Bill Canon began Bull Mountain Cycle Shop with two of his friends in June of 2007. His two friends moved on from the endeavor but Bill stayed and had made the shop a success. He graduated from Billings and has always been a motorcycle enthusiast. Bill works exclusively on Harleys and not on metric motorcycles. He says that Harley's are all built the same mechanically, but all metric bikes are built different from one another and you need different tools for all of them.
About half the people who have a Harley do not work on their own machine, the other half who do work on their own probably shouldn't. Bill states that as a Harley owner, you MUST have an owners manual for any kind of repair, because there are certain torque values and procedures for how each part is put together.
We discussed how many times bikers have a bad reputation. Bill explained that it is often a mischaracterization of that community as many people do not know that the original biker world were the world war veterans. For instance, he explained that the biker club that used to be in Roundup had to be veterans. Bikers are responsible for many direct fundraisers such as Toys for Tots.
I noticed that Bills shop also has a salon, his daughter Lacy Ferringer does hair in the Harley Shop by appointment only. He said nowadays it is not uncommon for Harley Davidson shops to have a restaurant or even a movie theater. His is the only Harley shop with a hair salon.
Bill has a motorcycle handle; "snakebite". He explained that this name began for him in 1981 when he lost his index finger as a result of a rattlesnake bite. A year after the bite he had to get the tip of his finger removed from the first knuckle. He got a snake tattoo and has been "snakebite" to all his friends ever since. He was visiting Washington at the Snake River Canyon hunting birds when he got bit. There are 12 varieties of venomous snake there alone he said and that he had to identify what kind of snake bit him before he could get the right kind of anti-venom. He had shot the snake's head off, then went to pick it up and it snapped on his finger. After sixty seconds his lips went numb, by fifteen minutes he couldn't stand up, in half hour couldn't walk or talk. Bill died three times, and went into a coma for 4 days.
This experience in Bills life combined with the death of a Roundup man who died on his way to Billings from a snake bite is how Bill began a three year annual anti-venom fundraiser here in Roundup. Our hospital did not have anti-venom at that time, and it is very costly to get. Being in snake country, Bill felt it was necessary for someone to make it happen so no other life would have to be lost.
Bills Harley shop is his passion not a job he says. He is hoping to retire if the right person comes along to take over the business. He currently has the shop and three bedroom house next door to it for sale together. He is hoping that whoever buys the business will keep it as a motorcycle repair shop because it has been a great business. He would help anyone looking to get into the business to learn the trade and pick up the customer base. Bill is looking to spend more time on his personal projects once he is able to sell the shop.
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