24 • August 2024 • Powersports Business www . PowersportsBusiness . com

BY MADELYN PEGG ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Onyx Moto of Lemon Grove , California , can now reach a new market with the addition of Moto Morini on its showroom floor . Until last fall , Onyx Moto was a pre-owned motorcycle dealership .

“ That ’ s been a big step for us ,” says Jay Le , general manager of the dealership . “ It ’ s been about six to eight months now . We ’ re still learning all their products and diving into their rich heritage because they ’ ve been around for a long time . That ’ s the only line we carry at the moment .”

He says the addition of Moto Morini also brings a new set of challenges , like learning the needs of becoming a franchise dealership . But the Onyx Moto team is thrilled to see the possibilities the line will offer its customers .

Up to this point , the dealership has excelled at pre-owned unit sales and won the 2023 Powersports Business Best-In-Class : Pre-Owned Unit Sales Award . “ I clearly can ’ t speak to how other dealerships are run , but listening to our customers , I think the thing that makes us stand out is how meticulous our reconditioning is ,” Le says . “ Anything that ’ s presented for sale has probably been touched by several members of our team , from our purchasers to our technicians to our sales staff . Everybody participates in our review to make sure the bikes meet our quality standards .”

Sales success is also a result of customer service . Le says employees treat customers the way they would want to be treated if they were the customer . “ We ’ re really data driven here and optimistic ,” he shares . “ I ’ d say that ’ s a big part of our culture as well as leading by example … We ’ re pretty transparent about the performance of our sales and we keep metrics for every department .”

Employees attend weekly meetings to review performance from the previous week . “ It gives us a chance to talk about our successes and strategies over our pain points and review our failures ,” Le says . “ The fact that everybody is on the same page as to what ’ s going on here , I think that really helps hold [ employees ] accountable .”

FROM GARAGE TO FACILITY , PURCHASER TO GM

“ Kenny [ Chen ] opened up Onyx Moto about 10 years ago now ,” Le says . “ He started selling motorcycles from his garage and he made the transition to doing it full-time and bought his own spot .” Onyx Moto has expanded four times and is now in an 11,000 square foot facility .

Pictured left to right is Xander Meehan , Jay Le , and Josh Rodriguez of Onyx Moto .

Onyx Moto of Lemon Grove , California , has expanded four times and now resides in an 11,000 square foot facility . Photos courtesy of Onyx Moto

“ Kenny had rented a 700 to 800 square foot office unit by a one-car garage , and then an office for closing deals ,” Le explains . “ After a month , he negotiated a space that was twice the size in the same parking lot . That was the first move . I believe he was there for a couple of years before he moved to another space that was about twice the size , further north . That was most recently before this spot , and we were there for four years or so before Kenny bought this building and moved us here .”

Le joined the Onyx team about seven years ago , shortly after the dealership moved to its previous location . “ I ’ ve always been fascinated with motorcycles , so when I got the job offer , it was a no-brainer . There ’ s a lot of freedom and pleasure from being out there by yourself with nothing but your thoughts for company . That ’ s always been a big appeal of motorcycles for me .”

He was the dealership ’ s purchaser until March and is now the general manager . “ I think Kenny decided that the workload he had just wasn ’ t being taken care of by one person ,” Le says . “ He needed help with splitting off some of that so he could focus more on the strategies that would drive us into the future . Running the place was taking up too much of his time .”

Now , Chen can work in and outside of the dealership while Le manages 11 employees . Still , Chen attends all weekly