The global pandemic hasn’t stopped David from turning throttle on his 2021 Beta 430 RR. PHOTO BY BRITTANY ELLENTHORPE.
B
orn in Oyama, BC, AMSA Off-Road rider David Amyotte moved to Calgary in his early 20s after travelling with some friends to the Calgary Stampede. The change of scenery didn’t matter much at that time because he was on the road often, as a heavy haul driver, moving heavy equipment all over North America. In his 30s Dave transitioned his career into motorsports and was able to pursue his passion for motorcycles personally and professionally. Bikes were always a huge part of Dave’s life. Back home he started riding as a young kid borrowing his neighbour’s PW50. The first bike of his own was an old 80 that he bought with $500 he made from mowing lawns. At age 12, Dave started walking dogs for a veterinarian. It was his first “real” job and it allowed him to buy his first “real” bike, a YZ85. Dave laughs about the memory of blowing it up though: “My dad asked me to get smokes for him one morning before I went riding and I was mad so I ripped down the road in fifth gear pinned and blew the bottom end leaving the biggest skid mark you’ve ever seen.” Thankfully his dad helped him fix it and he was back on the gas. Dave’s first brand new bike was a 1994 CR250. Ken Pople, who worked at the Vernon Yamaha dealership at the time, offered Dave the deal of a lifetime after months of frequenting the
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shop, staring at the bike. Not knowing Dave from a hole in the wall, Ken asked Dave if he had a chequing account. Thankfully he did and Ken told Dave the bike would be his if he would provide $1,000 cash plus his trade and the balance distributed over 14 prewritten cheques. Dave got a big fat $1000 bill and 14 cheques from the bank and secured the bike. Sadly, Ken passed away tragically when he struck a cable hung across a dirt bike trail in the late 1990s, but his memory hasn’t been forgotten. It was after those years of ripping on his ‘94 CR250 that Dave started his life in Calgary. When he transitioned into the motorcycle industry, he started in outside sales for Cycleworks for several years. Then Cycleworks bought Seitzco and Dave went with them. During the transition to his current role, Dave also worked for a stint at a Harley dealership where his gained an entirely new perspective on customer management in the motorcycle industry. He realized that there needed to be balance between extraordinary customer service and personal life and that healthy boundaries could be (and needed to be) established. This shift helped him realize that mindset, personal value and self-confidence keep clients coming back and that networking drives the business. During his years at various dealerships, Dave was passionate about street bike riding and racing. He spent most of his time
