Roger Kirkpatrick’s Life Off-road

Roger Kirkpatrick. Photos by Melissa Sanderson

Roger Kirkpatrick’s father owned a Garberville auto shop, so of course he gave his 2-year-old son a Big A Auto Parts toolbox. The little boy grew into a teen who didn’t need to take auto shop in high school. Good thing, too, as he would have radically skewed the curve. His toddler’s toolbox had come with a full Chevy 350 engine to play with. And play with motors he did, all the way around the world. 

Garberville helped raise this fifth generation son of Humboldt. In 1992, the driven 12-year-old got a work permit through school. An alliance of talented motorheads nurtured the young grease monkey, making sure he got home after taking apart cars at the salvage yard. Roger built a motorcycle by the time he was 13, in between school, forklifting cars in the air, and swimming at Tooby Park. He worked at his dad’s shop, picking up welding and any other skill he could master. He used chisels to work with his stone mason uncle, too. From there his professional road led to Redway and Rooster’s Motorcycle and 4x4 Superstore, gaining ATV (all-terrain vehicles) and UTV (side-by-side universal-terrain vehicles) repair experience. He got to work at Big A Auto Parts, too, selling toolboxes just like his. 

As he entered adulthood, Kirkpatrick dealt with the heartbreak of his parents’ deaths. He had put the pedal to the metal to graduate early, saving his earnings with a plan to attend the Universal Technical Institute in Arizona. His mother was killed in an accident, followed by his father’s brain tumor diagnosis. Roger reluctantly moved to Phoenix while keeping an anxious eye on his father.

Kirkpatrick threw himself into a punishing schedule, working at a Phoenix regional car parts hub between trade school and Arizona State University classes. Later, Kirkpatrick was a race mechanic with Honda’s Plano motocross team for four months, before moving home to provide hospice care for his father. He worked as lead tech at Richard Miller Motorcycles in Eureka, commuting from Garberville until his father died. 

He modestly finished the sentence, “My Humboldt Life is …” with a heartfelt, “blessed to be part of Humboldt.”

Roger Kirkpatrick in the shop.

Kirkpatrick could not get his dad out of his thoughts. In 2002, he opened a small race shop on Pine Hill (with Richard Miller’s blessing) that put him back on the map, but he felt alone. He decided to pull a u-turn, working for Cox Communications for six months before acknowledging it was not what he wanted. He became hyperfocused on his true calling using his Humboldt network to pave the way. Friend and mentor Stormy Winters recommended him to Dr. Mike Billington to manage the new Eureka Motorsports Center, which Roger then grew into seven locations before venturing out on his own. 

Kirkpatrick’s mad skills kept the calls coming. He had a blast working with KTM’s power beasts in Minnesota. He worked with talented local ATV racer Dana Creech. He got his hands on a Polaris 1000 before the general public — the legendary company tapped him to work with the Polaris research and development team. From 2015-17, Roger and his eldest son traveled the U.S. (sometimes by private helicopter) working with manufacturers like motocross monster maker Yoshimura and cool dude owners like B.C. Vaught, former drummer for nu metal band (hed)p.e.

Kirkpatrick’s business grew from a hobby to a side hustle to a full-on empire that sells auto parts around the world even while he sleeps (humboldtmotorsports.com). He opened his first Humboldt Motorsports in 2007, adding multiple franchises with combined buying power that all flowed through one location. By 2010, he had Humboldt Motorsports locations across the U.S., from California to New York. After years of managing this multi-state business, he decided to let the employees run free. Literally. He let them take over their local outlets at no charge while keeping the internet sales and home base location to himself. 

Humboldt Motorsports franchises built Roger a real estate portfolio that opened a new door. “Industries change. Diversity keeps us going.” Kirkpatrick’s range of businesses includes metal building design and construction (to help keep your dune demons and crop crunchers safe), and generators (to help keep hospitals and schools running when they are needed the most). His knowledge of OHVs is used by PG&E to keep their repair fleet nimble enough to reach Humboldt’s nooks and crannies, and the new Humboldt Search and Rescue Polaris ATVs are used for seeking out those of us in need of saving. Kirkpatrick’s cylinders hum quietly at all times. He recently added a CNC plasma router and cutter to his business, so that Etsy project of yours is now within reach. Break out that plan for your prototype!

Kirkpatrick’s efforts were not all business. In 2008 a friend suggested working with juvenile hall youth. “They can relate to what I went through. I just chose a different path. There is more than one way to do it right and wrong.” Knowing how valuable mentoring was to his own life’s roadmap, Kirkpatrick continues to give youth hands- on shop experience and more. “Kids come down to the shop looking for sponsorships. I want them to know someone believes in them.” Kirkpatrick’s quiet community engagement provides them with a good example to follow. His community service helped to give Humboldt a lot of fun, too. Although he is quick to point out he was but one of many, he helped to create and manage Samoa Dunes Recreational Area’s off-highway vehicle (OHV) access, as well as providing just the right beach chariot for your maximum enjoyment of same. Kirkpatrick also helped pull big companies together to sponsor the country’s largest utility task vehicle event, Oregon’s family friendly UTV Takeover. 

Kirkpatrick credits his success to the support of his family and employees, and Humboldt County. “Humboldt County has supported me since I was a child. If I hadn’t had the older gentleman helping me … I learned skill sets that are irreplaceable. If you were lucky, they would talk business with you, too.” Kirkpatrick sings the praises of his dedicated employees, some who have been with him for more than 15 years. He emphasized several times that he could not have accomplished what he has (a lot for his 44 years) without them. But it is his family that gets Kirkpatrick’s voice to thicken when speaking of time spent together on their small ranch boating, hunting or teaching his children to run the excavator.  

Kirkpatrick’s tenacity brought him through tragedy and fueled his need to focus his life on his family. He modestly finished the sentence, “My Humboldt life is …” with a heartfelt, “blessed to be part of Humboldt.” He gives thanks to his backbone, his wife Ehlana who runs her own business, Madrone Business Services, while caring for their family. “She dots the i and crosses the t, and I am a wild card. She supports me on all my little crazy things.” He may be a high-octane businessman but it is not industry success that drives him. “My kids are the focus of why I still push.” Kirkpatrick’s eldest son is now an operating engineer in his final apprentice year. He adores the fact that his teen daughter loves basketball courts and not engine bays. Yet the Kirkpatrick family tradition continues with his 4-year-old son having his own toolbox, in fact, a few (but he is still waiting for that big block engine).

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