Shop Tour
Photos/Story: Tony Colombini
This story is not only of a shop tour but how a person with high standards for himself, stuck to his guns and created a thriving business in the competitive motorcycle industry.
Many of our readers are not only enthusiasts but entrepreneurs as well. I am sure that this article will inspire you the inventiveness and fortitude it takes in the business world today.
We have heard of Danny Gray Seats through several friends. Not really knowing too much about their work, we called and asked for a tour. Billy was particularly interested because of his spinal cord injury and recent pressure wound, that finding a seat that is comfortable, effective and great looking is very important. Sherry invited us in to take a look a their recently expanded operations.
Danny Gray is known for making custom one-off seats for builders all around the World.
First stop was in their design department. There is a wall-full of a variety of leathers, exotic skins and fabrics. On the opposite wall were racks of seat pans. Here is where they mock-up the custom seats for their customers. They have grown from custom one-off seats to standard issue seats. They also offer a “Build Your Own” seat using their handy on-line tool.
The next stop on our tour is to follow the production line. We go to the cutting room to find patterns cut for specific seat pans. We had the opportunity to watch the skilled craftsmen and women cutting a tribal-flame inlay (opposite page).
One of the offerings that Billy was particularly interested in was their AirHawk series. AirHawk technology has been used in medial applications for over 35 years to reduce tissue pressure and improve comfort. This is good news for people who suffer from spinal cord injuries where they have no feeling in their glutomous maximus. Pressure wounds are no joking matter as we almost lost Billy a couple of years ago when a pressure wound got severely infected and they had to remove tissue all the way down to the bone. Billy currently rides now with his Roho air pad he uses on his wheel chair on top of his Arlen Ness seat.
Speaking of Arlen Ness, this is where Danny Gray’s business really took off. One of his first seats for a custom builder got the cover of a popular national magazine. Arlen saw that article and contacted Danny to see more of his seats. He bought them all and contracted him to make custom seats for Arlen’s customers.
The challenge with Billy’s use of his wheel chair pad is that it is big and cumbersome and on hot days, the massive amount of air in it swells up when the bike is sitting in the So-Cal sun. This is where AirHawk comes in. The new line from Danny Gray offers an internal air pads that you can fill or release with a push of a button hidden under the seat skin. This is revolutionary to the motorcycle riding public. As bikers are aging a comfortable seat will help keep them in the saddle much longer.
We finish off the tour at their quality control check where they have two techs checking fitment, color, consistency and cleanliness before bagging up the seats.
Billy was so impressed with their system that he is ordering a custom saddle for his bike and helping them design a saddle for those with special needs. See the progress of that on later issues.
Visit Danny Gray Seats online at:
www.DannyGray.com and find a dealer near you with their handy dealer locator.