K & H Motor Sports Celebrates 50 Years of “Makin’ Life Fun”

By Shannon Myers

From its innocuous beginnings in 1968 with “two bikes and a bucket of parts”, K & H Motor Sports has undergone continuous change, merging customer service with technological advances to step forward into the 21st century.

Originally conceived by Mike Niswender at the age of 15, K & H Motor Sports was a family affair from the start. Mike’s father, Ken, provided the space for the venture, and their family friend, Hank Halstead, assisted with financial support; thus the name “K & H” was coined.

The name of the venture has evolved along with the evolution of the industry itself, founded as “K & H Hodaka”. The Hodaka franchise boasted More about the author and also about the Enduro product line, which included off-road dirt bikes. From this, the name evolved into “K & H Kawasaki”; and eventually landed on its current moniker, “K & H Motor Sports”; the umbrella name which illustrates the extent to which the business has expanded to encompass more recreational vehicle styles.

In 1978, Mike married his wife, Joan, and brought her into the business around the same time that Kawasaki was brought into the enterprise. The beginning of Mike and Joan’s relationship ran parallel to the beginnings of a 40-year relationship with Kawasaki recreational vehicles, including snowmobiles, street motorcycles, cruiser bikes, sport bikes, ATVs, and the Jet Ski, which was an original Kawasaki product. In the 1980s K & H began a relationship with Polaris of Minnesota, their first in-house United States recreational vehicle company. Throughout the years to follow, Polaris became instrumental in expanding the motor sports industry.

Born in 1981, the Niswenders’ son, Jeff, grew up with the business. He did not initially intend to become involved with his parents’ business. Around 2003, he and his father discovered that his education and experience with computer and internet technology would be a positive addition to the business. Jeff’s career at K & H Motor Sports started with a part-time position in the parts department. After becoming comfortable with that element of the business, he became more involved on the sales floor.

Another fortuitous change came with the appearance of Corey Maxson, a college intern who came in to work with the webpage and other internet avenues. His skills proved so valuable to the business that the Niswenders hired him as a permanent employee. Jeff and Corey became the new generation of K & H management that would solidify the union of front- and back-end sales with the partnership between computer/internet technology and the long-valued practice of extending warm and friendly customer service. This union, utilizing social media outreach and online marketing through platforms and websites such as Facebook, Craigslist, EBay, and other online outlets, assisted in ushering K & H Motorsports into the modern day, strengthening and broadening the business like never before.

Though online business can often have the effect of de-personalizing the relationship between business and customer, K & H Motor Sports has kept customer service a continued value throughout all of their business dealings, making sure to extend this value into all electronic communications – whether they are email inquiries or Facebook messages.

“We want to make sure that our customers get the vibe that we care about them, not that we are trying push to products,” Jeff said.

Through the years, various economic shifts, some of which were impacted by world events, including natural disasters in Japan, resulted in Polaris developed into a dominant in the off-road market. Japanese recreational vehicle lines became limited, enabling Polaris to move forward and attack the market smartly with good deals, pricing, rebates, and development of newer product lines.

K & H Motorsports has most recently expanded their off-road division again, bringing in an additional off-road franchise, CF MOTO. K & H experienced a successful first year in business with this franchise, which continues to flourish with a family of products in the off-road segment.

This year, K & H Motor Sports is holding a Polaris holiday sales event, offering great deals throughout the holiday season, in tandem with a CF MOTO sales event to celebrate the close of their successful first year in business together and to usher in 2019.

If you are in the market for some off-road fun or know someone who is an off-road enthusiast, you should stop in and check out all that K & H Motor Sports has to offer! They have a plethora of vehicles on display, from ATVs and dirt bikes to versatile, family-fun-friendly UTVs and ultra cool open-air Polaris Slingshot three-wheel roadster motorcycles.

K & H Motor Sports is located at 1318 Little York Crossing Road (connecting Route 281 and Route 11) in Little York, NY. They are open from 9 am to 5:30 pm Mon-Tues and Thurs-Fri; and 9 am-2 pm on Saturday. They are closed Wednesdays and Sundays. You can connect with them on Facebook and check out their offerings at www.knhmotorsports.com, and give them a call at 1-800-628-1215 or (607) 749-2821 with any questions you may have. Best yet, you can stop in and browse their selection and wish them a happy anniversary and thank them for their last 50 years of “Makin’ Life Fun”!