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Nate Kern says BMW motorcycles are underrated.
Richard Cooper, who races professionally, leans over his bike at Morton's BMW Motorcycles, which helps sponsor him. |
BY MEGAN WILLIAMS
Richard Cooper and Nate Kern stopped by Morton's BMW Motorcycles on Wednesday to meet, greet and spread the word.
Cooper, from England, and Kern, from Atlanta, are the only two professionals in the country who race competitively on BMW motorcycles, says Kern. He believes BMWs have an image problem.
"If your career is only so long, no one wants to waste time on BMWs because statistically it's underweight and it's under-powered," Kern said. "They don't think they can go fast on it. To me, it's the textbook definition of not judging a book by its cover."
Kern and Cooper are sponsored by BMW. They stopped in Fredericksburg for a few days to have their bikes checked out and to speak with fans. Next stop was Virginia International Raceway, near Danville, for the fourth race of the nine-part national championship tour. The event is today and tomorrow.
Morton's has been sponsoring Kern for two seasons and Cooper since March of this year.
"I've been to a lot of dealerships around the country other BMW [dealerships] just want a piece of the pie and exposure," Kern said. "Jeff and Hannah Massey just get it: They understand the market and relationships. They're at the top in my book."
Morton's, in conjunction with BMW, pays for bike maintenance, hotel costs and any other race expenses when Kern and Cooper compete in Summit Point, W.Va., and VIR, the two nearest tracks. It also sponsored them in Daytona, Fla., earlier this year.
"We wanted to create some excitement for our customers in the area," said Jeff Massey, who has owned Morton's, located near Four-Mile Fork in Spotsylvania County, since 1979. "We also wanted to bring some recognition to the BMW brand--to show that it really is a sporty, fun bike. Not everyone knows that BMW is making competitive motorcycles."
Both racers are doing well in this year's championship. Kern had four wins at the beginning of May at Summit Point and Cooper finished fifth in the Daytona 200 at the beginning of March.
Even though they race against each other, Kern and Cooper try to help each other out.
"It's sportsmanship, which is rare when two people are going out on the same eccentric brand of bike," Kern said. "My goal is to win the national championship this year. My second goal is to help Richard."
Kern didn't want to start his 2008 season in Daytona as the only one riding a BMW, so he called Massey and asked if he could fix up one of the bikes so Cooper could ride it in Daytona.
"Jeff and Nate have been really good to me. They make the phone calls and book the flights, and I get to ride," Cooper said.
On Wednesday, Kern, Cooper and Massey greeted customers at Morton's to talk about the upcoming race and motorcycles in general.
Bryant and Martha Kling of Leesburg travel the approximately 80 miles to Morton's for their motorcycle needs, instead of going to the two BMW dealerships closer to home.
"We like it here. Jeff's always on the floor talking to people, and that's just nice," Bryant Kling said. "They also support racing more than other dealers."
Longtime Morton's customer Spike Williamson put it simply: "Their motto is 'The first-class dealer with the small-town touch.' That's the truth."
Megan Williams: 540/374-5000,
Email: mewilliams@freelancestar.com
