Custom cycle shop cruises into town
The area’s custom motorcycle shop recently cruised to West Villard in Dickinson and has expanded its services, said Wes Annable, owner of Patriot Custom Cycle, LLC.
“Before we pretty much specialized in Harley-Davidson repair, doing some custom work and custom building,” Wes Annable said. “Now we’re offering services on all makes of motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, (and) jet skis. Since we have a bigger area, we’re offering more retail, more apparel and we’re also selling bikes now too.”
Patriot not only expanded repair past Harley-Davidson, they can also customize snowmobiles, ATVs and jet skis.
“We’re always up for a challenge,” Annable said. “There’s available stuff for all of that and we can do it if somebody requests it.”
The most common modification Annable sees on motorcycles is custom handlebars, but the possibilities are nearly endless.
“We try to come up with different ways of running the clutch systems and the shifter systems instead of just having a normal hand clutch and foot shifter, we switch it up,” Annable said. “They come in and they got an idea and we put it down to metal.”
He said they aren’t able to do everything customers may see on TV, but have many options.
“We haven’t been stumped yet — we’ve always been able to figure it out,” Annable said. “We have access to all the parts and we can make modifications to them to make them our own.”
Steadily increasing business led to Patriot outgrowing its former location west of Dickinson, Annable said.
The building Patriot relocated to was formerly an antique and pawn business, he added.
“It’s way different than when it was a pawn shop,” said Bill Prudhomme, a mechanic at Patriot.
The building has new flooring and a fresh coat of paint, Annable said.
“The biggest transformation is down in the shop area,” he added. “That was offices and an antique store. We gutted the whole thing and made it a shop area.”
Another service they’ve added with the move is indoor bike washing and detailing.
Two staff members have also been added to take on extra projects, Annable said.
Patriot Custom Cycle originally opened about two years ago when Annable turned his hobby into the business.
“You buy a Harley-Davidson and there’s 3,000 other people out there that have that same Harley Davidson motorcycle,” he said. “We can take that bike and we can make it something now that only they have.”
Modifying motorcycles is what Annable loves most about his business.
“Seeing the transformation from a cookie cutter bike to seeing something now that’s unique to that person and fits their personality — that’s what’s so fun about it is you get to make that transformation and see the work after it’s done,” He said. “And then to see the pride in the person that owns the bike now because he knows he has something not everybody else has.”
Prudhomme, who recently moved to Dickinson from Wisconsin, is glad he made the switch.
“It’s more like a family than a shop,” he said.
He added customers can expect “quick service and quick turnaround and quality work too.”
Patriot Custom Cycle is at 656 West Villard. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.
To contact the business, call 701-483-1635.
“Whether it’s just having their oil changed and their plugs changed or whether it’s to totally transform their bike, we just want people to know that when their bike leaves here that they can pretty much jump on it and go and not have any worries,” Annable said.
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