|
Back in 1958, a
young Bob Raber
went to work for Monterey-area motorcycle dealer
Ed Brooks.
Bob's father, an old car fan, had already instilled in his
son a keen interest in the combustion engine and Bob immediately felt
at home in a motorcycle shop.
Some of Bob's earliest jobs for Ed included lawnmower and bicycle repair,
but as Ed's business began evolving toward British motorcycles, one day
Bob found himself confronted with the task of assembling a pre-unit Triumph
twin from a pile of parts. Armed with basic mechanical skills, youthful
exuberance and a factory workshop manual, he managed to put together a
well-functioning motorcycle. At that point, whether Bob realized it or
not, his destiny was sealed.
In the following years, Ed moved his shop several times; first to Salinas,
then on to
San Jose
in
1967.
Bob continued working at the dealership, eventually moving up to Service
Manager. While Bob's skills developed under the watchful eye of his mentor,
the business flourished into one of the most
attractive and well-stocked
Triumph dealerships in the area.
When Ed Brooks finally retired in 1984, the Motorcycle scene in Northern
California (and throughout the country) had changed dramatically. Norton
had closed its doors in 1974, BSA in 1975 and Triumph in 1982. Where San
Jose alone had been home to over 15 British, Japanese, and American motorcycle
shops at its peak, there were now only a handful of shops in the Bay Area.
Bob took over Ed's shop and some of the inventory at
1615 Almaden Road
and began doing business as Rabers Parts Mart (RPM, Inc.).
The goal of Bob and his small crew was to provide a retail parts outlet
and service center for British motorcycles.
Finally in 1996, having steadily expanded and slowly amassed a gigantic
parts inventory from other defunct British shops, RPM outgrew the Almaden
Road location and moved operations a few blocks away to a former tortilla
factory at
1984 Stone Ave
which allowed ample space for RPM to grow into.
Rabers Parts Mart is currently home to a crew of nine employees with Bob and
Betsy Raber handling managerial duties, Lucky V., Paul Hudson and Joe Burces
in the Service Department, O.J. in Shipping, Richard Braquet and Mike Raber
in Parts and Jennie Recendez in Accounting.
|
