So how did Fix My Hog® come about?
It’s easy; I was not good at turning wrenches. I grew up with mechanical people but they did the work and I enjoyed the rides. My brother Paul and Bob LaRosa, our childhood friend and the mechanic on the Fix My Hog® DVDs. (*Note his Dad and my Dad rode 1948 Panheads together back in the day), for as long as I can remember they always had us on some type of go-cart, mini-bike, dirt bike or motorcycle. We could never afford new so they would find a “deal” and make it work. I lost a few teeth trying to stop a go-cart once but over time they got better and I had safer rides.
I went off to college and Bob went on to MMI and my brother on to be an auto-mechanic.
I moved from CT to CA and I brought my 1984 FXRS with me. I had Bob rebuild and paint it before I left. I traveled up and down the coast of CA and through Yosemite every year. I found a local guy that was “highly recommended” and I paid the $55 / hour to have my bike serviced. Then the rear tire had to be replaced and the clutch, and the…etc. It was no longer a $100 service it was more like a $1,000 service and repair. Where was my old buddy Bob when I needed him? 3,000 miles away!!!
As the cost of owning my motorcycle went up, I realized that I knew nothing about how it worked. Thankfully I never had a major breakdown on any of my trips; but what if I did? Call the tow and pay again?
Then I moved again and welcome to the dealer world. Dealers can be great but $85 an hour for an oil change. I figured I should be able to do that.
I said to myself, “Hey I watched Bob do service and repair before, so can I!” Yeah right, as Bob and Paul would say I paid a lot of “idiot tax” on things that I tried to do myself over and over again.
I opened the service manuals but they were Greek to me. So I looked for “how to” videos and found a few that had good info but they were to general and the audio and video quality were horrible.
I called Bob and asked him if he would like to use his skills from; going to MMI, working for HD for eight years, completing all the PHD course work, and now the proud owner of his own shop, to do a real maintenance DVD. He laughed and said he would. It was more like “oh boy what are you getting us into now.”
We set up in Bob’s shop with a real TV production crew and went at it. The next thing you know we have 5 titles under our belts and we are working on a few more.
I had a feeling that most motorcycle riders felt the same as me. They want to see things done by a professional, up close with as much detail as possible. We get emails everyday from customers saying “thank you, that’s what I wanted.” These emails are not only from riders like me with no mechanical experience. They are from Jet Engine mechanics, Apache helicopter mechanics, diesel truck mechanics, plumbers, electricians; all riders that just want to see it done so they feel better about wrenching on their motorcycles. Even if they never plan on turning a wrench they get an idea of how their motorcycle works and what needs to be done to keep their motorcycle running in top condition.
So there you have it, from a kid that never turned a wrench to a guy that is ready to remove the engine on his 1984 FXRS. All from a little help from my friend, Bob!
Wrench Safe,
Dennis Santopietro
Founder
Fix My Hog®, Inc.
3853 Belmont Avenue,
San Diego, CA 92116
phone 619-269-9321
fax 619-269-9647
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