Vikings connect across the seas
We always love making connections with like-minded people. This is an article from our brothers across the pond, courtesy of Bryan Lee from The Viking Group. Clearly they are as passionate about their bikes as we are at Motorbike Mad.
It goes to show with determination and hard work anything is possible.
Over to you guys, in your own words
Viking Cycle : History
We are an impassioned bunch of riders. From the very beginning, we were true motorcycle enthusiasts. We paid attention to our riding aesthetics, took care of our safety gear, and our two-wheeler beauties. And when it comes to the riding apparel we invested heavily in the apparel we wore while riding. However, as time went by, we were fed up by wearing the “Same old, same old” type of riding attire and wanted to wear something new.
As most of the bikers would wear just the same riding outfits over and over again, it took all the fun out of the concept of riding in style. We wanted to wear something new, and we wanted people to wear something new, that has a fresh look to it, and the added feature of protection to it and that was made to last longer than usual attire.
That burning desire that we had in us for wearing and introducing something new for the motorcycle community empowered us to start our own division of motorcycle riding apparel. The freedom of thinking out of the box and design our attire the way we wanted it made us work day and night to perfect our designs and formulate the fabric strategies that would not only enhance the rider’s look but will also keep them comfortable in different weather situation and during short and long motorcycle trips.
Birth of Viking Cycle
We failed, failed, and then failed some more. We tested out designs and fabric under multiple weather and stress conditions and continued to struggle for perfecting our products. We started with perfecting only a handful of attire items like men’s motorcycle jackets, motorcycle jackets for women vests, and gloves.
We preferred quality over quantity, we had one and only one aim, “To provide quality products even if we offer only 2 or 3 products” quality was our magic ingredient.” We did not release a couple of our first manufactured batches. We tested them from different aspects and angles and waited and worked hard to perfect them. Eventually, after a couple of years of struggle, we finally found the perfect blend of style, durability, comfortability, and affordability. We started to sell our own attire in the small area of Brea California in the early 2000s.
Back then we did not even had an online store to sell out apparel. We continued to manufacture quality attire and as time progressed we started to gain a reputation in the motorcycle attire industry. Only a couple of years later we started our online store and now Viking Cycle is one of the world’s best and renowned Motorcycle attire brands.
Our care for the Motorcycle Community
As the founders of the Viking Cycle brand, we took the highest pride in providing the best motorcycle gear craftsmanship and material in the world. We never intended to go global with our products. We just wanted to see our bikers in a more stylish shape in our local areas.
The sense of community we developed with local fellow bikers pushed us to work harder not for just our sakes, but also for the sake of our small-sized local biker community. We wanted to provide stylish attire to bikers in our local areas so that they could rock the ‘Bad-boy’ looks we all competed so much for. With the intention of giving back to the biker’s community, we ended up starting something really beautiful. Something that was inspired by the pure intentions of helping the fellow biker community and because of this we progressed.
Even though we progressed to a great extent, we did not forget our humble beginnings. To honor the fact we started only from a small area and went international, we regularly conduct ‘Giveaways’ on our social media and website. Where we distribute free attire items like Jackets, Chaps, Vests, and Gloves to other motorcycle fanatics all over the world.
Going Beyond the limits: Rise of Viking Bags
We received so much support from the global biker’s communities that we felt the unquenchable need and obligation to give something more. We once again sat on the table with our heads combined, scratching our heads for ideas on how can we bring even more innovation to the community. We considered a list of ideas and saw them fail in front of our very eyes. It was heartbreaking, frustrating, time-consuming, and felt just ridiculous at times.
But the support we received from a legion of our global fans, ignited the fire in us and once again we got determined on offering something new to enthusiast bikers globally. Sitting in despair, after a frustrating day looking out of the building window our team members saw a biker carrying a lot of their stuff, struggling to contain and balance all items at once while riding dangerously through the traffic. The moment our team member observed the situation, his genius woke up and he yelled “I have got it, I have got it”. He suggested for starting a new line for motorcycle backpack bags, or motorcycle luggage bags.
The rest of our team listened to the idea and we decided to go for it in a heartbeat. We named the other brand “Viking Bags” after the name of our first company Viking Cycle. Viking Bags was conceived the same way almost every great idea is conceived; out of frustration with the current state of things & out of a desire to change things for the better.
In our case, the frustration was with the sub-par motorcycle luggage in the market at that time. Our desire was to create something that was just as beautiful as it was useful. Thus began the journey of a thousand miles. One pile of carefully chosen leather and one extensively thought-out saddlebag design at a time. Ever since then, we have not looked back. To this day, we only look back only to gain inspiration from our original spark.
At Viking Bags we have a motto that goes something like:
“At Viking Bags we don’t take the path of the least resistance. We want to make things, add things that no one knows they won’t and can’t live without once they get it”
Our customers come first
No matter how much we have grown, we never did and never will forget our priorities. And the top priority of both companies is to serve our customer’s needs first. We source the highest quality weather-resistant leather from around the world. We employ the most skilled fiber-glass and leather craftsmen to manufacture the best saddlebags you can find.
We operate out of two highly efficient warehouses, one in Los Angeles and one in Chicago, to ensure that the majority of our customers get their products delivered within 2 business days. As the company has grown, so has our staff. We take care of our customers with some of the most hardworking and caring customer service members in the industry.
Future considerations
Our both companies are growing rapidly and now we aim to become one of the industry leaders in providing the highest and affordable motorcycle riding attire and luggage bags. Our mission is to continue to grow even more and extend our product lines to cover the needs of customers to a wider range. However, as we progress and continue to develop we will also strive to extend our customer support coverage and delivery services.
Thanks for the content guys, wish you every success. There's more info on their website www.vikingbags.com