If you are lucky, you have that one friend or neighbor who always seems to show up at your shop or garage door at the best possible times to offer help, advice, or even a spare part or two for your latest project. This guy or gal always seems to know the little tips or tricks that make the difference between a one-hour job and a four-day ordeal. With the advent of the internet, finding the right advice for your build should seemingly have gotten easier, but instead, you’re faced with a mountain of info you have to sift through to weed out the correct answers from the bad advice.
Denis Kirk started out as the helpful, knowledgeable friend who was a phone call or a few steps away, ready to give the right advice at the right time. But when the world went online, instead of being lost in the ether of potentially bad information, DK became the digital embodiment of the friendly neighborhood shade tree motorcycle mechanic, now only a click or two away, but still available by phone if that suits your style. But who is Dennis Kirk?
Dennis “Kirk” Frandsen sold the company named after him way back in 1977, but Dennis Kirk, the company, retains many of the values that Frandsen instilled in it when he founded it in 1969. The All American Snowmobile Parts Company began as a distributorship in Rush City, Minnesota, a town with just over a thousand residents at the time, before converting to nationwide mail-order catalog sales around 1973. The company grew, expanded their product offerings, and went online, as is necessary in the modern world. Today, the company is the largest online retailer of aftermarket motorcycle parts, accessories, and gear.
But between their small town beginnings and their current position as a world leader in motorcycle and powersports products, Dennis Kirk has remained in Rush City, population now about three thousand, and still retains the small town values of friendly, neighborly service and fair pricing. You can still call their offices in Rush City and speak to a real person there, order over the phone, or ask technical questions, and their customer service representatives and techs in Minnesota will work together to get the answers you need quickly.
It is certainly rare in today’s connected world to see a company that has grown and advanced so well into the digital age, but remains grounded to its small town American roots. With over 50 years in the business, they have the experience and expertise that allows them to find the right parts at the right price. They have built a modern, fully automated facility in Rush City that allows them to ship the same day if ordered before 8 pm Central, and they do what they can to stock as many of the 185,000 parts, accessories, and apparel they have available on site. Free shipping on orders over $89 is the icing on the cake.
High-tech facilities and an advanced online store is one thing, but Dennis Kirk also provides the human touch, not only with their on-site sales and tech reps, but also with support programs like their Garage Build and Sled Build, and an extensive blog series. Customers can submit photos, videos, and details on their personal builds, showing off their personalized rides and what it took to get there.
If there is a segment of the riding population that loves to customize, it’s the V-Twins, and Dennis Kirk has anything and everything the cruiser rider needs to set their bike apart. The Garage Build “Rate Your Favorite Builds” section is full of both Harley-Davidson and metric cruisers modified to the nines with the latest and greatest from Dennis Kirk.
It’s all possible through their state-of-the-art website that features your typical search functions, but also kicks it up a notch with their “Enter Your Ride” feature that narrows the search down to your exact make and model, which you can toggle on and off easily as you see fit. Dennis Kirk has also added a new handlebar, tire, and exhaust finder, three items that can be especially difficult to nail down.
With the ocean of websites out there selling motorcycle wares, you’ll be forgiven if you’re not yet familiar with Dennis Kirk, but if you’re looking for the best place online for customizing, maintaining, or fixing your ride, you now know where to go. Or, if it suits you better, give them a call!