Simply Ride voted best motorcycle dealership in Minnesota
The results are in, and the people have spoken — for the third year in a row, Simply Ride has won gold in the Star Tribune’s 2025 Readers’ Choice award for Minnesota’s Best motorcycle dealership.
Simply Ride — which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year — is the largest dealer and buyer of pre-owned motorcycles in Minnesota, carrying all makes and models. It also recently became a Yamaha dealer, carrying new Yamaha motorcycles, ATVs, and side-by-sides.
Minnesota’s Best is an annual, audience-driven contest put on by the Minnesota Star Tribune, where readers nominate and vote on their favorite local businesses. This year’s win marks Simply Ride’s third gold medal in a row.
As one of the largest and most recognizable motorcycle dealers in the state, general manager Tim Hammond says Simply Ride tries to stay in the public eye, and accepting awards keeps the dealership in the spotlight. In addition to being recognized three straight years by its community as the state’s top bike shop, it’s also been honored within the industry, including a two-time Powersports Business Best in Class award winner.
“It’s nice to be well-known in the powersports community. But consumers are the ones buying bikes. So being voted No. 1 motorcycle dealership, in my opinion, means a bit more,” Hammond says.
“That’s the best kind of advertising. Word of mouth.”
Not just customers, but also Simply Ride employees nominate and vote, which Hammond says speaks strongly to employee satisfaction. And this starts in-house. At the heart of Simply Ride’s success are its employees. The positive atmosphere the staff creates translates to the customer — creating an environment conducive to a successful dealership.
An environment, Hammond says, that the dealership keeps a close eye on. One way Simply Ride gauges the overall temperature of the store is through bi-weekly surveys that go out to each of its departments. These anonymous surveys allow staff to speak freely, helping management know what levers to pull to keep employees — and ultimately customers — happy.
“We want people who want to work here,” says Hammond, who admits that the line separating employees from customers is often blurred.
“I would say half of our employees are previous customers … Actually, the entire sales team are all previous customers.”
Hammond says the dealership will continue to go for more Readers’ Choice awards, saying the most difficult thing with winning is keeping the news a secret until publication.
“The hardest part is not letting everyone know the hard work paid off. But once you get to share the announcement, it’s a really great feeling,” adding that the dealership wants to continue stacking awards. “Let’s see how many we can get. We’re trying to break the record.”
