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riverside cycles
Riverside Cycles opens up Broad Street
By Christopher Selmek
Ernie Muller, the general manager of Riverside Cycles at Fifth and Broad, wants everyone to know there’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Tommy Arriola.
“Before we moved in, this building was very run down and it was a very bad neighborhood to go walking in,” said Muller. “Thanks to Tommy setting up shop here and putting cameras out to keep an eye on the sidewalks, we’ve essentially extended Broad Street another five blocks to where it’s safe and comfortable to go shopping.”
Arriola is more modest about his accomplishments, but he does have a dream: to own and operate the finest motorcycle shop in Augusta that is built by bikers, for bikers.
Riverside Cycles opened Independence Day 2009 at the corner of Fifth and Broad and, in the six months since its grand opening, has become the best independently owned motorcycle shop in the CSRA, according to Muller.
“No other facility comes close,” said Muller. “What sets us apart is we have a full service department for metric cruisers like Kawasaki and Yamaha. We have two techs, one devoted to Harley and one devoted to just metric cycles, so we can do almost anything.”
Riverside Cycles boasts a $60 synthetic oil change, probably the least expensive service around according to Muller, and offers many cycle parts that are hard to find as well as a full line of clothing and safety gear.
“We want to keep the place low key, a place a biker can come in and feel comfortable,” said Arriola. “We don’t feel like we’re doing anyone a favor by helping them with their bike, they’re doing us a favor by coming in to see us.”
Arriola has made Augusta his home since getting out of the Army in ’86. His three sons and two daughters, who make up two out of the three Riverside Girls featured in the store’s calendar, grew up here and he sees it as his duty to do good by the town that raised them.
“The building we now occupy was a really run-down and abandoned building until somebody bought and then tried to resell for a profit, only they couldn’t because it was so ugly,” he said. “I finally got around to looking at it one day and when they took me inside I thought, ‘my god, this is the building I’ve been looking for’.”
Arriola met Muller through a mutual friend shortly before the shop opened; and are now very close. Muller originally came to Augusta to manage the Augusta Dodge dealership and says his 25 years of experience selling cars helps him when dealing with customers in the store.
They have already organized several rallys and events, including the Poker Run to benefit Threshold to Freedom, a women’s recovery home, last November. They hope to host another event in March once the weather warms up.
In addition to helping local businesses and charities, they also hope this will pave the way for their more grandiose plans.
“In two or three years we would like to start a Rally on the River and turn Broad Street for one week into Daytona Beach,” said Arriola. “There are businesses in Daytona that literally only open during the two weeks out of the year they are having a bike rally, and I think it would bring in a lot of money and put Augusta on the map if we did the same thing here.”
In the meantime, Arriola hopes to be able to retire from his job in the construction industry and focus on tending the shop full time.
“This place is a dream to me,” he said. “I’ve had other dreams in my life, like sailing the seas and restoring old cars, which I’ve done, and now this is something I really want to make work.”
Riverside Cycles is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. and is closed Monday. For more information, visit them on the web at www.riversidecyclesaugustaga.com.
“I finally got around to looking at it one day and when they took me inside I thought, ‘my god, this is the building I’ve been looking for’.”
