Meet Karen Vernetti of D&K Service Cycle & ATV

Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Vernetti.

Karen, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My husband, David and I have been motorcyclists since the 1980s. David began as a young boy riding and racing dirt bikes and I, riding horses, dirt bikes and 3-wheelers. Since he was young David had a natural mechanical ability and worked on his own motorcycles with passion for the sport. I also rode street bikes with my first husband in the 1990s. I had 12 years restaurant management experience along with banking and escrow. When David and I met after our divorces in 2000, it was a match made in biker heaven. David was working as a general manager and technician at a local motorcycle dealership. He had built a very strong local support through his customer service skills. He treated everyone as family. When he left that dealership in 2003 to work in road construction for the county all of his loyal customers called on him to work on their bikes on the side. We decided in 2004 when our front yard was full of bikes to be worked on, that we really just needed to open our own repair shop. So, in November 2004 D&K Service Cycle & ATV was born. We hired a part time guy to run the parts counter and take in jobs while David and I still worked other jobs. David would go straight from his day job at 3pm to work on bikes until sometimes 1am the next morning.

Finally, in March of 2005, he quit the county job to work the business full time. It continued to grow even with some setbacks such as an employee that stole from the business for months and a couple of burglaries. We just had to push forward. By 2007 we were outgrowing our 3000 sq ft industrial space. Luckily, my mother and business partner needed to reinvest some money and built a beautiful 8400 sq ft building on prime, retail property in 2008, where D&K then called home. The move was good, as it doubled our volume immediately and really put us “on the map”. This is when I also quit my job at the bank and took the plunge into full time at our business. It has been quite a ride! We have continued to provide excellent service in motorcycle and ATV parts, accessories, sales and repair. With our large showroom we have been able to carry several lines of helmets, gear, service supplies, etc.

We have provided a great service with local consignment sales of used bikes. In 2016 we became a dealer for CFMOTO line of ATVs and UTVs and have been extremely happy with our relationship with CFMOTO to bring our customers a great machine at a reasonable price. We continue to sell used motorcycle and ATVs and plan to expand even more in the used market. We are excited for 2018 with a new expansion in our repair shop to enable us to provide a “ride in, ride out” service while you wait. We will be designing a new customer lounge area where they can relax while we do an oil and/or tire change. We are excited to bring more special events this year with a motorcycle swap meet scheduled each quarter and several other sales events, customer appreciation days and demo rides. We also pride ourselves on supporting our young racers with sponsorship programs that reward them with gear, technical service and supplies. As we continue to grow, we are excited for the future of the powersports industry and love what we do.

Has it been a smooth road?
In the early years, we had struggles with finding good employees. We had one employee that was stealing money from us for months to the tune of $46000. This really put a lot of stress on us financially and personally. We also had two minor burglaries in that time. At one point we had to question whether to keep going or to close the doors. We are so glad that we chose to push through. Luckily, we have grown to 8 employees that have been honest and dependable and are like family to us.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are located in a small central Arizona town called Cottonwood between Sedona and Jerome. We are one of two major motorcycle shops in town. We pride ourselves on operating our entire business with integrity. Our customers can always trust us and know that we will always do our best for them. If there is ever a problem we are known to always back up our work and will always “make it right”. This is our home town and we want to feel good about how we treat our neighbors and friends. We try to offer help and support for local charity events such as biker runs and rallies, local veterans’ fundraisers, help for seniors, substance abuse programs and events for kids. We are in an area of a lot of tourism and are proud to say that when a potential customer inquires about a motorcycle shop to go to at any of the other local businesses, they are always told to go see the folks at D&K Service.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Our entire state of Arizona is amazing for motorcycles and ATVs. We cannot beat the weather and have a year round riding season. As long as our State continues to support off-road trails and industry events, it will continue to be a great place to own a motorcycle business.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1752 S State Route 260
• Website: dkservicecycle.com
• Phone: 928-649-8822
• Email: dkservicecycle@gmail.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dkservicecycle

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.