Imagine making a living from a warehouse full of bikes you grew up lusting after. The owner of Iconic Motorcycles, Adam Tromp doesn’t have to
Iconic Motorcycles in LA is loaded with some very special bikes. Bikes from an era that causes a sparkle in your eye as the edge of your mouth turns up slightly. Suzuki had the GSX-R750 and 1100, Honda the CBR900RR and RC30, Kawasaki the ZXR750 and Yamaha the YZF750 and FZR1000.
The list goes on, but it was these bikes which had me and my mate salivating over the pages of bike magazines every time a new one came out. The terms SRAD, Fireblade, Ninja and even Deltabox were part of the new religion we all inadvertently joined and there was no exorcisms that could possibly bring us back.
Fast forward a few years, I’d finished school and moved on to become a qualified motor mechanic. Back then we were lucky enough to be able to ride some less-than-adequate bikes on our learner licences, so by this time I’d had a two-stroke Kawasaki KR250 and then a 1992 Suzuki RGV250 Schwantz replica. Great bikes, both of them, and I wish I still had them, but back then all I was wishing for was more cubes. And so as soon as I could, I arrived home on a near-new GSX-R750. Mind you, it was a love affair that was nearly over as quick as it started when I learnt the hard way that GSX-R had something the RGV didn’t – engine braking.
Since then I’ve been lucky enough to own quite a few 1990s bikes, I’m addicted. They’re raw, they had carburettors, they weren’t always user friendly and didn’t have an computer-controlled brain that intervened if you did something dumb – they were perfect.
Turns out I’m not the only one. A bloke in California named Adam Tromp is a mad keen enthusiast of this era’s motorcycles, too. So keen that he has built a business around them called Iconic Motorcycles. The bikes he has accumulated are rare, immaculate and all for sale. Well, almost all of them; Adam has a couple of favourites he’s not willing to part with. We sat down for a yarn.
How did you get into bikes?
I was eight, my mother fell into a few extra dollars and had my older brother take me out to get my first bike. It was a Kawasaki KM80. At the time, we had just came back to the USA and were living in the mountains in Colorado. I was a bit of a loner at the time, so I’d take this bike in the hills with a gas can jug in my backpack and ride through the hills for what seemed like days and days. I loved that bike so much, had such a blast! Unfortunately we had some financial issues about one and a half years later and had to leave for Costa Rica for three years, it was a sad time leaving my baby behind!
What was the first bike you purchased and how much did you pay for it?
Just before my 16th birthday, I bought a V&H FZR600. I always felt like an ape on that bike but it was the best 900 bucks I ever spent and man, was she nice for what I paid. I rode it and rode it and rode it! I moved to California shortly after on my own, before my 17th birthday, and started taking my FZR to bike nights but I was seriously outgunned, so I traded the FZR and an old Mustang for a Ninja 1000. I had a blast on that, too. That started the true addiction and from there it was ZX7s, GSX-Rs. I’m actually salivating at the thought, I loved my ZX-7R so much, I must have put 25,000 miles on that bike that first year!
What do you love the most about motorbikes?
Not just the bikes but the lifestyle. Back then, when I was about 19, I just lived on that bike. Made incredibly special friends, had a huge group of bike buddies and I pretty much led the pack. We did bike nights, Taco Tuesdays, street racing for money in Ontario at night, drag racing at Carlsbad Raceway, track days at Willow Springs and tons of rides through Ortega and Palomar Mountain road. I lived on that bike and just worked enough to keep paying for them. Waiting tables and working on a freight dock from 1am-6am so I could afford the lifestyle. It was my heaven, so much fun.
What’s the most significant purchase to date?
The most significant purchase to most would likely be the Honda NR750 or the Yamaha R7s we have, but to me, what really lit my fuse for the explosion that started Iconic Motorbikes, was the purchase of the Nicky Hayden Formula Extreme bike.
It’s a Erion schemed beauty and sits right in the front of our HQ. This bike will never go for sale as long as Iconic Motorbikes exists and it’s the first thing I want people to think of when they see us, when they walk in and when they go to our events. I love everything that Nicky was… I couldn’t be more proud to own a bike he spent time on!
What is Iconic Motorbikes exactly?
Iconic Motorbikes is a passion-fuelled company. We’re all about the bikes and the stories that entrench them. We love getting our favourites back on the road, restoring the bikes that mean something to someone. We live by the motto that “every bike is iconic to someone” and as such, we do our best to fill that void, that gap, find that missing element that makes your life complete.
We do rides, restorations, track days, events, artwork, storage, a museum, etc. I personally seek out the rare, the ultra-clean and very special bikes all around the world and find them new homes. We’re launching Iconic Motorbike Auctions, which is really exciting news. There is no great way to sell or buy a bike in the USA, and I’d venture to say anywhere globally, so we’re going to take it to a whole new level. Full disclosure on bikes, proper pictures, provenance reports, photos inside the tank, full white-glove services, you name it! We’re going to launch a way to sell an iconic bike like no other.
How did the business get started and who is on the team?
I’ve spent years of my life just thinking about this. I launched MotoExtreme Performance, which was a small shop in Orange County, a while back, which did really well, with a focus on sportbikes. But I was quite tied up with my full-time career and the guys running it weren’t on the same plan, so it didn’t last long. I learned a lot from that venture, [it] scared me away for a while but I came back stronger, larger and with much, much better people on the team.
The team consists of me, my partners Danny and Patrick, and Stephen, who is our main wrench and also a partner. Sandro runs parts, service and the dealership for the most part, while I run the social media, books and seek out amazing bikes and collections. Patrick helps with some of the funds, transport, helping at the dealership and wherever he can lend a hand. They are all like family to me.
What are the hot ticket ’80s and ’90s items collectors are chasing you for now?
A collection isn’t complete without a RC30, as it’s the best bike Honda ever created. The V4 motor was the torque, the single-sided swingarm is truly special for the time, the twin headlights is true to the time, the aluminium tank is just awesome and the style as a whole most certainly makes it one of the most iconic motorbikes out there. Supplemental to that, a YZF-R7 OW-02, as it’s one of the most beautiful and exotic Yamaha sportbikes ever made. NSRs, TZRs and RGVs, because they are the two-strokes that stole the show – I personally love RG500s and RZ and RZVs, as they are just insanely fun to ride.
Can’t forget the ZX-7Rs or RRs, as they have an amazing history in racing, and that green just screams cool! Oh wait… don’t forget the GSX-Rs! Did I mention OW-01s and RC45s and NR750s and and Bimotas? And don’t get me started on Ducatis, how could I not mention those gorgeous Italian masterpieces? Wait, what about Laverdas, BSAs, Nortons and MV Agustas? I’m getting chills, I love them all.
We’ve heard a rumour that you might be getting a rather special MotoGP style bike?
The ink hasn’t dried yet, but I really hope to see this very special, very well-thought out and true piece of motorcycle art and insanely cool engineering on our showroom floor later on this year.
You’ve recently launched a YouTube channel?
So far we’ve just released a few to get to know the team, get to know how light hearted we are and most importantly, how much we love the bikes and each other! We’re just guys having fun with what we love. We hope to get some cool track events, some really neat collection tours, some side-by-side comparisons, some interviews, etc. There’s not enough time in the day so it’s not our first priority right now, but we’ll get back on it soon.
With regards to motorbikes in general, people keep talking about the fact that bike sales are dropping and are preaching doom and gloom. Do you think bikes these days lack the passion of the older ones, or what’s your take on it?
Yes, kids these days are not exposed to the outdoors as we were. Growing up, my dream was a dirtbike, it seems the newer generations lust after the new iPhone or iPad. It’s just not important to many, it’s a sad state of affairs but my kids are much to the same. They had dirtbikes, but their phones took over.
As far as the new bikes go, I 100 percent agree, they just aren’t that special and technology is so beyond our abilities at this point, what’s the motivation to buy new and buy new again? Ideally, I think it’s great to have something new in your garage alongside a classic. In my day, you’d trade in your ZX-7 R or GSX-R for the next model with upside-down forks. Maybe the next model after that for ram air or lighter weight, sometimes just for a livery you had to have.
But now they are all so fast, have many similar features such as traction control, crazy amounts of horsepower, etc, I’m not sure why anyone would go for the latest and greatest, as the previous model is likely more than most will ever utilise. I don’t have a lot of positive things to mention on the new stuff – give me a older bike any day!
Words and photography Mark Boxer