Motorcycle shop adds clothing store

A new clothing store catering to people who like a breeze on their faces and open road at their feet recently opened in Spokane Valley.

Customs By Jim, a 3-year-old motorcycle customizing and repair shop, opened a clothing store next door at 4907 E. Trent Ave.

Store owner Jim Konzal, 42, said the shop’s apparel is worn by both riders and nonriders.

“We’re not trying to just cater to the bikers. We’re trying to cater to the community as a whole with the clothing we have,” Konzal said.

The store carries a mix of fun T-shirts from companies like MotorSport Direct and Easyriders, along with leathers and other apparel.

In addition to calendars and knickknacks, the shop has posters bearing reproductions of blueprints of engines and transmissions from classic motorcycles made in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.

“They’re pretty neat. Actually, they’ve sold like crazy,” Konzal said.

Konzal spent time in Germany while serving in the Army. After returning to the States, he worked on motorcycles on the side.

His side business became his full-time job after he retired from the military.

Over the years he has supported motorcycle racing both as a sponsor and as a mechanic.

The customizing shop has loyal customers who keep the store busy, he said, explaining that the shop books up solidly two months before spring.

Since he spends about 75 hours a week in his shop during the busy season, Konzal enlisted his niece, Amber Hiler, to run the clothing store.

“I’m a one-man show, but this is something I couldn’t do along with the mechanical part of it,” he said.

Customs By Jim clothing shop is open Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, call 532-0075.