Vinnie DiMartino and Cody Connelly with the HaulBikes staff.
HaulBikes will be the sole motorcycle shipping company for the duo’s
new motorcycle fabrication company, V-Force Customs.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 17, 2007
For more information, contact
Daily Direct/Haul Bikes

Traci Chisholm at 608-234-2243
traci.chisholm@haulbikes.com
or Amy Karsten at 262-264-0400
or Ken Durik, co-owner of Daily Direct
at 1-888-HAULBIKES

Stars of motorcycle-building reality TV Show visit Milwaukee

Vinnie DiMartino and Cody Connelly, motorcycle builders from Orange County, New York, and stars of the motorcycle-building reality TV show, made a coveted tour stop in Milwaukee on Friday, October 12 to visit Milwaukee-based motorcycle shipping company, Daily Direct-HaulBikes. During their visit they toured the Harley-Davidson corporate headquarters and got a sneak peek of the Harley-Davidson Museum™ – scheduled to open summer 2008.

“As long as I can remember I loved to take things apart and figure them out; and it still applies today,” recalls DiMartino. “My father taught me to never buy or pay for something you can make or fix yourself, and the only way to get something done right is to do it yourself.”

DiMartino began working for his father’s auto repair shop/gas station at the age of nine. “I pumped gas, watched and learned, and by the time I was ten, I was rebuilding the engine in my dirt bike,” recalls DiMartino. “All I did was eat, sleep and breathe motorcycles.”

For a brief time, DiMartino transitioned his attention from motorcycles to fast cars, got married and focused on raising a family. After attempts into several other trades – including mechanic, well driller and truck driver – he found his way back to his passion – motorcycles. He then started building custom motorcycles for a small local bike shop in Orange County, New York. “About a month after I started working for the shop, they got a phone call from a well-known cable channel and the next thing I knew, we had a series and I was one of the main characters,” explains DiMartino. “It happened fast and I didn’t realize the full effect of being on TV until we started going on the road and hitting bike events. It was a lot to handle. The rest, as they say, is history.”

Cody Connelly shares a similar story. It was his father who showed Connelly the world of motorcycles at the age of five - when he received his first dirt bike, a XR-50.  “That first dirt bike led to many more dirt bikes in my life,” says Connelly, adding that most of the quality time he spent with his father revolved around bikes. “He taught me to ride, and showed me the ropes.” Even Connelly’s mother and younger sister ride. “My family ignited my interest and love for bikes; it is in my blood.”

Connelly followed his passion into the motorcycle world by landing a job at a small custom bike shop when he was 14; and during the next six years he learned the craft of metal working while improving his welding and metal fabrication skills. It was at that time he met and became friends with Vinnie DiMartino. When they developed a TV program to showcase the small town business in Orange County, they quickly experienced how a small custom bike shop could get very big, very fast. The ground-breaking program accelerated the public’s interest in custom bikes, and that’s when Connelly’s fairly average life was changed by fame and recognition. Best of all - through his new celebrity, he was soon sharing his passion of motorcycles with thousands of people with that same interest in bikes.

We were thrilled to have Vinnie and Cody here in Milwaukee," remarks Ken Durik, co-owner of Daily Direct-HaulBikes, "We were proud to show off our great city and all the motorcycle history it represents."

Since the duo’s recent departure from the reality TV show, fans will be glad to hear that they are starting their own motorcycle fabrication business, which will be named V-Force Customs. Milwaukee’s own Daily Direct-HaulBikes will be the sole motorcycle transportation company for the new venture.

“It's an awesome opportunity to partner with true motorcycle enthusiasts. Daily Direct-HaulBikes is doing everything we can to support Vinnie and Cody in their new projects.  We expect great things from these two."

About Daily Direct-HaulBikes
Daily Direct/Haul Bikes is a licensed and fully insured motorcycle shipping company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin serving residential and business shipments. Providing nationwide transportation since 1988, they specialize in national and dealership events, custom trips and tours, corporate and auction house transportation, and personalized pick-up and delivery services of your motorcycle, ATV, snowmobile or jet-ski. For more information about Haul Bikes, call 1-888-HAULBIKES or visit them on the Web at HaulBikes.com.

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Vinnie and Cody One-on-One
View the Fox6 news interview

"I was extremely pleased with the way your company and especially Jeff handled the whole transaction – and very timely I might add. I will use you again and will recommend you to all others in the future."
       ---Mike Williaford
          Texas