Dane Simms was born with motorcycles in his blood-more precisely, he has them deeply embedded in his DNA. Long before he was born, his father, the well-known Ron Simms, was totally immersed in custom V-Twin motorcycles as well as the motorcycle business as a whole.
Growing up in the S.F. Bay Area of California, the now 26-year-old Dane and his 33-year-old brother Hunter have been around motorcycles as far back as they can remember. The year was 1973 when Ron took his backyard bike-building skills and moved into what would become the long-time home of what was known for about 20 years as Bay Area Custom Cycles. There wasn't a summer vacation that went by as Dane grew up that he didn't find himself at the shop helping out, doing and learning whatever he could. Being the boss's kid wasn't an easy thing. Even at an early age, Dane realized he wasn't going to be able to get by just on being the owner's son. He knew that if he were ever to get respect from the guys working there he would have to earn it, not just expect it.
The years that followed saw Dane and Hunter contributing what they could to the business in between attending to high school and college. Dane found himself pretty busy attending San Diego State University, which is located about 450 miles to the south of the family's home. While there, Dane honed his athletic skills, transforming himself into quite the baseball player-and finding precious little time to make it back to the bike shop, which by then had moved to its current location on Foothill Blvd. in Hayward, CA. In addition to a new location, the business had changed its name and was now known as Ron Simms Bay Area Custom Cycles.
With a business degree in his hip pocket, Dane moved back north, securing a full-time position at the shop. His early years there had served him well, but he knew better than anyone-including his old man-that it was now time to put his nose to the grindstone and really learn the business from the bottom up. Anyone who knows Ron knows he's a no-nonsense kind of guy, and no one knows that better than Dane. No matter what Dane did at the shop, Ron always expected 100 percent from his son, never cutting him slack just because of the family ties. It made no difference what projects Dane took on-Ron's input was always interjected with the intention of making Dane completely understand what made motorcycles (and the business as a whole) tick.
Ron, being the hands-on guy that he is, has never let anything, not even the slightest detail of his business, escape his scrutiny, and that's a good thing; it's what has made his business the success it is today. But change is in the air. Recently Ron realized his two boys have done a pretty good job of learning the trade. Lately Ron has decided that it's time let Dane and Hunter take on a bit more responsibility running the business. Don't get us wrong-Ron's not going anywhere just yet, but he has been known to actually take off a day or two now and then.
In the past, Dane had taken what he'd learned and applied it to a handful of different motorcycle builds. While the bikes he'd been involved with had bits and pieces of his personality and style built into them, they were without a doubt "Simms bikes." Each bike built by Dane up until now had to meet with Ron's approval on one level or another.