Lifestyle Cycles Interviews Moto Influencer Jeff Holt from V-Twin Visionary
Junior here with lifestyle cycles, and we're about to interview Jeff Hol, V-twin Visionary. It's going to be an amazing interview; you're not going to want to miss.
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Well, today I'm talking to Jeff Hol, great friend of mine. We've known each other—what, how?—25 years? Yeah, at least 25 years. Yes, we are that old. Yeah, it's, it's, it's not—it's, we're showing our age. Yeah, what are you going to do? But we have both grown up in this industry, and I think you've started out, you've been into motorcycles your whole life. Yeah, pretty much. I mean, you know, I came from BMX, skateboarding, like most kids, and then mountain biking, and then when I could afford or, uh, or pretty much, you know, get a hold of any sort of motorized vehicle, I made it happen.
Now, were you riding mini bikes like me when I was a little kid? Mini bikes, my world. I, I, I had—it was a Taco. It was called a Taco 22, man. And kids would come all over the neighborhood to race me. Yeah, and that—I was badass. I mean, for me, I—I didn't come at motorcycles this way. My father was involved in a motorcycle accident. He's paraplegic from it. So, as a child, I was never allowed to ride any motorcycles. And I mean, long story short, if you—if you defy me to do something, I'll make it my life. That's the way it works, you know? No, you can't. Okay, I'm going to. I'll just make it my whole life. That is awesome.
But I mean, he's good with it now, and I—I, you know, I've—I've made a great living out of it. You meet a thousand, thousands upon thousands of great people, you know? So, I think that that—that for me is just—it is the—the people in this industry are the best. That's—that's what keeps me around. I mean, I could have gotten out and—and gone my own way many—many years ago, but it's the people. And—and it's internationally. It's not just, you know, we travel and I recognize they're wearing Lifestyle Cycle shirts. You know how cool that is? Isn't that awesome when—when—when you go into a—a resort in Mexico or something and the guy sitting at the bar has the Lifestyle Cycles, um—it's—it's just—it—it—it's—it just makes you feel great. It makes you feel great. Yeah, man, it makes you feel like you did something.
Yeah, and—and, you know, and—and—or even a hard—well, at least you bought a T-shirt. Well, that's, yes, you know? No, just kidding. And then, then we get to go, you know? It's an instant conversation, you know? And I can't tell you how many people I've been somewhere and just because they're wearing a Harley shirt—oh, yeah, you know? The next thing you know, we—we—we've exchanged phone numbers and—and become friends. Yeah, it's just crazy how it works, you know? The industry is—yes, it's a multi-billion dollar industry, but, you know, at this level where we are with custom and performance stuff, it's a very small, tight community. It's—it is. It's—it's—it's very small, yeah. And you wind up realizing that once you meet somebody, they know somebody that you're good friends with, yep. And—and it keeps going.
Now, now let's—let's go back in the time machine. Um, you—you actually were—we met before you were with Hot Bike Magazine, yes? Yeah, I was always, you know, just 'cause I grew up in Anaheim, you know, by being a local kid, you know, I—I knew who you were. You were already legendary at that time, or, you know, working on bikes, building really cool stuff, you know? Custom scene was blowing up during that time, and I mean, it was—it was really cool, you know? I—I've met you through friends, you know, like we all do, you know? And I just thought, man, this guy is really doing it. He's going places, you know? And then, you know, come, you know, I don't know, six years later, I'm in the industry, and, you know, we—we work together a lot.
How many articles do you—how many bike build articles or install articles? How many do you think we actually did? I think, you know, myself and—and Lifestyles, we did a lot. But I mean, as far as the brand, Hot Bike Baggers and Street Chopper, when we were—when we were running all those magazines, it—it was—it's gotta be 500 or more. Yeah, I mean, we used you guys so many times, you know? You guys were always really good to us. You guys, you know, the—the—the techs you guys had, whether it wasn't you but your other—you're right-hand men, you know, so to speak, they were always good. Super good to us. Patient, if, you know, 'cause half these things never worked out, so we always occupied at least one of your lifts. It was always this thing, yeah. This bolt-on cool accessory was the farthest thing ever six weeks on your lift, yes. Nothing was ever—and what happened was, we would always wind up being the manufacturer's R&D, yeah. To figure out what—what—yes, yeah. No, here, Junior's a sucker. Everybody's like, oh, here's this, it's not the real—it's not the final production, but it'll work. And I'm like, have to round out every hole. Yeah, no, it doesn't, not—not even close, still that way, yeah. Oh, you know, you're right. And we still do it. We—well, you know, but that's what's part—that's why they come to us. I agree, that is why they come to us, because we've been there, we've done that, uh, we've already got that T-shirt, and we're going to keep doing it, right? And I mean, you know, there's—there's a lot of, uh, you know, not to knock anybody online, but there's a lot of dudes on YouTube and all over the internet, you know, claiming that, you know, they're—they're experts at stuff, and when they're not. Well, you know, after three months in the industry, I think that qualifies them to—to be an expert, you know? I mean, you know, I'm not—you know, I'm not patting you or or myself the back, but I mean, we've—we've seen tens of thousands of new products come and go, and and we've installed most of them, yes. And you know, after—after a while, we—we figure out what—what really does work, what companies stand behind their products, um, how to work within their organizations, and and which ones have the same people, because it's important to me, the companies I deal with, that when I call them, I get the same person I've been talking to for 10 years, agreed. And I know they're going to solve my problems, yeah. And I mean, you know, as—as far as you know, where where I come from on this stuff, you know, a lot of haters on the internet, says oh, he just gets free shit, blah, blah, blah, but you wouldn't realize how many of these free parts are more work than just paying retail for something else, especially all these free bikes that I get that I spend $20,000 in my own personal money on building, you know? It's just funny, you know, the way that that works. But this industry is parts-driven, and if there's not people out there knowing about the parts and how to properly install them, and where they come from, and who—who makes them, you know, then then why are we doing all this? Well, I—I think we've learned free is most always the most expensive thing you can get. You said it, Junior, you said it. Uh, you know, it's uh, and I think most influencers are finding that out now, oh, yeah, you know, in real time. Yeah. So, I mean, you know, you know, we learned this, you know, decades ago, and now they're—they're hip to it now, yeah. Well, and and now you have a—you have a huge following. People—you are famous in this industry, you you are the go-to guy. Everybody knows you, everybody respects you, um, everybody everybody listens to you, um, because they know that if you—you won't put out a—a testimony, um, that that isn't true, yeah. And I mean, there's—there's also certain times, a lot of people don't know, I get stuff that's so bad, I don't even let it see the light of day, like, I'll send it back to the—the manufacturer and be like, man, you don't—you don't, you know, you shouldn't even be making this product, just just take it back when