Florida Motorcycle Dealers Association

RMOND BEACH - It doesn't take more than a few minutes walking through Bruce Rossmeyer's Daytona Beach Harley-Davidson store before adoring fans ask him to pose for pictures.

While Rossmeyer may not be a celebrity in the traditional sense, his ownership of the world's largest Harley-Davidson store has turned him into an icon.

It's hard to miss the billboards with a giant image of his face looming over Interstate 95 in the Daytona Beach area and Broward County. Plus, at 6-foot-1 and more than 300 pounds, the 63-year-old Rossmeyer looks like a cross between a giant teddy bear and Papa Hemingway. Dressed in his typical jeans and untucked shirt, you wouldn't know he's the executive of a company with annual sales of more then $200 million and 12 Harley-Davidson stores, including four in South Florida.

''He'll stand up there and put his arm around anybody that asks,'' said Julie Maenza, general manager of Daytona Harley-Davidson and an employee of Rossmeyer's for 15 years. ``He truly enjoys what he's doing. It's a passion for him.''

The dealership is the centerpiece of Destination Daytona, which aims to become the ''must see'' tourist attraction for bikers and wannabes visiting the Daytona Beach area.

Susan Call looked like a doe-eyed teenager meeting a rock star after getting her picture with Rossmeyer and checking out the 109,000-square-foot store.

''He's awesome,'' said Call, from Bristol, Tenn., who just got her first Harley although she's been riding bikes since 1973. ``We love Harley-Davidson. We don't have anything like this in Tennessee. I'm impressed.''

Call and her fiancé Danny Baker couldn't get over the more than 500 motorcycles on display plus an overwhelming array of all things Harley-Davidson from a shower curtain and foosball table to baby clothes, glassware, patches, underwear and ceiling fans.

''Who would have thought you could have this many Harley-Davidson motorcycles all in one place,'' Baker said. ``Usually, the store at home has 10 or 20. This is unbelievable.''

Thousands of people are likely to get their first glimpse of Destination Daytona as Bike Week kicks off this Friday. While the Harley-Davidson store opened in time for last year's event, this year the mixed-use destination started to really take shape.

It's a more than $50 million project that started when Rossmeyer, looking to expand his downtown Daytona Beach store, discovered the availability of 150 acres of prime developable real estate along I-95.

PLAN GROWS

Originally he intended to build a mega-dealership and renovate the existing Howard Johnson's hotel. But things snowballed. Today the plans include condos, restaurants, retail shops, a mechanics school, pavilion and more.

Edward Williams, general manager of Daytona Beach Coca-Cola, says the location of the facility and the company's track record with Rossmeyer made the decision to sponsor the Coca-Cola Pavilion an easy one. Although the outdoor multi-use facility won't open until this fall, Destination Daytona has already become Williams' largest off-premise account.

''Everything that we thought was going to be a potential business opportunity has quickly come to fruition,'' Williams said. ``And that's only the beginning. The opportunity here is immense.''

Rossmeyer expects 3 million to 4 million people a year to pass through Destination Daytona, which his friends and family jokingly call Bruce's World. With his billboards lining the highway, Rossmeyer hopes to create an excitement like South of the Border where tourists feel compelled to pull off the highway as they're passing by.

He'll also get another boost as a spokesman for Geico Insurance in a new commercial for motorcycle insurance.

''Publicity is what sells,'' Rossmeyer said. ``It's a way to promote me and sell more bikes.''

LUXURY TREATMENT

Always looking for new marketing gimmicks, Rossmeyer's latest plan involves a Fly and Drive program. Rossmeyer would send a tricked-out helicopter painted like the Harley Screaming Eagle to pick guests up at the Daytona Beach Airport and fly them to Destination Daytona.

He'll put them up for the weekend, wine and dine them. They can drive a brand new bike around Central Florida, and when they go home, the bike will be delivered to their front door within 10 days. No cost -- other than the bike.

''We're giving people a thrill they couldn't get anywhere else,'' Rossmeyer said. ``There are people that have millions of dollars that don't have that luxury.''

Rossmeyer himself is the quintessential boy with his toys. He owns more than 40 motorcycles, including one with a jet engine that he's trying to sell to Jay Leno. He's got a private plane painted like the Harley Screaming Eagle, 15 cars including a Bentley, a Hummer and a Rolls Royce. Plus, he's building a power boat.

'Dad's motto is `If you're not having fun, you shouldn't be doing it,' '' said Shelly Rossmeyer Pepe, one of his children who work in the business.

FAMOUS CLIENTELE

In Rossmeyer's offices, you'll find pictures of him with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, James Gandolfini of The Sopranos and other celebrities. There's also a collection of autographed memorabilia from the likes of former Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, who used to be a customer until he decided it was too dangerous, and Miami Heat Center Shaquille O'Neal, for whom Rossmeyer built a custom bike when he played for the Orlando Magic.

But next to those celebrities you'll also see the other side of Rossmeyer, the pictures of him with the terminally ill children at Camp Boggy Creek in Eustis, Fla., for whom he's raised millions of dollars to support.

''If you can help some kids that are less fortunate, at least you know it's going to somebody that appreciates it,'' said Rossmeyer, who also visits the camp several times a year.

EARLY TRANSGRESSIONS

Rossmeyer's fascination with motorcycles and Harley-Davidson started as a teenager. He bought his first Harley-Davidson at 17 after saving up $500 from working at his father's car dealership.

But the bike had to stay at his brother's house because their father didn't approve of motorcycles. That worked for a few months, until one day when Rossmeyer was cruising down the street and passed his father in the car going the other way.

''Having a son with a leather jacket and driving a motorcycle didn't fit his image,'' Rossmeyer said.

A confrontation ensued, and his father told Rossmeyer to pack everything he owned in the bike's saddle bags and get out of the house.

Rossmeyer wasn't ready to go out on his own, so he decided to give up the bike. But the enterprising teen also got the dealer to give him his money back by reminding him that he wasn't legally allowed to sell a motorcycle to anyone under 21.

Many years later, Rossmeyer says his father admitted, ``I screwed up. I should have let you keep the motorcycle. You might have been able to do all this sooner.''

Although Rossmeyer eventually got a motorcycle during his 20s, he never seriously thought about it as a career. He followed his father's path into the car business, buying his first dealership -- Rossmeyer Dodge in Washington, N.J. -- at the age of 24. Other than a brief ''retirement'' during the late 1980s, Rossmeyer remained in the industry in New Jersey and eventually relocated to Central Florida.

Then the owner of Daytona Harley-Davidson approached Rossmeyer about buying the dealership.

NATURAL EVOLUTION

''I bought it strictly as a hobby,'' Rossmeyer said of the Harley-Davidson dealership he bought in 1993 and then rebuilt the following year. ``I thought this would be something to mess around with on the weekend. First it was Saturdays, then it became Mondays and Tuesdays. That's when I realized there was an opportunity to take it to another level.''

Rossmeyer envisioned taking what he learned in the car industry and applying it to the motorcycle business, which at that time was dominated by mom-and-pop operators with small stores and a grease-monkey image. Rossmeyer wanted to build giant showplaces similar to car dealerships.

By owning multiple dealerships, he expected to be able to bring synergies to the operational side of the business. Plus, with buying power he could offer programs for financing, leasing, extended warranties and his own branded credit card. To build name recognition, he started branding them all with the Bruce Rossmeyer name.

But none of his plans would have happened, if Harley-Davidson had stuck to its original decision when it turned down Rossmeyer's application to become a dealer.

Harley-Davidson wasn't keen on the idea of auto dealers getting into the motorcycle business, said Jeff Bluestein, Harley-Davidson's chairman and former chief executive.

The company had found that auto dealers focused too much on the transaction and less on developing customer relationships, Bluestein said. Harley riders want a dealer who feels as passionately about the sport as they do.

Rossmeyer wrote a letter to Bluestein appealing the decision, and the company agreed to a second hearing. At that meeting, Bluestein was impressed with Rossmeyer's ''passion,'' but also realized the potential challenge.

''I got the feeling that this was going to be a guy that was cut from a different mold,'' said Bluestein, who at the time was president and chief operating officer of the Harley-Davidson Motor Co. ``I liked his enthusiasm. At the same time, there were red flags. I knew he was going to be a guy who was going to stretch the line.''

Yet, Bluestein and the committee decided Rossmeyer was worth the risk.

''I'd rather have a racehorse that you have to keep pulling back on the reins than a mule that you have to keep kicking in the butt,'' Bluestein said. ``Bruce is that racehorse.''

Over the years, Bluestein recalls two or three times where he put the brakes on some of Rossmeyer's marketing plans. But he won't say exactly what those ideas were.

One area, where Rossmeyer's pushing paid off was in persuading Harley-Davidson to change the limits on how many dealerships an individual could own.

Harley-Davidson used to prohibit one owner from controlling more than two dealership territories. The reason: the company believed customers should be able to come into the store and see the dealer.

Over time Rossmeyer wore Harley-Davidson management down and got them to let him try three dealerships. It didn't take long until he was pushing for a fourth dealership. Rossmeyer eventually got permission to grow to six dealerships, although he has since sold off one.

SOUTH FLORIDA STORES

Outside of the Daytona Beach area, Rossmeyer's biggest presence is in South Florida, where he has stores in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Sunrise, plus one in Boca Raton without bikes. Rossmeyer often spends a couple days a week at his Fort Lauderdale office.

But Rossmeyer's competitors don't agree that size offers any advantage. Although their stores are only miles away in South Florida, the owners of Peterson's Harley Davidson of Miami say Rossmeyer's bigger stores have not impacted their business.

''People like to know that when they come into our store, my dad is here to talk to,'' said Dirk Peterson, the co-owner of the dealership his father Phil Peterson founded in Key West in 1954 and relocated to Miami in 1965. ``When you have so many stores, you can't be in all places at once. It's got to lose that hands-on feel.''

OTHER VENTURES

In addition to his success with Harley-Davidson, Rossmeyer is also branching out. He has opened Hollywood Choppers at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and Arlen Ness Motorcycles in Daytona Beach. He's also involved in several partnerships to create limited-edition bikes.

Victor Lopez, senior vice president of development for Hyatt Hotels, is working with Rossmeyer on one of the custom bikes and doesn't rule out the possibility that this partnership could eventually lead to a themed motorcycle hotel.

''I always leave those doors open,'' Lopez said. ``Bruce is an entrepreneur. Maybe something good will come of this.''

While Rossmeyer claims Destination Daytona will be his last hurrah, he also knows he has promised to retire almost every year and then managed to break that promise.

''I enjoy what I'm doing,'' Rossmeyer said. ``I like the hype and excitement. As long as I can, I'm going to continue doing it. What do you want me to do? Cut the grass and paint the porch?''