In everything he’s done – motorcycle dealer, creator of stylishly advanced custom motorcycles (not to mention some innovative custom cars and hot rods), marketing and merchandising innovator, showman and community leader – decisiveness has been the Dron signature.

Now celebrating 36 years in the motorcycle industry and 25 years as a Harley-Davidson dealer, he’s not only guided his own fortunes, but provided invaluable leadership and counsel to Harley-Davidson management, the company’s dealer councils and industry leaders. His firm has received the Gold Bar and Shield Award nine times, Harley-Davidson Motor Company’s highest dealer accolade.

As a kid growing up in Isleton, a sleepy port town on California’s Sacramento River, Bob Dron probably knew early on that his future would roll on both two and four wheels as he charted the road ahead. His dad ran a trucking company where young Bob learned about machines, mechanical things, the art of welding and fabricating and bending and shaping metal.

By the time he was 23, he’d owned 47 cars and a dozen motorcycles. His passion for stylized vehicles led him to take a short daytime leave from his boarding school, the San Rafael Academy, so he could get to Oakland’s Exposition Building to cadge a pass inside the venerable Grand National Oakland Roadster Show, then one of America’s premier hot rod and custom car convocations.

In 1970, he started his own firm in Concord, CA, American Chopper Enterprises, and set about creating innovative, cutting edge custom motorcycles. His Cycletron sidecar machine, painted in psychedelic swirls by noted artist Art Himsl, graced the first issue of Chopper magazine. He followed with the radical California Flyer, the Indy Cycle, Dirt Bag and His n Hers bikes.

In 1981, Bob and Tracey Dron took a daring step at a particularly dark time in Harley-Davidson’s history: they took over a moribund dealership in Oakland, CA. Focusing on customer service, parts and accessories, marketing and merchandising programs, they – along with the parent company – began to turn things around.

His core business secure and growing, Bob turned once again to his first passion: designing and building custom motorcycles. In 1992 – and in collaboration with then-emerging Oakland coachbuilder Steve Moal – he initiated work on a breakthrough concept that would revolutionize the world of motorcycle design: the Heritage Royale. Winner of the Oakland Roadster Show’s prestigious Slonaker Award for Technical Excellence, the red Euro-styled bike presaged a number of innovative two wheeled concepts to come: the gleaming raw metal Hot Rod Royale, Tracey’s strictly retro Dad-E-O chopper and dozens of others. The story of Bob’s spectacular bikes is on our website, too.

In the early ‘90s, Bob and Tracey moved the bar up another notch, opening the Bob Dron Harley-Davidson emporium on Oakland’s Hegenberger Rd. that at that time was the largest Harley-Davidson facility in the world. The gleaming neon and pastel Art Deco complex allowed the Drons to refine and expand their motor clothing, accessory, rentals, parts, sales and service capabilities – and gave Bob the appropriate venue at which to produce a number of breakthrough showroom concepts, including the staging of Harley® bikes and hot rods, vintage race cars and motorcycles, production of community festivals featuring music, fashion shows, motorcycle riding demonstrations, motorcycle art and sculpture, book signings, and motorcycle police drill team competitions.

And now the Drons celebrated their 25th year as Harley-Davidson dealers with the opening of a new 45,000 sq. ft. complex (just across from their previous Hegenberger Rd. facility). This gives them room to expand and showcase their inventory, add to clothing and accessory lines, provide a full time rental agency, move ahead with 21st Century motorcycle service accommodations – and add more room to stage even larger community events, all under one roof. The comprehensive facility is Northern California's largest full-service dealership; you have to make this a destination ride, "Seeing is Believing".