“The more neat stuff you made the more people wanted to do things for you,” he said. It took time but he ultimately developed a network that made it possible to offer a selection of cool, clever components. I paid more than anyone else but I always had good, safe products. “I always aligned myself with quality people, smart people. “I think that was one of my secrets,” said Arlen. Seeking out experts and learning from the best paid off. He actually made the first frame for us working off the chalk marks on the cement.” We laid it on its side and I drew around it in chalk, extending it in the front and back and so on. “I took a stock Sporty frame to his shop. So Arlen educated himself on manufacturing and applied what he learned to continually refine the process.Īrlen also reached out to racer and builder Jim Davis. “He told me, don’t show these products to other people, they’ll copy you. It didn’t even have a picture!”Īs Arlen’s product count increased he considered finding a distributor and went to see Gary Bang, who gave him the best advice of his young career. How did they spread the word? “Our first catalog was one sheet of paper that Bev typed up. We didn’t know it then but we were building our brand,” he said. “People would call after they’d seen the magazine and want to buy the part.
We were on cloud nine.”įeature articles in magazines got the parts noticed. We met him in Bowling Green and he shot the bikes we were riding there. He was doing freelance for magazines in 1974.
“The first guy that ever shot our bikes was Randy Smith from CCE. Donnie explained how SB&F first got hooked up: If you had a motorcycle business then, the way to get noticed-the only way-was to have your bikes featured in magazines. After a year or so their bookkeeper said, “You know, if you got rid of that race car you could make a living out of this motorcycle thing.” So they did. Then girders, and tanks, and fenders and so it went. A while later, when someone wanted a Springer and there were none to be found, the guys gave that a try, too. Soon Elwood’s friends took notice and the shop-Smith Brothers and Fetrow-started getting more bike work. Though they also had day jobs and were busy working on the Barracuda Funny Car they planned to race, they did their best for Elwood. “We were three farm kids we thought rake was something you did with hay,” said Donnie. One day in the early ‘70s Elwood brought his Sportster into the drag race shop Donnie ran with his brother Happy and buddy Bob Fetrow he wanted them to rake the bike’s neck. It was Uncle Elwood that got Donnie involved in bikes. He’ll be the first to tell you that his early riding experiences didn’t exactly predict a happy life on two wheels no, motorcycles were not his first choice. Among those few stalwarts who succeeded in the game is Donnie Smith, a man known for his custom creations not only in the Midwest but around the world.