Hawkesbury will continue to have a motorcycle dealership in its downtown core.
Maximum Powersports owner Kevin Assaly announced this week that his company has purchased the former Goulet Motosports building. The Maximum Powersports current 23,000-square-foot facility on Tupper Street will continue as the business’s main location, while the former Goulet store on John Street will reopen next month as a secondary location for sales of Kawasaki motorcycles and preowned motorcycles. The main location will continue to sell Bombardier Recreational Products, including Can-Am three-wheel road bikes and ATVs, as well as Ski-doo snowmobiles and watercraft.
Maximum Powersports spokesman Claude Chabot said the prime downtown location was irresistible to the company, which is continuing to expand its product line.
“We’ll take Kawasaki to Goulet Motosports and we’ll bring some of our used inventory there and then we’ll try to attract other manufacturers,” Chabot said. “We are looking at a lot of different options for the location.”
Businesses in Hawkesbury were rocked in late August when it was announced that Goulet Motosports would be closing by the end of October, after a decision by Harley-Davidson Canada that the region was too small to support a dealership. The location was a popular tourist attraction which drew hundreds of motorcyclists to the area on summer weekends, many of whom frequented local businesses.
Chabot said Maximum Powersports expects the parking lot will be filled each weekend for many summers to come. The company hopes to build on what Goulet Motosports owners Sophie Goulet and Claude St-Andre created at the corner of John and Main streets in the town.
“I think that Sophie and Claude had built something extraordinary with Goulet Motosports – the following and the loyalty they had from their customers was unbelievable,” Chabot observed. “We felt we needed to step up and keep this in Hawkesbury and at least have some sort of powersport and motorcycle business in that building.
“If you are going to have a motorcycle store, the entrance to the bridge is a great location. Whether you want to follow Front Road or Bay Road or if you want to go along 148, it’s a great spot to enjoy a nice bike ride.”
Chabot noted Maximum Powersports has already received a great deal of positive feedback in just a couple of days since the announcement was made on the company’s Facebook page.
“The response has been very good and we hope that people will come out and see the new store once we are up and running.”
