About Fix My Hog
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. For as long as I can remember, my brother Paul and Bob LaRosa, our childhood friend and the mechanic on the Fix My Hog® DVDs (his Dad and my Dad rode 1948 Panheads together back in the day), 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 at wrenching and I got safer rides.
I went off to college, Bob went 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. All year riding allowed me to travel up and down the coast of CA and we would camp in Yosemite every spring. I found a highly recommend, independent, local guy and for $55 / hour he would service my bike. It soon went from service to repair when the rear tire had to be replaced, the clutch, and the this and that. 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 in CT!!!
The cost of owning my motorcycle kept going up and I realized that I knew nothing about how it really worked. Thankfully I never had a major breakdown on any of my trips. What if I did? Call the tow truck and pay again?
I moved several times and could not always find a good independent so welcome to the dealer world. Dealers are great but the $85-$90 an hour cut into my travel money real fast. I figured I should at least be able to change my fluids.
I said to myself, “Self, you watched Bob do service and repair before, you can do this with no problem!” Yeah right. Bob and Paul called it paying “idiot tax” on things when I tried to do stuff myself and messed them up over and over again.
I had the factory service manual but it was Greek to me. I looked for “how to” Harley-Davidson videos and found a few VHS tapes that had good info but were too general and the audio / video quality was amateur at best.
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 profession Harley-Davidson maintenance DVD. He laughed and said SURE. It was more like “oh boy what are you getting us into now.”
We set up in Bob’s shop with a professional TV production crew (Lights, Cameras, and Jibs -oh my) and went at it. Many titles and hours of content on Harley-Davidson maintenance and performance later we are happy to be considered the only ones that do what we do in Harley “how to.”
I had a feeling that most motorcycle riders wanted to see things done by a professional, up close and with as much detail as possible. I guess we were onto something because now we get emails everyday from customers saying “thank you, your Fix My Hog DVDs bring the factory service manual to life.” Our customers range from the shade tree or “at home” mechanics to jet engine mechanics, Apache helicopter mechanics, diesel truck mechanics, plumbers, and electricians. All riders that just want to see how things are done so they can feel better about servicing and upgrading their motorcycles. Even if they never plan on turning a wrench, they are able to get an idea of how their Harley-Davidson 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 able to service and repair his 1984 Harley-Davidson FXRS. All from a little (OK, a lot of) help from my friend, Bob!
Wrench Safe,
Dennis Santopietro
Founder of Fix My Hog
Fix My Hog Member Associations and Accomplishments
2009 Best of San Diego Award in the Motorcycle Repair & Service category