Customizing A Bike To Your Needs
David Zelma, SW-MOTECH USA Country Manager, has built a career around motorcycles, marketing and the aftermarket industry. In this episode, host Heather Wilson Schiltz talks with him about his path from the custom Harley side of the industry to the adventure touring market.
David shares how an early piece of advice helped him choose a career tied to something he loved. The conversation also explores dealer education, motorcycle setup, the growth of smaller-displacement bikes, emerging e-bike riders and why hands-on product knowledge still matters in sales, marketing and leadership.
🎧 What You’ll Hear:
• How David turned his love of motorcycles into a long career in powersports
• Lessons learned from the Harley, custom and performance aftermarket segments
• Why adventure touring became an exciting next chapter
• How bike fitment can make a major difference
• What sets SW-MOTECH apart in luggage, crash protection and rider accessories
• How dealer education supports both dealerships and riders
• David’s perspective on small-displacement motorcycles, Chinese brands and future riders
• Why technical product knowledge strengthens marketing and storytelling
• The role technology plays in modern motorcycles
• David’s favorite SW-MOTECH product and how he uses it every day
📲 Follow SW-MOTECH on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube
🌐 Learn more at SW-MOTECH.us
🔔 Subscribe for more stories and strategies from inside the motorsports world
“Bike fitment is kind of one of our go-to’s. So we do risers and adjustable pegs and kind of finding that happy spot. You get in a car and you adjust the seat and the steering column, and you make it fit you. Like a motorcycle, you don’t really have that option. So you really you really have to go out of your way to make it fit you, and everybody’s different shape, different comfort level. So moving the bars around, back up — really meaningful. I mean, it really changes the feel of the bike. It changes the leverage you have against the bars. Pegs are the same way, you know. If you’re cramped, you’re not going to be comfortable or your reach is bad. So that kind of stuff is really, really good.”
-David Zelma, SW-MOTECH USA Country Manager
“Yeah, all those things that you just mentioned, I’ve made adjustments on. I have a KTM 690 Enduro. And so I had a lowering kit put on it because I’m like 5′ 6″. So I wanted to be able to touch a little better, which I still tippy toe on. Then, I got upgraded foot pegs — the wider pegs. And then I think it was last year for Christmas, I got risers for the bars. I like that feeling of like the bars being up and back a little bit.”
-Heather Wilson Schiltz, Momentum: A Motorsports Podcast Host
