Long-time top East Coast powersports dealer Pro Cycle have moved into their brand new, custom built facility in Dartmouth, across the harbour from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Just completed, the new facility at 360 Higney Avenue is one of the largest bike palaces in Canada.
The new Pro Cycle occupies 2.5 acres, and features a retail showroom area 50% bigger than that offered by their long-serving location not far away on Windmill Road. This is only the fourth location for Pro Cycle since their opening in 1983 as Pro Honda. Currently, Pro Cycle handle the latest machinery from Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha, as well as a wide variety of aftermarket suppliers.
The building itself measures 26,000 square feet, with almost half of that (11,000) devoted to the high-ceilinged showroom. A balconied second level for offices includes an eighty foot long glass railing overlooking the showroom. This area will serve as a display area for notable bikes, and right now the RAT Yamaha TZ250 two-stroke Grand Prix bike that Adam Roberts used in the 2009 Indy MotoGP weekend has pride of place.
Pro Cycle is a long term supporter of motorcycle sport, including current sponsorship of the Mopar CSBK Series and, locally, the historic eastern rounds at Atlantic Motorsport Park (slated this year as National Rounds four and five, July 14-17, 2016) , as well as sanctioning group the Society of Atlantic Racing League. On the dirt side, Pro Cycle back the Nova Scotia Off Road Rider’s Association (NSORRA).
Photos by Adam Roberts
Historically, Pro Cycle have backed many top riders from the Atlantic region, including Grand Prix racer and USGPRU National Champ Roberts, and recently Pro Cycle have focused on the O’Leary Brothers Racing group.
Both Jacob and Austin Shaw-O’Leary represent Pro Cycle, and currently 2014 Honda CBR250R spec class National Champ Jacob is the focus of the program. Perhaps the most famous racer to base his program at Pro Cycle was two time CSBK National Superbike Champ Don Munroe, who rose to fame on Honda machinery before winning the overall crown in 1995 and 1997 aboard Tony Russell-built ZX-7RR Ninja machinery.
After 30 years at the same location, much planning went into the new location for Pro Cycle.
“We’ve been working on the new store for well over a year,” explains co-owner Rob O’Brien, who along with Keith Ramsay and Garth Tupper manages Pro Cycle. “We had some delays regarding By-Law issues with the city of Halifax in April of 2015, and then Bird Construction broke ground for us on August 24.”
“I’ve been lucky enough to travel around and see a wide variety of motorcycle stores in North America,” explains former road racer O’Brien. “We’ve seen a number of big locations, so we had a general idea of what we were after for a while now. Our new store has a good flow from Unit Sales to Apparel and to the Parts Department, and we are very happy with the location.”
In what might be dubbed an “up and coming area” in Burnside, the new Pro Cycle will soon have Ikea as a neighbour. Other retail in the immediate area includes the popular Dartmouth Crossing, featuring Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, Costco, Home Depot and Pro staff favourite Starbucks.
