A Nearly Perfect Business Plan

Step one: Create a terrific product which answers a question almost nobody is asking. Something entirely new which meets a need few people are interested in meeting. It is important the product only appeals to a small number of consumers.

Step two: Make the product so durable it wears out very slowly and rarely requires service.  

Step three: Make the product expensive and relatively difficult to obtain by selling it only factory direct since it needs to be available in many closely graded sizes to perform well, and also has to come with detailed ‘how to use’ information.

Step four: Allow it to be unconventional looking if this is best for functionality.

That’s all there is to it.  

The rest is simply lots of work.

That is what the Aerostich Roadcrafter suit is. An entirely new kind of functional tool for riders wanting to make motorcycling an all-season, all-weather, everyday commuting activity which is easier and safer through today’s congested, risky high-speed road and traffic environments.

It turned out there were only a few riders thinly spread across the entire country who wanted to use their motorcycles this way. Especially during miserable and adverse weather. Forty years ago, the new Roadcrafter armored coverall was not wanted by millions of enthusiastic sports and recreational riders.

Making the product itself work as intended was relatively easy, but finding customers interested in purchasing and wearing it wasn’t. (See www.ridetowork.org.) It quickly became obvious only a very few riders wanted an armored all-weather breathable-waterproof textile coverall, and most 1980s moto-magazine journalists and editors agreed. At the time most riders, especially experts, knew leathers and/or denim was the only proper way to dress to use a motorcycle. And the more respected the expert, the more they felt this was so.

Even more distressingly, a never-spoken truth everyone knew back then (both rider and non-rider alike) was in America motorcycles were designed, manufactured, and sold to be enjoyed as toys, machines for sport and leisure, with maybe only 2% being applicable for daily personal transportation and then only on extra-nice days. Transportational riding was for unfortunate souls who by circumstance lived in less advanced parts of the world, wobbling helmetless and in flip flops at low speeds along potholed village roads aboard beat-up small-engined machines, often carrying a few live chickens in a flimsy wire cage, or perhaps some oversized bundles of something unidentifiable.

Despite this then-prevailing zeitgeist, a few lower-ranking junior-editor motorcycle magazine journalists did try early Roadcrafters and surprisingly were giggling into their helmets almost immediately. The odd-looking Roadcrafter coverall was a better way to dress for routine everyday riding. You could feel it almost immediately because it wore noticeably lighter, cooler, more comfortable, and was faster and more convenient to put on than traditional leathers. But crash and abrasion protection levels were still uncertain, so getting older experienced senior editors to try a Roadcrafter took a while longer.

A few print magazine editors from those old days are still around and they remember what it was like. How most riders poked fun at early wearers of these suits. But eventually, Aerostich’s armored high-tech textile coveralls did become more popular among editors. So much so that at several motorcycle new-model press intros one OE did not allow participants to ride their new bike in photos if they were going to be wearing Roadcrafters.

What soon was more wanted than a one-piece coverall for commuting was a more versatile two-piece version of the Roadcrafter, something to serve the needs of recreational and touring riders. For the company to become financially viable we cut a coverall in half, made patterns, and that was that. A few years later we also added another two-piece design hoping to supersede traditional English waxed cotton touring gear with modern vent systems, impact energy absorbing armor, more useful pocketing, large reflective areas, etc.

Today, more than forty years later, a few more riders are considering Aerostich one-piece suits. Experienced motorcyclists better understand how gear that fits precisely makes a big difference in comfort day after day on a long trip, and year after year when worn for daily commuting and utility riding.

Now about step two...If we could figure out what to do about that long-wearing durability characteristic, we might have something.

--- Mr. Subjective, May 2023

PS - This summer during the months of July and August we are celebrating our fortieth year. Fortunately, these are the only months of the year when the weather here is consistently fabulous for riding. There are lots of cool places around this area to see, eat, camp, and stay, plus some great roads to ride. Everyone who shows up at our HQ during these months will get a free ‘Very Boring Rally 5’ T-shirt and while supply lasts a nice cloisonne pin.  See www.boringrally.com for detailed info. We’d love to meet you and show you the factory and store.