26 • March 2025 • Powersports Business

BY KRYSTINA SKIBO ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Nestled into a neighborhood just north of downtown Los Angeles sits Pro Italia . An Italian motorcycle dealership since 1987 , the shop has become quite an iconic presence in the motorcycle community through its sales of new and pre-owned bikes .

Aside from the top-notch bikes they sell , the dealership ’ s focus on providing a friendly and welcoming atmosphere has helped them become the hub of Italian motorcycle culture in Southern California .

“ Motorcycles have always been a unifying thing to me , and this place has always been the spot that I looked up to ,” says newly hired dealership General Manager Shahin Alvandi . “ My whole background has taught me to provide a safe , fun and exciting place for people to come in and feel welcome .”

General Manager Shahin Alvandi and dealer principal and co-owner Bill Nation .

Co-owner Bill Nation helped to build the dealership from the ground up , buying vacant properties whenever he could to turn the bike shop into the success it is today . Photos courtesy of Pro Italia .

STRATEGIC GROWTH Alvandi ’ s love for motorcycles started when he was just a teenager . “ When I was about 14 or 15 years old , I would come to LA in the summer to visit my family ,” he says . “ We would ride our little BMX bicycles up the hill and then put our faces against the glass of the dealership and just look at the bikes . I fell in love with them .”

Alvandi ’ s love for bikes has continued to grow over the years . Working his way up the ladder starting sales then becoming the general manager at MotoCorsa in Portland , Oregon , to now the general manager at Pro Italia , he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Southern California dealership , helping the business flourish .

Traveling from Portland to Los Angeles to meet with Bill Nation , the dealer principal and co-owner of Pro Italia , Alvandi immediately connected with everyone on the team .

“ I just want to have fun with every customer that walks through our doors ,” Alvandi says . “ It ’ s fun because we ’ re selling motorcycles . We ’ re not curing cancer over here , but we ’ re curing people ’ s hearts .”

The fun atmosphere can certainly be felt in the 5,000−square-foot dealership , half of which is a showroom and the other half being the service area . As the company continues to grow , so does the need for additional space .

“ We bought what was once a bridal shop and turned it into our administrative office and parts department ,” explains Nation . “ And then at the end the block , we took over a former car repair shop that is now being used as our used bike showroom as well as to host any overflow of new bikes that come in .”

There ’ s also a metal warehouse located a few blocks away from the dealership that Pro Italia rents for extra space , but Nation says the goal of the company is to eventually have everything all under one roof .

MIDDLEWEIGHT BIKES GAINING TRACTION

With Ducati being one of the major name brands that Pro Italia sells , both Alvandi and Nation are excited about the Italian bike ’ s new V2 engine series .

“ Ducati bikes aren ’ t inexpensive and it ’ s an aspirational brand , but their new V2 engine series is lower priced and has lower horsepower ,” explains Nation . “ So , we ’ re excited to get something fresh from us to sell .”

“ One of the things that I ’ ve noticed in the motorcycle industry as a whole is that people don ’ t necessarily want to have the

Pro Italia has become an iconic presence in the community through its sales of ne w and pre-owned Italian bikes , offering brands such as Ducati , Aprilia , Energica and more . highest horsepower and most expensive thing out there , and a lot of these brands are seeing that ,” adds Alvandi .

Because of this trend , more attention has been going toward the middleweight segment , with “ middleweight adventure bikes becoming the largest growing segment in the industry for the last five years ,” Alvandi says .

Part of this increased regard for the middleweight segment can be attributed to how manufacturers are paying more attention to bikers that are outside of the traditional stereotype , another trend that Alvandi has noticed as of late . This is causing brands to create models that are more approachable .

“ The biker community has always been , as I call it , ‘ a good ole buys club ,’ and manufacturers are noticing this whole other segment of riders that are not being serviced � primarily women and minority riders ,” he says . “ I ’ m noticing how a lot of these brands are paying attention to those underserved riders and offering options for someone that is maybe five-foot-four .”

PRO ITALIA ’ S FUTURE GROWTH Without preemptively revealing exactly what Pro Italia has in store for future developments and expansions , Alvandi hints at some exciting plans to help the dealership continue to grow .

“ We have three separate spots that are not connected to each other , and we have to go back and forth between them . Our hope and goal in the short-term future is to figure out a way to make this more efficient and combine them together ,” he mentions .

One area that Pro Italia is actively working on is the growth of their technician staff .

“ Getting certified technicians has been a longstanding issue , and especially ever since Covid , it became extra difficult for just about everybody ,” says Nation . “ We have plenty of service work waiting , we just need enough qualified people to do it .”

Currently , Nation explains that Pro Italia is running with three service technicians . “ We should really have four ,” he says . “ We need one more master technician and an A / C technician , but it ’ s really hard to find them .”

BRINGING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER

Marketing through events and engagement has greatly helped to advance the dealership ’ s growth . While social media is a great digital gateway to the showroom , Alvandi explains that it doesn ’ t exactly translate to sales .

“ Partaking in more events allows us to show our faces and let people get to know us ,” he says . “ Part of what I ’ m putting my energy towards right now is creating more engagement points and fun events that people can look forward to . Part of buying a motorcycle in the U . S . is the social aspect , where people look forward to connecting with others , making friends and going on rides with each other .”

According to the GM Alvandi , Pro Italia gets involved with a variety of different events ranging from local to regional dealership affairs .

“ A few weeks ago , we had a renowned suspension tuner : Dave Moss ,” he adds . “ He drove all the way down here from central California , where he lives , and did suspension tuning for everyone . We put that on a couple of email blasts before it happened , and we sold out instantly .”

In collaboration with the Bike Shed restaurant and lounge in Los Angeles , Pro Italia is co-hosting an upcoming Social Ride in February with live music , food and fun all around .

“ The intention is to raise money for the fire relief that we ’ ve been living through for the last couple of weeks ,” Alvandi says . “ We ’ ll hang out on our bikes and raise money to help people , hopefully offering some relief after this terrible event .”