September 2005
Internet Connections
Motorcycle Industry
Having just received a press release about the fact that Rucker Performance (www.ruckerperformance.com) had just completed a re-vamp of their website, we couldn’t think of a better prospect for our website review for this issue. The truly hard part about conducting such a review is the subjective nature of doing so. The creator is usually quite happy with the level of creativity and artistic license employed, while the visitor may not necessarily share those feelings. Our charge here is to review the site as if we were a dealer seeking more information. Nothing more. Nothing less.
With that being said, let's drop in on www.ruckerperformance.com. They say first impressions are lasting, but we hope that the all-black home page, with a few gray words off to the right, listing sections to click, will be the exception to that rule. Other than the company logo and those few words, there isn’t much to entice the visitor. HOWEVER, we discovered that what you see there is not necessarily what IS there. Depending upon your version of Internet browser software, you might just see an entirely different picture. My version of Internet Explorer (5.0) gets me that lackluster, black and white version. If you have 5.2 or higher, you will see a beautiful, revolving display of some beautiful custom bikes. I must say, it makes a world of difference.
We next clicked on the "Showroom" icon, to open that first section. We were treated to some pretty nice studio shots the various models, each of which the visitor can click on for features and specs. Unfortunately, no price info is provided, to let the visitor, who is possibly interested in a purchase, see what the costs might be. Scanning down, visitors will also find photos of Rucker custom wheels… the Dragster and the Jaws models, as well as the wheels from Weld. If you have any interest in restored antique cars, or hot rods, that information is there too.
"Shop" is the next section to click on. Doing so brings up a black banner at the top of an otherwise empty page. It does, however, have a menu that includes "Store Front" Search and Product List, plus Basket Contents and Checkout." We clicked on Store Front, Search and Product List, but nothing happened. We suspect that the company will be providing the ability for consumers to shop and purchase, directly, in the near future. That would make these inoperative sections worthwhile.
In the "Company" section, we found a pretty interesting history of Bill Rucker, who is also one of the Co-founders of American IronHorse. He evidently made a bunch of money in diesel engines, but returned to auto and motorcycle performance endeavors, which are apparently his first loves.
The "Contact" icon
The "Contact" icon will get you exactly where you would expect. Company address, phone, fax, map and directions, in case you want to visit Bill. They also provide an e-mail link, so you can communicate with company that way should you choose.
Lastly, we clicked on the "Dealer" icon. We weren't sure whether it was a dealer locator, or information for aspiring dealers to gather information about becoming a retailer of Rucker Products. Woe is me, it is a location, of sorts. There are only 12 dealers listed, one of which is the famous Arlen Ness' retail operation. I guess that shows how elite such dealerships might be considered.
Most, if not all, of the truly custom bike builders are kind of an anomaly in our industry, in that they sell to distributors, dealers, and the public all at the same time. We would suggest, if you are thinking about checking into the custom bike market, that you research all the various "brands". If you need to order some wheels for a custom bike bike-riding customer, we’d certainly suggest you both look at Rucker's wheels. Besides, you can check out the Weld wheels at the same time, on the same page.
November 20, 2006 11:15 AM | send page | Press Releases