THE TWISTED MISSION

Our mission at Twisted Throttle is to provide the best riding experience in the powersports industry by delivering the best products, best purchasing experience, and best tech support to customers in the United States and Canada. We only sell products we have used and can stand behind! At Twisted Throttle you can be sure you are getting the highest quality products from the highest quality brands you love like DENALI Electronics, DrySpec, R&G Racing, SW-Motech, Givi, Kaoko, Barkbusters, Mitas and more!

What does this mean?

Best Products

We’ve honed our skill at destroying gear so you won’t have to.

Instead of choosing to cherry pick from hundreds of brands of products like many retailers, we employ an in-house design team that provides technical feedback, 3D models, and prototypes to our suppliers to expand and improve a limited number of brands. In short, we use, abuse and improve the gear we sell. We’re not trying to sell everything; we’re trying to solve all the problems.

When we develop products, we use a top-down approach. We start at the top and move down the list until each is achieved:

  1. Is it useful? (does the product solve a real problem?)
  2. Is it functional?
  3. Is it durable?
  4. Is it as simple as possible? (Is the product line simple to understand? Can we eliminate extra stuff that gets in the way or might break?)
  5. Does it fit? (We test “universal” products to make sure they fit the bikes we sell them for)
  6. Is it multi-functional?
  7. Does it interfere with or distract from the riding experience?
  8. Is it easy for an inexperienced end-user to install and use, preferably without instructions?
  9. Aesthetics: Does it blend with the design aesthetic of the bike? Does it look good on the person wearing it?
  10. Value: Does it outperform other products at a similar pricepoint?

We only sell gear that passes this top-down review. Period.

Best Purchasing Experience

We believe an awesome buying experience starts with speaking to someone that uses the gear you’re calling about. All employees at Twisted Throttle are required to be licensed motorcyclists, from the corporate suite to the warehouse and everywhere between. You get the same gear advice we’d give our best friends, and our advice is based on personal use of our gear.

Key elements of our approach include:

  1. We recommend only the gear that best meets a rider’s use, functional needs and budget. We figure that if our advice is useful and we don’t oversell, you’ll seek our advice again the next time.
  2. Real riders answer our phones within a target of 90 seconds, 6 days a week and answer your emails in under 24 hours.
  3. We provide clear written communication on every aspect of your order.
  4. Free shipping, no-hassle returns, and price matching makes people smile.
  5. 5% back on every purchase keeps you coming back.
  6. Most importantly, we deliver what we promise.

Best Tech Support

Our lifetime tech support is legendary. We believe “Best Tech Support” means solving the customer’s problem completely and quickly, regardless of who may be at “fault” for the problem.

  1. Our tech support gurus have installed the product you’re calling about… hundreds of times. We know the gear we sell.
  2. PDF installation instructions are on our website for every item.
  3. Because we work directly with a limited number of suppliers, replacement parts are available for nearly every product we’ve ever sold.
  4. If we can’t provide an off-the-shelf part to fix your problem, we’ll help you find a way to fix it through any means necessary, even if it’s not covered under a manufacturer’s warranty.
  5. Did I mention we take your calls 6 days a week?

In short, we always strive to do the right thing. Enough said?

How Twisted Throttle Began…

First and foremost, Twisted Throttle would never have made it off the ground without the constant support, ideas, late-night talks, and talents of my parents, Lauren and Howard, and my brother Adam. The logos, website templates, product presentations, and tradeshow displays (including a custom-fabricated rotating turning stage!) you see at TwistedThrottle.com are a direct result of their talents and their willingness to help for nothing more than my thanks. John Ennis, my partner during the early days of startup, provided the guts to demand respect from our first U.S. product suppliers and to buy the first beer for our new German friends in Munich. To my friends — Laura, Cathy, and Amy — thanks for the box packing, the comic relief, and the hockey.

It all began when I was living in Philadelphia in 2001. A friend of mine mentioned that there was a free Motorcycle Safety Foundation class I could take to learn how to ride a motorcycle, and that the class would supply the helmet and the bike. All I had to do was show up, and I’d get my motorcycle license. I had a great time, and following completion of the class, I bought a used Suzuki Intruder 800. I had no idea it would change my life like it did.

By early 2002, I’d ridden the Intruder about 10,000 miles on cross-country trips, and I decided I wanted a bike that handled better and had more power, wind protection, and comfort. I traded the Intruder in for a Suzuki V-Strom DL1000, a bike that was being marketed for “adventure touring”, expecting to travel the world. Imagine my surprise when I found out I couldn’t buy basic touring accessories for the bike from Suzuki USA!

Twisted Throttle LLC began in June 2002 with a “group buy” of SW-MOTECH centerstands, crashbars and luggage systems for a handful of early Suzuki DL1000 V-Strom fanatics, of whom I happened to be the one nutty enough to call a German manufacturer on the telephone and demand that they send me a shipment immediately.

After the first group buy, I started receiving steady inquiries about importing additional European products, and I started thinking it might not be so crazy to be a motorcycle accessory importer. Soon after, I picked a name, got a business license, and converted my apartment’s garage to my first “warehouse”.

My first big purchase was having a professional website designed for me. My elementary school friends Jon Hempstead (a.k.a. “DJ Hemp”) at Alienated Media and Pat Tully at Avatar New York did an excellent job creating the templates for my first website on a penny-pinching $500 budget. My friends Joe and Tony provided the display cases for my first motorcycle tradeshow as hand-me-downs from their athletic club in Stamford, Connecticut.

A Walk Down Memory Lane…

We’ve got more people running around here than I can count some days (our accountant says we number in the mid-30’s lately). Throughout it all, we’ve continued to take motorcycling seriously without BEING too serious. There’s still a chicken hat on my desk…

Philosophy

We believe in building positive longterm relationships with our suppliers, staff, and customers. Like all relationships, they’re build on trust, honesty, and commitment. The successful beginnings of our company were due in large part to our first suppliers taking a gamble on our vision, and we appreciat their long term support: Jörg Diehl, Jürgen Swora, and Kai Jockel of SW-MOTECH; Achim Kessler of Bags-Connection; Paul Collins, Anthony Church & Big Crazy Craig  of GIVI USA; Johannes and Gerhard Klement of MRA Windshields; and Matthew Phillpott of Rideworx.

Our clients’ support, contributions, and suggestions are what makes Twisted Throttle a continued success. Interacting with our clients remains our greatest single reward from this endeavor. Thanks for the many moments that continue to make this journey a wonderful adventure.

Sincerely,
– Erik Stephens, Founder, Twisted Throttle (a.k.a. Mr. Twisted)