10/10/2026
Here’s a little Sunday Post story. Here at Road and Sport, in total between us all we’ve spent decades working in a Harley-Davidson dealership or dealerships, where we can roughly be split into two categories.
There are front-of-house kinds of people… in the showroom, behind the parts, service reception and apparel counters, in the finance and insurance office, and of course our Sales Team.
The other group has the R&S team members who you generally don’t see… The technicians, detailers, and apprentices. Spanning both groups are our owners, keeping the doors open, training, coaching and encouraging us all to always work in and with the “Road and Sport Ethos” of unmatched customer service.
But let’s look briefly at the downstairs team of technicians. While many R&S staff can swing a spanner pretty well and understand motorcycle mechanical and basic electrical needs too, (Adam for example builds his own older model bikes including complete engine re-builds)… the full sets of skills and knowledge needed in the 2020s are black-magic wizardry to those of us without H-D Factory Technician training.
21st Century electronics puts an insurmountable barrier between most of our grazed-knuckles abilities and the technical aspects of a modern Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
It’s now a computerised, plug-in, download, fault-code, ECM map and tune world inside much of a Service Department, and the pace of change from H-DMC is relentless. The techs stay up to date by returning to school over and over during every year. For every factory change there are complex new procedures to learn, manuals to study, dyno runs to prove the concepts, and online training and assessments which MUST be passed.
The intricacies of older model motorcycles and engines are also re-visited regularly.
Road and Sport began in business 48 years ago as a motorcycle Service business, and under the same ownership today we insist that service remains at the heart of the dealership.
So… let’s just look back a few days, and if you haven’t seen it on our socials yet we’ll let you know now that our Lead Technician Ben has put his Master Technician skills and knowledge at the top of the New Zealand and Australia awards list... for the 3rd time!
Ben is the winner of the Harley-Davidson Technician of the Year Award for Australia and New Zealand, and will travel overseas later in the year as the Finalist for NZ and AU in the Global H-D Technician Award competition.
Ben has won the Australia and New Zealand Award in 2023 and 2024, and now 2026, ahead of Master Level and expert technicians from Harley Dealers across both countries.
And that’s not all! In more great news, Mike is another Road and Sport Technician, and he finished in the top ten of the arduous 2026 Tech of the Year competition.
All of us at Road and Sport are thrilled and proud of Ben's win and Mike’s top-ten ranking. We see their skills in action every day, Ben in particular is the guiding hand for all our Service Techs, and the Ace for RASP Road and Sport Performance upgrades. The Horsepower and Torque numbers he can pull out of an engine with his RASP Custom Dyno mapping skills are astounding.
Please join us in congratulating Ben and Mike on their results, which are powered of course by their knowledge, abilities, and passion for their work.
And for our New Zealand customers and friends, please consider Road and Sport Service Department for your servicing needs… basic, oil change, scheduled or annual services, accessories fitting, straight-up dyno tunes to find peak horsepower and torque, performance engine upgrades from our RASP Team (Road and Sport Performance) to Stage-1, Stage-2, Stage-3, Stage-4, Stage-4PLUS, or Stage-4-Elite, and tyres with free fitting and balancing for stocked tyres on Harleys.
We also create custom builds to your dream specifications (we have access to after-market custom parts and accessories from around the globe), and our customs have been featured in Heavy Duty Magazine.
Have a great Sunday!
