Performance Offroad opens on South Hill
A Naples couple has relocated their motorcycle, ATV and snowmobile business from Sandpoint to Bonners Ferry.
Alan and Sherri Hinson in September opened Performance Offroad at 6686 Main St., which is the former location of South Hill Second Hand Store. The Hinsons are renting the building next to Boundary Electric from Bert Wolff of Bonners Ferry.
Performance Offroad sells parts and accessories for motorcycles, ATVs and snowmobiles.
The store also offers used motorcycles and ATVs. Most are repossessed, but they do get some with low miles from bankrupt dealerships.
“We go to national repo auctions in San Diego and Atlanta and we do get a few locally,” Alan Hinson said.
The couple moved to North Idaho from Toccoa, Ga., with plans of settling in Sandpoint. They found a home near McArthur Lake and opened Performance Offroad on McGhee Road in Sandpoint in August 2003.
“When we were in Sandpoint, it seemed like a lot of our customers came from Bonners Ferry,” Hinson said about reasons for relocating the business.
They also were looking for a place with Highway 95 frontage.
To prepare for their opening, the Hinsons painted the inside of the building, installed slat walls and shelving, and improved the lighting and plumbing. They plan to paint the exterior of the building
The Hinsons also offer their products on the Internet. Their Web site performanceoffroad.net provides links to catalogs, 2,000 items on eBayand suppliers.
Alan Hinson has been in the ATV-motorcycle business for 32 years. His father started a Honda dealership in 1977 in Tallahassee, Fla., and Alan Hinson took over the business.
He met his wife at a dealership convention and they operated a similar business in Toccoa.
The Hinsons moved to North Idaho to get away and find a pace that better suited their lives.
“We always came out West on vacations and started doing the research . . .,” Alan Hinson said.
Performance Offroad is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and can be reached at 267-ATVS.