Bike sales revved up

Whether buzzing around a neighborhood or quickly cornering the South Whidbey Primary School parking lot, mini-bikes have arrived in South Whidbey.

And chances are those bikes were bought at Rainstate High Performance & Custom Vinyl Graphics in Freeland.

The bikes seem to be a small, but visible craze on South Whidbey. Rainstate owner Jacob Bloom said he’s probably sold 40 or more of the bikes since first offering them in his store in May.

“Every shipment that we ordered through the summer wouldn’t last 24 hours,” he said.

Bloom said he has spent about $7,000 to $8,000 for the mini-bikes, and has sold them at a profit $3,000 to $5,000.

He considers the mini-bike sales as a side project, though, since his business earns more off the automotive graphics and auto parts sales at its Highway 525 location.

The majority of the mini-bikes sold are 16-inch racing bikes, which come in an assortment of colors, and start at $390. They can reach speeds up to 35 mph. Though they are small, they are generally recommended for adult use only.

Custom bikes are available, as well, such as a 36-inch “chopper Harley-style” model with an extended fork for $800. For the younger set, there is a reduced-power model that hits a top speed of just 15 mph.

Bloom said most of his customers are males between 16-30 years old, but women are buying them too.

Two of those customers were Freeland’s Wade and Carmen Van Houten, who enjoy the mini-bikes for very different reasons.

Wade Van Houten said that the first time he rode a mini-bike, he was hooked. He now owns a blue mini-bike and said he enjoys the racing and cornering ability while competing against other mini-bike owners, usually in the parking lot at South Whidbey Primary School.

With knees poised just inches above the ground, a rider must hunch over the handlebars of a bike that sounds more like a gas-powered leaf blower than a Harley.

Carmen Van Houten got her mini-bike as a wedding gift from her husband and friends. Because her chopper-style bike accelerates slower than most, she said she enjoys to ride slowly either around her neighborhood or while watching others race.

Keeping in the spirit of the chopper’s inspiration, a full-size “Harley-style” motorcycle, the mini chopper’s exhaust makes a puttering noise. To ride it, Carmen Van Houten sits fully upright and grasps handlebars stretched nearly to her chest.

Van Houten said she is using the mini-bike as training for a full-size motorcycle, which she plans to purchase as a commuter vehicle.

Since riders prefer riding on dry surfaces, Bloom said the mini-bike business has slowed of the past month fall. About 10 mini-bikes are still in his shop.

Bloom, a 1998 South Whidbey High School graduate, said he’s been building custom cars since high school. Having earned a graphic arts design degree from the Seattle Art Institute, Bloom worked for his parents’ company, Puget Sound Business Systems in Freeland, before opening Rainstate.

Bloom said he and his sole employee Dino Delrosario, saw their first mini-bike at an Everett custom car show in May.

“We saw a potential in them, and basically fun for ourselves,” Bloom said.

He said they didn’t buy a mini-bike until they saw a man selling mini-bikes out of a trailer in Oak Harbor on the way back from the Everett car show.

Because of the speeds, proximity to the ground and size of the mini-bikes, both the Van Houtens and Bloom note the importance of safety. A rider should wear a helmet, elbow pads and gloves. In addition, Bloom requires anyone under 18 years old to obtain signed parental permission before buying a mini-bike.

Bloom said riders should stay off the state highway’s and city streets since the bikes are not easily seen by car drivers.

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