An era of custom-from-the-factory American motorcycles has come to an end with the closing of Big Dog Motorcycles. The end of the company was announced Monday.
Commenting this afternoon on the news, former Big Dog owner Dennis Carrington, of Denver, remarked, "Oh no! That's too bad. Well, it was the coolest bike I've ever owned. I liked the looks of it, the sound of it, and the feel of it, but once I got over about 60-65 miles an hour the vibration was more than this old boy was ready to take. It vibrated too much for me.
"Now, I could get by, and I wouldn't have gotten rid of the bike based just on that, but it did vibrate enough that it broke almost every wire on it. Including the battery cable. It even vibrated that thing in half. I did get used to fixing it. I had a wire repair kit with me at all times, and I had to fix it a couple of times alongside the road and was able to do that."
For Carrington, the clincher for getting rid of the bike came when he met his wife.
"I found out she liked to ride but it had a terrible back seat on it for a rider, it wasn't made for a rider. Mine wasn't. We couldn't go more than about 20 miles without her having to get off and walk around because it hurt her back so bad. She just couldn't ride it with me for any appreciable distance, and she's a long-distance rider. Shoot, she rode out to the Grand Canyon with me this last year and never complained a bit on the Harley (his current bike). So I finally bit the bullet and traded it in and got more of a road machine."
Big Dog had reportedly struggled financially since 2006. The company has now ceased production and says it can no longer honor warranties. Owner Sheldon Coleman said he intends to open a new company making and selling parts for Big Dog owners.
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