Name: Mark Peterson
Know you know him: Owner of Southwest Superbikes who’s so cool that when you talk to him you need a jacket (zipped all the way up). Mark is everything that is right with the biker community. Mount up and learn something along the way.
Why motorcycles?
Because when I first got into the work force everyone told me that I couldn’t do it. So, that drove me harder to want to be involved with motorcycles all the time.
What’s the coolest bike that you haven’t got you hands on yet?
I keep a continuous bucket list of 10 bikes that I want and I’ve filled a few of them, which is scary [laughing]. But right now I would say a MotoGP bike with some history. The older the better.
Who is your favorite bike hero?
That’s tough because there are so many and so many that I now know like Kevin Schwantz and Malcolm Smith. All the iconic guys even Evel Knievel, who when I was ten years old I just wanted to be him.
What’s your most awesome moment on two wheels?
My last pass at Bonneville [Salt Flats] over 200 mph and no one thought we would do it on the class of bike that we were riding. That would be one of them, there have been many and I think that’s the reason that I have stayed in this business for as long as I have.
Your favorite motorcycle movie
On Any Sunday
The coolest thing that you own
I collect vintage race bikes and I gotta bunch of cool ones. I have a Concours tz750 Yamaha factory race bike that’s pretty tough to beat, but this bike right here [points to the awesome bike at the front of his office] is an ’82 RGB 500 2-stroke factory MotoGP bike and the chances of seeing another one of those in an average guys life is pretty slim. But I have other bikes that deserve credit because of their pedigree so, I’ll have to say my factory 2-stroke race bikes.
Crappiest bike ever made
China imports from 10 years back.
11th Commandment
It’s not what you ride, it’s that you ride.