Our hardworking owners George and Kyle Marakas are truly passionate about motorcycles. You’ll find out how true this is the more you become familiar with K and G Cycles. Here is a short background story with excerpts from an interview they did with Bikernet.com
Kyle is a native Kansan. She has an identical twin sister plus another sister and brother. She grew up in Newton, KS where her father was president of a small bank owned by her family. She graduated from University of Kansas in 1982 and went into the children manufacturing business. Now, she and George manage five children from her hard work and one from his. Six kids ranging in age from 35 to 18. Now, let’s not forget to mention the two grandchildren – 2 years and 1 year.
Kyle began working for Topeka-Harley Davidson as manager of motor clothes in the late 1990s and retired to become a domestic goddess when she and George got married. She is a great rider but has become quite comfortable in the cushy seat on the back of our 2007 Screaming Eagle Ultra Classic. After she left Topeka Harley, her identical twin sister took her position as head of motor clothes. It took months for the customers to figure it out. Now, just for fun, Kyle will drop by and spend a few hours helping her sister, Anne. It drives the customers nuts and makes for some great stories.
Kyle’s parents forbid her from riding any motorcycles during her youth except for a stolen moment on a motorcycle with her friend, Charley. Her first ride was at age 38. It was a 1992 Springer Softail with apes. Then on to a 2002 Road King which she dumped looking at Christmas ornaments in someone’s front yard and the guy behind her was so happy that he didn’t run over her head that he gladly helped her pick up the bike. His biggest mistake was telling her that the Road King was too big for her. Out of spite, she rode the bike home, then jumped in her truck and drove to the hospital. Kyle really doesn’t take well to such comments.
George was born in South Chicago and raised everywhere from his birthplace to Southern Ohio. As a young man, he did a stint in the music business working as a sound engineer for major acts such as Edgar Winter Group, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer and Ray Charles.
From there, George got hooked on computers and worked in the banking and real estate area. His highest position in that realm was as CEO for a real estate management company in Miami. He left that world in 1992 to pursue his doctoral degree in Information Systems. Since graduation in 1995, George has been on the faculty at University of Maryland, Indiana University, and University of Kansas where he is currently a Full Professor with tenure.
[lmgallery id="98"]
George’s first bike was a 1971 Honda 450. He eventually made it into a Honda 750 and from there into a series of used Sportsters. George then went for about 26 years without riding and then got back into a sound mind and starting riding again in 2000. That ride was a 2000 Road King. Today, Kyle and George have (4) 1965 Panheads (3 fully restored and 1 completely original), a 2006 Deluxe (highly customized), a 2007 CVO SE Ultra, a 1995 Gilroy Indian, and a custom in progress that came from Kyle’s 2004 Dyna (it won’t look like it when they are done, however).
In 2006 Kyle and George formed K and G Cycles. By 2007, they became VTwin, MC Advantages, and Mid-USA dealers. One day it dawned on them that, they represented over 70,000 motorcycles parts with those combined product lines. The information systems professor in George took over, and he mapped out a business plan and a web site that is now K and G Cycles.
They never expected the great response that was received from the market, and now George is working two full- time jobs until he can afford to retire from one. With K and G Cycles in full swing, Kyle and George are immersed in motorcycles morning, noon, and night. They think the K and G customers are kinduvabigdeal and they wouldn’t have it any other way!