J&P Cycles founder honored, Vintage Rally set for June 1-3

ANAMOSA -- John Parham, founder of J&P Cycles and president of the National Motorcycle Museum board of directors, recently received industry recognition.

Separately, the second annual Vintage Rally 2012 at the Anamosa museum has been set for June 1-3.

Parham received the Don J. Brown Lifetime Achievement Award on Friday, Feb. 17, at the 2012 Dealer Expo and American V-Twin Dealer Show in Indianapolis. The award is given each year to an individual in the motorcycle retailing community who furthers the sport, the business, and the industry over the course of their career.

Parham, a life-long motorcycle enthusiast, founded J&P Cycles with his wife, Jill, in 1979. What began as a small Harley-Davidson motorcycle repair shop in a dirt-floor garage on the outskirts of Anamosa has grown into the world's largest catalog retailer of aftermarket motorcycle parts and accessories.

J&P Cycles annually hosts an open house that draws more than 10,000 customers as well as equipment suppliers to the company's headquarters off Highway 151. The company produces one of the largest mail-order catalogs in the industry that lists more than 40,000 motorcycle parts and accessories.

Parham, in addition to being recognized for his business achievements, also received the award for his lifetime dedication to the motorcycle industry. A restorer of vintage motorcycles since his youth, Parham in 2001 relocated the National Motorcycle Museum from Sturgis, S. D., to Anamosa.

The National Motorcycle Museum at 102 Chamber Dr. displays more than 320 motorcycles from around the world as well as pieces of artwork and memorabilia in a 36,000-square-foot facility. It will host the Vintage Rally the first weekend of June, featuring hundreds of motorcycles on display, a swap meet and artifacts from the television show "Then Came Bronson" that aired from 1969 to 1970.

In 2001, Parham was instrumental in moving the museum from Sturgis, S.D., to Anamosa.

"Vintage motorcycles have always been a tremendous passion of mine, which led to the labor of love that is the National Motorcycle Museum," Parham said in his award acceptance speech. "Since Jill and I retired from running the company last fall, the museum has become my true day-to-day passion."

Parham's son, Zach, assumed leadership of J & P Cycles in 2011.