Industry Insights | Ft. Works Connection 2

In this installment of Industry Insights we talk to the owner of Works Connection, Eric Phipps, about the origins of the company, his first bike, some items he's working on, 35 years of business, and more. 

For the full interview, check out the Vital MX podcast right here. If you're interested in the condensed written version, scroll down just a bit further.

Jamie Guida – Vital MX: Where did you grow up, and what is your first memory of riding on two wheels?

Eric Phipps: I was born and raised in Placerville, California, where I still am. My mom still lives here, and my whole life has been here. I don't remember exactly what drew me into dirt bikes as a kid. My parents were divorced, but my dad lived in Southern California, and he rode. I didn't get to see him very often, but I believe he tried to talk my mom into letting me have a dirt bike, and she kept putting her foot down. I was ten or eleven when she finally agreed to let me get my first bike, a hand-me-down from a kid at school. I bought it for $50, an old Briggs and Stratton minibike from Sears. It didn't even have a rear brake. A neighbor tried to help me rig up a rear brake, and I had that for a couple of months. My dad taught motorcycle mechanics, and they had a Z50 in the shop that they got running. He finally talked my mom into letting me have one, which became my bike. That's the first thing I had I call a 'real' motorcycle I had.

Vital MX: Once that happened, did you go all in and start buying magazines and want to ride constantly?

Eric: Oh yeah, for sure. I'd rip out pages of Motocross Action and Dirt Bike and all the walls in my room were covered in pictures of dirt bikes. I loved every part of dirt bikes. I had some buddies at school who were into it, and we would just ride by the railroad tracks near the house and fields here and there. We were just blazing trails and wanted to be on the bike with two wheels. It was hard to beat and still is.

Vital MX: You raced some as an amateur. Do you remember your first race?

Eric: Yeah. I went through a few bikes and finally got a 1980 YZ80. My parents took me to Sacramento Raceway for my first race. Of course, it didn't go so well, but it was fun, and I had some buddies there who were into it. Racing was kind of hit or miss. It wasn't really solid initially. I didn't start racing a lot until I turned 16 and could drive myself to the track. My mom got nervous watching and wasn't into it, and we didn't have the money to do it all the time. I had to wait and do it on my own once I got a job and could drive. 

Vital MX: Did you ever have the dream of going pro?

Eric: Oh, I think everybody has that, but it became apparent early that I didn't have the necessary speed, guts, or willingness to hang it all out. I'm pretty conservative and steady. I like to think that way, and I knew, "This isn't for me." I don't know that I even thought about it as a 'pro.' I just enjoyed racing. It wasn't anything I took too seriously.

Vital MX: Who was your favorite rider growing up?

Eric: The first guy I met in person was Bob Hannah. Bob was in town for Hangtown, and we were at Prairie City. Bob was riding a secondary track there, and I was just a kid on my YZ80, and I was in awe. I parked about a hundred feet from his box van and just watched him. I was too scared to go up because I was shy as a kid. I thought, "Man, that's Bob Hannah." He was definitely the first guy I looked up to, probably because I had seen him in person. I hadn't even been to Hangtown or any other races. 

Vital MX: When you were younger, your dad was building hot rod parts. That led to you working with him and eventually led to what is now Works Connection. Can you tell that story?

Eric: In 1988, my dad lived in Southern California, and I'm in NorCal (Northern California). I'm working at a wholesale electrical and plumbing supply company and am not enjoying it. It allowed me to ride and buy a bike, but he called me one day and needed help. He wanted me to move down there and help with his business. He worked out of his house and had a company that made shifters for old hot rods. They looked old school, and he found a niche thing that was selling. He was doing well, and I went down. He showed me everything from photography to dealing with vendors, and I would go to the chrome shop. I was dealing with all of the manufacturing side. I was living on his old, uncomfortable futon for a year. I was around 21, so I didn't care. He was paying me decent money, and I was getting to ride. It was cool being in the scene down there. After a year, I got homesick and wanted to move back. In the midst of that, my dad and I were having some discussion. He asked, "What do you think about building a product that could work in the motorcycle industry?" At the time, I had an '88 KX250 I had made myself a skid plate. That's kind of what started it. I kept seeing Jeff Ward and Ron Lechien's Factory Kawasakis. They had these cool skid plates, but nobody made them. Everyone made a desert or off-road style, but they didn't fit well, and I wanted to make one. I went into my dad's garage, and he had saws and some metal lying around, and I made one. I used conduit straps to hold it on, but it was more of a concept. So, when he mentioned that, the light bulb kicked on, and I thought, "You might be on to something." I moved back to my mom's house, where she had a little garage, and we set up. It took me a full year to get up and running before I ran my first ad. I returned to the plumbing and electrical place because I still needed money to live and ride. I ran my first ad in the January 1990 issue of Motocross Action. I still have that issue. It had Damon Bradshaw on the cover, and it was a big moment to flip it open and see my ad in there. We came to the market with skid plates for the 125s and 250s from the big four (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha). We also did front and rear caliper guards that I made from aluminum. Those were our first three products, but the skid plates were the main ones. 

Vital MX: Was the first 'big' break for Works Connection when Steve Lamson ran your products, which eventually led to you being a part of the Team Peak/Splitfire/Pro Circuit/Honda racing team in '91?

Eric: Yeah, 100% correct. We got started in 1990, and I was introduced to Steve. He was riding for DGY Yamaha, and I had parts on his bike. Steve was very instrumental because he knew a lot of the riders. He hooked me up with these guys and I had a lot of parts on the privateer's bikes. 

Vital MX: I'd assume the interest grew once people started seeing your parts on the pro's bikes. Were you prepared for the number of orders coming in?

Eric: It didn't really go like gangbusters. It was a fairly slow progression. That issue came out in late 1989, and we started building a little momentum until May or June. Things were going pretty well, but then they slowed down. I thought, "What is going on?" I was new to business and didn't know things slow down in the Summer. They still do to this day. I was worried, and it took a few years when I didn't know if it would work. That was the good part of being young and dumb. I figured if they didn't sell, I'd have some cool stuff to give my buddies. It's embarrassing to say, but that was my only plan. 

Vital MX: What were some of the biggest struggles in the first few years?

Eric: I was a one-man show and didn't have my first employee until 1993. That first Summer, when it slowed down, I actually worked at the machine shop where they were making some of my parts to make some money. I got to see how things were done and made and came up with some ideas to machine them a little better. So, it was a good experience. Once I got through Summer, things started picking up, and I was able to stop working there and focus on the business 100%. During that time, the machine shop was only ten minutes from my house. I'd go home for lunch, check the answering machine, and then return to the shop. Coming into '91, things started to pick up. I added Pro Circuit as a distributor, and Steve went to the Peak/Pro Circuit/Honda team, so we had skid plates on those bikes. Then (Jeremy) McGrath won the title. Our first title was actually with Ty Davis in 1990. He was on the On The Line Honda and won the 125 West Supercross championship. It was pretty cool to get things kicked off.

Vital MX: What about in the last ten years or so? Once the popularity of the company grew?

Eric: The biggest thing is growing pains. We leased the first building in '96. Up until then, it had been out of my house. Then, in '99, we built our first commercial building, which was 5000 square feet, and I thought there was no way I'd ever need anything bigger. With that comes employees, HR, and stuff I'm not so great at dealing with. In 2000, we probably had three to four employees, no benefits, and people were happy to work there. The benefits and those things were so foreign and caught me off guard. Everything else was still rockin' and rolling and solid until 2008. 2004 through 2006 were ridiculous years, and sales went through the roof.

Vital MX: What's the process for a new product, from idea to prototype to final product?

Eric: It's changed a lot. I used to draft everything on the drafting table. Now, we have an in-house full-time designer who does solid work. You can build mock-ups and see a lot of different things. Usually, we'll do a rapid prototype with a 3D printer, get some samples made, and test-fit it. Most of our products aren't necessarily for performance. Yes, we have our clutch perches and things, but we also do a ton of oil-fill plugs, engine plugs, and cosmetic items. Those are pretty simple. Getting into more elaborate items like our start devices gets a bit more complicated.

Vital MX: Is the Pro Launch Start Device your best-selling item?

Eric: It does really well, but we also have our radiator braces, our axle block kit for KTMs, and a fair amount of other things. I was talking to Kris Keefer about Aden because radiator braces are becoming so common due to riders gripping so tight with their knees that they damage the radiators without even crashing. In Aden's case, he was gripping so tight that he popped the bolt through the shroud from squeezing without a brace. 

Vital MX: Is there a product you tried that just didn't work out how you expected?

Eric: We have had a few. The one that comes to mind is when we developed shock coolers. It was basically like adding fins to the shock reservoir. It came flat, was thin enough to curve it to match your bike, and was held on with clamps. Surprisingly enough, the testing we did worked, and things cooled off. It just never caught on, so we eventually dropped them.

Vital MX: What has brought you the most joy or the coolest experience you've had because of working in the industry?

Eric: I get to do a lot of cool stuff, but probably the magazine rides we get to go to. We did some for RacerX when they were doing them at Zaca Station. Through MXA, we got to go to Glen Helen and ride. So, probably the track days or media days where they open up the track for industry people to come and ride. That is pretty cool. More than anything, I love to ride.

Vital MX: What are some things we can look forward to in the future that you are working on? Maybe some new colors on the Pro Launch device?

Eric: Yeah, yeah. We have some projects rolling that I can't discuss yet, but we are doing different colorways. We've always been sticklers for the Pro Launches to be red because, in my eyes, people see the red and know what brand it is. Finally, in my old age, we gave in and did the purple limited edition, which is still available. Coming soon, we're going to have blue and some other new colors on top of that. We are also working on some levers for hydraulic front brake and clutch setups because we know a day is coming when there are no cable clutches around.