop in White Plains.
Bryner opened GRD Cycle in 1997 off DeMarr Road and moved the business to a spot on U.S. 301 in White Plains four months ago.
Opening the shop is a decision the Charlotte Hall resident said he does not regret.
"One day I just got fed up with the construction business and said, ‘I'm done,'" he said. "I started selling motorcycles, and I've never looked back."
Selling and servicing used motorcycles, four-wheelers and dirt bikes took off a lot of the pressure from the stress the construction industry laid on his shoulders, Bryner said.
"The stress level is so high in the construction business," he said. "In the summer you make a lot of money and in the winter you're broke. It got to the point that it just wasn't worth it."
Bryner said he decided to move the shop because he needed a larger, more organized showroom and more space for his mechanics to do repairs.
"We were busting at the seams at the old location," he said. "I needed more room. The old shop was split up into four or five spaces in a warehouse. Now the shop is all in one place and it gets better visibility."
Service with a smile: Bryner said he has eight employees and he offers customers just about any kind of service a motorcycle, four-wheeler or dirt bike would require.
The shop also offers a wide variety of new and used parts, helmets, accessories and tires.
"We work on any model, make and year," he said, adding he also sells and services used personal watercraft. "We do everything from building motors and repairing wrecked bikes to fixing a tire tube."
Bryner used to own a motorcycle but now he said he rides different bikes that are in the shop when he gets a yen to hit the road.
"Every time that I owned one somebody offered me money for it and I would sell it," he said, laughing.
The shop is lined up along U.S. 301 with a couple of other motorcycle dealers, but everyone gets along fine, Bryner said.
"We compete a little bit but we get along pretty good," he said. "All of us do service work so there's some competition there, but it's nice. It's like motorcycle alley."
Keep 'em coming back: Bryner said he has a lot of return customers, and many of Bryner's customers have become good friends.
"They're their own little breed," he said. "The sport bike riders are younger and the Harley [Davidson] riders are a little bit older. They're all good people."
The rough economy is impacting the business but Bryner said the shop will weather the storm.
"We're rolling along," he said. "The last two years sales have been down about 30 to 40 percent but we make enough to pay the bills. We've just got to work a little harder."
Folks who want to open a business must be prepared to burn the midnight oil, Bryner said.
"You've got to be ready to work very hard," he said. "A lot of people think that you'll have a lot of money and glamour if you own your own business but that's not true. You've got to work hard."
