The Te Rapa straight in Hamilton has its fair share of dealerships, but few stand out from the crowd like Royale Cars and Motorcycles.
With a modern building, sizeable lot with a variety of vehicles and prime position opposite The Base shopping centre, on the surface Royale has everything needed to be a success.
The current incarnation of Royale opened its doors last year and is the home of Indian Motorcycle, Benelli, Royal Enfield, Segway Powersports and Peugeot scooters - plus a wide array of used vehicles. In fact, one of Royale’s many selling points is it claims to be one of the only places in the country you can drive in with a car and trade it in before you ride out on a brand new motorcycle.
But that’s not the full story, and walking through the doors you soon find out this is more than an amalgamation of a car and motorcycle dealership in one.
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The man behind Royale is Chris Gibbs, an old hand in the motor dealing world with over 30 years experience and a local Hamilton farmer when he’s not working away at the centre of Royale.
After a pilgrimage to Route 66 in the states, and seeing how things are done over there, Chris took it upon himself to bring the experiential dealership model back home to New Zealand.
“When I rode route 66 three years ago, all the new Harley and Indian dealerships over there looked like this. All those red bricks and the black exposed steel.”
Royale’s premises is modelled after what he saw in the US, with similar exposed steel beams juxtaposed by bright woodwork and red bricks. It’s a snazzy building, and unlike the sterile confines of many dealerships, feels like a warm and welcoming environment.
“We were trying to create a destination, rather than a dealership,” Chris says.
This is made all the easier by the addition of the Route 66 Cafe on site, which takes up a decent amount of the ground floor’s floorplan.
“Every dealer in the US had its own bar,” Chris explains. “So I thought why not put a cafe in here as a place for our customers to come in and enjoy.”
“The food is American style everything, apart from the Pokeno style ice creams, and the meat comes from my place so it’s all organically farmed Hereford and angus beef on the menu. The plan is to start our own gardens to expand on the organically farmed offerings.”
There are even Vegan and Keto options on the menu.
With a menu inspired by iconic American cuisine and a healthy selection of Tip Top ice creams on hand this isn’t targeted as being a bikies retreat, but a place that anyone can come and enjoy.
“We have it open to the public, of course, but the main reason for the cafe is to serve our staff because there’s nowhere to get a feed around here.”
While the Route 66 cafe is a big enough drawcard, for many of us the main point of interest is Royale’s selection of motorcycles.
Iconic American brand Indian Motorcycle headlines the lineup, with its range of American V-twins the more premium offering from Royale.
Chris states he was a Harley man through and through until he decided to set up the new dealership. With the local Harley-Davidson dealership rights locked in up the road at Road and Sport, Chris approached Indian about the prospect of selling America’s oldest motorcycle brand in Hamilton. After a month long test ride on an Indian Chieftain Elite, Chris was sold. His personal Harley was sold and Indian become the headline motorcycle brand for Royale.
But Chris didn’t just want to cater to the top end of the motorcycle market, and as many have learned the key to returning business in the bike world is offering a range of bikes that will allow a rider to progress through our graduated licensing system up to that premium product.
Royale is well sorted when it comes to more wallet friendly machines, with Benelli, Royal Enfield and Peugeot scooters offering a wide range of options to suit riders of all sizes.
Rounding out the brands under the roof at Royale is Segway, with a range of quad bikes and side by sides that offer tremendous value for money on top of looking the business as well.
There’s even the capacity to offer customisation as showcased by the Busted Knuckles build-off winning Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, which was built on site and will soon be ripping up racetracks in the hands of Dillon Telford.
Crucially, the telltale sign that a dealership is doing something right is the way its customers feel about their experience - and those we spoke to on site during our visit had nothing short of glowing reviews.
Jim Broom brought his Indian in for repairs when he caught sight of a bike he had thought he couldn’t get his hands on, a beautiful Indian Roadmaster Icon in a Arizona turquoise and white paint scheme.
“I was looking for a bike more in the iconic Indian colours, Jim explains. When I bought my black Roadmaster last year, I was told that they don't make them in the iconic colours anymore. So I was really surprised when I found this bike on the Royale website.”
While the bike was listed for sale, it technically already had an owner, having been special ordered by Royale owner Chris Gibbs himself.
But seeing how Jim was quite taken with the bike, Chris graciously stepped aside and let Jim ride away on his dream bike.
“I've had an amazing experience from Chris and his team,” Jim says. “Both times I dealt with the sales manager, Les Hayes, but the whole team is great.”
If a dealer is willing to sell their own bike out from under themselves, you know they are willing to go that extra mile to ensure the very best in customer satisfaction.
Add in the full service department and Prorider training partnership and Royale Cars and Motorcycles offers a unique experience from rider licensing to vehicle servicing.
Just try not to trade in the family wagon on a shiny new motorcycle while you’re there.
