Workshop & Storage

When Doug Aust worked for the U.S. Postal Service in the state of Washington, owning a Harley-Davidson custom bike shop was nothing but a dream.

Today, Aust is living the dream in Northern Arizona. And Allied Steel is helping him make it happen.

Aust was a postal worker for 23 years in the Great Northwest, but he left the rainy state to move to Tucson, Arizona to do what he really wanted to do-customize and service high-end motorcycles.

He found a job to learn the trade at Independence Motorcycle – but soon developed a desire to own his own shop.

After a year in Tucson, Aust’s wife was transferred to Las Vegas, so the family moved to “nearby” Fort Mohave, Arizona. It was then that Aust was ready to put his plan in motion to be his own boss.

In January 2004, Aust opened Fort Mohave Motorcycle to serve the nearly 70,000 residents in the town and neighboring communities in this area, which is near the borders of Arizona, Nevada and California.

Aust originally opened the shop in his family garage, but soon afterward realized he would need to expand the operation. After some Internet research into various building companies, he discovered Allied Steel and the perfect building to meet his needs . at a price that met his budget.

“I wanted to get out of my garage and open a bigger place with a showroom,” he says. “Now I have enough room for offices, a showroom, bays for storage and work space.”

Aust ordered the 40- by 65-foot building in December, 2004 and it was delivered in February of 2005. He hired a local contractor to lay the foundation for him, but then did the construction himself, along with a couple of friends, Tom Olson and Gary Chipman.

“That was an experience, I had never built a building like that,” he says. “I worked on it pretty much all the time, and those guys helped me out when they could after work or on weekends.”

The new building was constructed on a patch of land to the side of his house, about 100 feet from the garage where the company started.

He says there were no problems with the blueprints that Allied supplied, nor were there any zoning or permit issues.

“We’re kind of remote out here, so no one gave me any problems,” Aust says. As for using the enclosed instructions to erect the building, he adds, “It was pretty easy to follow the plans Allied gave me. Everything came together well.”

It was a long journey from Washington postal worker to Arizona Harley “guru,” but Aust is excited about the future. Now that his new Allied building is up and ready for business, he is looking forward to the road ahead.

“I always wanted to have some kind of showroom for my company,” he says. “Whether I’m doing custom paint jobs or adding handlebars or whatever, this is a much better place to work in and for my customers to come to. It’s going to be great.”