Mark Skolnick, or Junior as he prefers to be called, told us his first exposure to motorcycles started with mini bikes when he was a kid. “I can remember dragging my mom around town in her old brown 1969 Plymouth Fury III to buy used mini bikes when I was 10 years old,” he recalled, adding, “Those cars had huge trunks, so I’d buy a bunch of junked mini bikes, throw them in the trunk, take them home to fix them up and sell them. From there it was a natural move into motorcycles both on and offroad. I’ve been riding motorcycles ever since.”
At 16, Junior opened his first business venture, an auto parts store in Whittier, CA, called Atlas Automotive Supply, where he said he sold replacement and performance car parts. “I’ve always been into anything with a motor and I love going fast!” he explained. Two years later that business venture ended and Junior then started a mobile tool service out of the back of a beat up pickup truck that catered to onsite contractors. Eventually, this led him to opening a tool store known as Junior’s Tools. “What started out as a single retail outlet grew into a multi state, 13 store chain of tool superstores,” he explained.

He told us he believes the pursuit of product excellence has the greatest potential for growth in this industry; however, there’s the ‘good enough’ disease that’s been infecting a lot of companies out there. “Be the Leader in your field,” he recommended, adding, “What’s that saying: unless you’re the lead dog the scenery never changes? It’s true.” The question he said to ask is: how can we improve the product to increase consumer confidence? “If you are in the motorcycle business today, you have to take a good hard look at the companies that have folded. At what point did they get off course and where did they drop the ball? What can you learn from their mistakes? What strategies can you put in place to make sure this doesn’t happen to your company?” he explained.
“They say if we don’t learn from the past we are doomed to repeat it. I know that’s been true in my other business endeavors and I honestly think striving to make the best motorcycles and motorcycle products is the greatest area of growth potential we have in the custom production motorcycle industry,” added Junior. On the other hand, look at the companies that are still around; ask yourself what they are doing right and how you can learn from them, he advised. “We became an Intrepid dealer some time ago,” he explained, adding, “There’s a good reason why we chose them. It’s their innovative designs, quality workmanship and use of the S&S Twin Cam style motor. We think it’s a refreshing change from the other blah-blah-blah bike companies out there.”
There are two pieces of advice Junior said he was given, when he first started going into business, that he would like to pass along. “The first is under promise and over deliver. The second is don’t treat the customer how YOU want to be treated, treat them how THEY want to be treated.” This advice has really changed how he has done business since he was 16. 

Chris Stangl, MTA’s outside sales manager, enjoys riding his 2008 KTM 505 both on the track and offroad with his family. But his passion for motorcycles is nothing new. His father started riding young and encouraged Chris to do the same. Stangl got his first bike when he was eight. “It was a YZ 80É a used one,” Chris explained, "It was a lot more than an eight year old could handle, but I loved it." Stangl said he used to ride the bike on the trails throughout Southern California, on dunes and, when he was older, at raceways. 

While attending the University of Louisiana – Lafayette in the 1970s, Daryl Schouest recalled his major mode of transportation was his Honda 550 motorcycle. Originally, he said, he purchased the bike as a means of transportation, not as a toy, but found himself joining his friends on weekend rides touring the countryside for a little pleasure riding. “I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh air on those country rides and reminisce about that often,” Schouest told us.
Daryl was hired as a consultant for Oxlite Manufacturing in 1996 and given the task of solving some of the financial issues that had come up following the death of founder Jim Parker in 1995. At the same time, Schouest took on the position of general manager and began learning about the company from the ground up. “I worked in the shop, for a very short time, handled all the accounting and figured out that the shipping department gave the best view of the entire operations of the company,” he explained, adding, “I worked in the shipping office for about three months, learning the ins and outs of how Oxlite operated. Of course I also maintained the other duties of general manager at the same time.”