After the storm: Helene, California, and a new home in Detroit

October 2024: Western North Carolina, Helene recovery

We are thankful that Shandoka's business and the many colleagues at our facility in Mars Hill, North Carolina are all relatively safe following the impact of Hurricane Helene in the mountains of Western North Carolina. While so many thousands of people are completely displaced, including some colleagues, my wife and I were spared that challenge.

There is a tremendous amount of volunteerism to support the recovery efforts, and it will be important to bring back the economy of the region for the long term as well. For the moment, we are rescheduling our "Build it Yourself" courses until the spring of 2025. Many local non-profits are being set up to help, including Bald Creek Relief between Mars Hill and Burnsville, which is serving hundreds of people daily.

Thank you to all the people who reached out to make sure we were okay, and who gave to our resources drive in partnership with Network Charlotte. Keep all of this season's storm victims in your thoughts, and consider traveling to volunteer in the many places from Florida to Virginia that need help from beyond their usual reach.

April 2025: it's official, Shandoka is in Detroit

After the storm in North Carolina, a California invite brought us right back east, to Detroit.

Long-time followers of Shandoka will recall our event at Detroit's Antique Motorcycle Show, the D.A.M. Show. We didn't know it then, but our future was starting to point to this rugged Motor City.

The D.A.M. Show was over on September 14, but only two weeks later the storm of storms, Hurricane Helene, ripped through the southern USA and stopped right above the mountains of our workshop. It took two weeks to reach Mars Hill, and things were very different.

The long way around

Well, we already had an event booked in California the second week of November, so with a lot of work our fleet was ready to hit the road for the West Coast. There were a lot of great people gathered at the 2024 Micromobility America event for ride opportunities and lots of fun conversations.

YouTuber Hammy Moto checked out our Maxim retrofit motorcycle before taking it for a spin. Catch his review on the RiderGuide YouTube channel (and leave a friendly comment).

▶Hammy Moto rides the Shandoka Maxim retrofit for RiderGuideWatch on YouTube

There's something about a gathering of like-minded people that leads to good things, and this event was no different. Shandoka was set up between LAND motos and RIVID motos, each a good production machine by its own measures. Both were very forward in rider stance, had a typical mid-drive motor sound profile, and were sized a tad below a full-size motorcycle. Not bad for a small cycle, and each is built very well with high-quality components.

So, how do you get from California to Detroit?

Other than a lot of highway in between (ha ha), there was an invite to come to Detroit and check out the scene at Newlab. That invite turned into a tour, the tour turned into a workshop space that was about to be available... and before we knew it, Detroit was the new home of Shandoka: Electric Motorcycles.

We're gonna tell a lot more stories from our winter travels and the streets of Detroit, while putting a flex on the awesome fabrication tools at Newlab. If you've been waiting to build your own custom Shandoka, the best day is today, but tomorrow is still pretty darn good.

Keep it safe out there,

Ernest

July 2025: six months in Detroit

Happy summer, everyone in the Northern Hemisphere!

We're starting our sixth month in Detroit at Newlab and have been stretching our roots here in Michigan. There are a few more bikes being built, to show how many ways the same adapter can be finished to customize a motorcycle.

If you've been following us on Instagram or TikTok (@shandokacycles), you've seen a lot of the places we've been and how far our progress is reaching: industry networking events, technical symposiums and speaking opportunities, and of course the many different community bike nights. There is a lot going on for Shandoka!

Thank you for being a big part of what we love about Shandoka: the people we have met in person or online who want to be part of American manufacturing solutions that are good for our neighbors, ourselves, and the climate, without compromising on quality or excitement.

Pure Power. No Limits.