Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

'The first NJK suit to be sold went to a speedway rider named Don Jackson in late] 985. "My mom sold that first set, and I think she made three suits total before look it over completely," Gordon said. "I maybe sold ] 0 suits my first year, and ] 2-]4 my second year. It was mainly just for my buddies because they let me do what I wanted to. It gave me the chance to play around with graphics· all I did was charge them for materials. The suits would come out terrible sometimes, but a lot of times they would come out really good - really different." Really different is perhaps taking a mild view of the unbelievable flash that is the hallmark of an NJK suit, the gawd often being so far over the top that it somehow becomes too cool. It certainly cannot be ignored wear one of Gordon's suits, and you get noticed. He has a lot to draw from in his background. "It's just a reflection of my lifestyle in general," Gordon said. "I grew up surfing and snowboarding, riding speedway. I'm really receptive to a lot of different things that are going on. Growing up in Southern California, I was in a colorful, vibrant, exciting, evolving environment. I've just taken influence from a lot of things far outside of motorcycling to produce different stuff. " One of those different designs was the "paint spill." which Gordon unleashed on a suit for Southern California speedway ace Scott Brant around 1989. The design, which moved way outside the box of the typical stars-and-stripes applkations of the day, proved to be a turning point in the evolution of custom motorcycle racing leathers. It was one of the first graphic applications to be considered believable, and it was not long before the concept "spilled" into the design processes of many of the larger leather companies. Although he was too much of a little guy back then to receive any credit for it, Gordon remains flattered that his visions were imitated so early in his career. "That was great," Gordon said. "If you can have any influence like that, then I think that it is super complimentary." As he has continued to grow. venturing beyond speedway to create custom road-racing. drag-racing and flat-track suits, as well as suits for extreme sports such as street luge and downhill skateboarding. Gordon has continued to position himself in the marketplace as the custom custom leather guy. He said that he has paid attention to what other so-called custom manufacturers are doing, and he feels that he offers his customers something truly unique. "They [other manufacturers] have a couple of problems," Gordon said. "A, when you are looking to your competitors for inspiration, then that is copying. B, if it's such a business for them, then maybe the entertainment has gone out of it for them. The way to a bigger business model is to use your custom operation as a steppingstone to your pre-fab stuff. I understand that, but it can be a pitfall when your idea of custom is to show people 35 drawings and tell people, 'Okay, you can pick one through 35 in whatever colors you want, and send in your measurements.' That is no longer a custom suit. It's a semlcustom suit." Gordon said that his advantage is played to the fullest when a customer contacts him wanting something that nobody has seen before. The customer will usually offer basic guidelines, such as colors, and Gordon will corne up with at least three sketches to show the customer. "I have thousands of concept drawings already, and there are absolutely no duplicates aml;lng them," Gordon said. "I know that I could come up with a thousand more. I'm always thinking about it. StiU, to this day, I'll be going down the free· way, and I'll see something that gets me to thinking about a leather design, so I'll be pulling the old draw-on-thenapkin thing while I'm driving." Only after several consultations, when he feels that he has the essence of what a customer wants, will he start making patterns. Gordon said that it typically takes three weeks from the time that the first deposit is made to deliver a finished suit for final fitting. Lately, Gordon has been trying to ramp toward the production of rack suits, but his vision is to provide a custom experience off the rack, even if the reality is that the suits are not a difficult pursuit, to be sure. "Off the rack is important, and if you want to grow, then you need to have dealer support and products in stores," Gordon said. "Obviously, seiling custom leathers out of a shop is challenging. My goaL is to get to that point, but I have no desire to put NJK leathers on the rack with a bunch of other suits if they are not going to stand out. The only reason that I would consider doing that is if you could walk into a shop and my leathers stand out above all others." Standout designs are great, but Gordon said that he also refuses to sell any suit that does not offer the fit and protection to match the flash. "Take road-racing suits - first and foremost you have to have safety," Gordon said. "Same with dirt track and drag racing. In all those sports, they go super fast. That suit has to be structurally sound before any design work takes place. And I have to say that I wish the dirt-track guys and drag-race guys would incorporate more of the safety items, like hard armor, into their suits. There are a lot of things that can be done to offer them more protection. With every suit, we have learned a little bit more about fit, function, flexibility and protection." Gordon said that there appears to be two schools of thought with regard to the application of cowhide: Heavier leather that provides maximum pro- tection but sacrifices flexibility; and lighter to medium-weight leather with strategic reinforcement in highimpact areas. He subscribes to the latter. "We also use a lot of Kevlar in our suits, but I don't want it to touch the ground," Gordon said. "We'U use it in stretch panels behind the legs, in the crotch area and under the arms. Granted, those are areas that could touch the asphalt, but that means that something has already gone terribly wrong if it does. As a whole, I'd say that there isn't anyone in this industry who is making an inferior product. Everyone is making really safe stuff. Ten years ago, there were leathers that weren't anywhere near as good as they are now. Body armor, for example, has come a long way." NJK Leather.s use Bohn body armor exclusively. "Their back protectors are great, and their knee, shouLder and elbow pieces are super goodc" Gordon s d. "I'm really confident about using it. I've seen some of my guys get off in tum eight at Willow Springs - is .there a faster corner than tbat one. ~ and they walk back to the pits with no road rash because of the body armor. There's no hiding where you make contact with the ground. Impact injuries are obviously harder to (leal with, but we can do a lot to save a rider from road rash." Like most items related to motorcycling, the old adage "you get what you pay for" rings true for leatlters, and custom leathers command h gher prices. Even so, Gordon said that e is "blown away" by the exorbitant prices that he sees customers paying for certain name-brand custom suits. "I'll admit that pricing is a tough one for me, because I'm still learning about overhead, but I'm still convinced that a $3000 set of leathers is ridiculous and sh 9uld not exist," Gordon said. "At that point, people are paying for the name and maybe some misgUided marketing dollars. But I know what goes into making a suit, and nobody should be charging that kind of money. To this day, I have not charged that much to anyone for a set of leathers, and I might be naive, but I don't plan on it. Then again, in a couple years, I might be re-evaluating that statement." Gordon said he feels that companies like his that do manufacture exclusively in the U.S. have the right to charge more than those that don't because of the difference in labor costs, although he admits that - like some of those companies - when NJK reaches 10,000 units per year, maintaining a strictly U.S.-based production facility may not be feasible. His current battle, however, is simply keeping up with the riding demand for his suits. Gordon estimates that his business has grown some 40 percent in sales over the past six months alone. "The challenge lies in the fact that the demand and the feedback has been great," Gordon said. "NJK is cue. e two years into a major expansion endeavor, and every single bit of marketing and advertising that we have done has been extremely effective. The goal is to continue to build product that maintains our high standards in greater quantities to meet the demand. That involves hiring and training new people, and have probably been guilty of limiting my ability to grow just because I have to have a hand in the production of each piece to guarantee that it is done exa<;:tly the way J want it to be do . Tl;lat's not something that I'm willing to compromise. I'd rather have 75 happy customers than 750 who are on the fence as to whet er or not they would by another NJK pr uct. I'm at this 6 hours a day, and not going to soil my reputation." Currently, NJK is at another crossroads, as Gordon has met with invest· ment groups, seeking the c pital to further pursue his production and distribution dreams. "The ultimate goal is total world domination, to be a large-scale leather business that is profitable for myself and my investors," Gordon said. "I 'want to sell product internationally, and I want every custo r to be a repeat customer. Ideally U also like to be involved in road raein,g at the world level. I've alre.;ld)' en there in speedway, and j thin the potential is there. But j m in no hurry to blow up and blow ,so 0 speak. I don't want to go 'nto to ake't happen. That's a puris . Goodbar sort of business mode, but if ~ take 20 years, I want to be lIble to look back ana feel gooo about what I' e lIccoTnRlished." R~rdless of scale, Gordon s 'd tflat e" emains as driven severo be ttl est at what be does, d he :;atisfaction of his customers rovi es mu the impe us most impo ant thing to e is still fo see the 1001< on a guy's face when he first gets a look at nis neJ leathers, because thac is very ewarcfing," Gordon said. "A lot of people w'U always think that my design are too wild for them, and that's fine. But when I look and see that 50 percent of the speedway market is mine, and that 1 have guys wearing my stuff in road racing, and in street uge .and downhill skateboarding on televiSIon, it gets me pumped. I remember when I first started sending speedway leathers to Europe, I just wanted to see a picture of someone wearing my leathers on the cover of Speedway Star. I WOund up with something like six covers in a row, and I was equally happy every time. I may have an ego, but I'm not jaded about the motorcycle industry at all. I feel very lucky to be involved in it." CN "W NJK Leathers 1040 Colle Cord"I,-,,, Suite 10 I Silll Clvl1lentl'. C.'\ (~P(;T3 q49481jllll~ \\ \\ \\ .njklv<.l!hl': .,.( n e _ OS ,'In ••

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