Steve Giebel with Outerwears in Schoolcraft, Michgan would be quick to explain the products they offer and the amazing amount of protection they supply to your investment. "It's amazing how many people will spend $2000 or more on shocks but won't spend another $15-$20 to provide a lifetime of protection."

Outerwears provides shock covers to fit nearly every model of ATV made. They also have covers for Rhinos, Bikes, Off-Road Vehicles and other machines. On top of that they also offer many other products. One very popular item is a velcro mount air box cover. Recently one was tested and got rave reviews on ATV Scene. It fits snug and repels dust, dirt and water.

Question & Answer with Outerwears

How long has Outerwears been in business? How many long term employees?  2007 will be Outerwears 28th year in business.  The majority of our team is considered to be long term.  They have been with us for over 6 years.  We also have team members that have passed the 10 year mark.   

How many products does Outerwears make? How many are ATV related?  We have our three core product lines that all relate to the ATV industry.  The most popular is the Outerwears Pre-filter.  A few of the different products within the category are air filter Pre-filters, Air Box Lid Covers, Booties (for velocity stacks), funnel filters, and endless different custom applications.  Shockwears is the second line of products and within that category we offer Standard and Evolution series of Shockwears.  We also have a complete line of Scrub Bags.  These are used for washing and transporting your bike.  They are easily installed over the air filter for protection against the elements.

What are shock covers made from?   Standard Shockwears are made from durable nylon material and constructed with top of the line products such as Velcro brand USA Brand Velcro.  Evolution series of Shockwears are made of top quality materials as well and also include the full print designs and offer  heavy duty fold-over elastic 

How durable are they?  The water repellent series of Pre-filter has a chemical treatment that will last upwards of a year while the Pre-filter itself will last for years.  The Shockwears are made to handle the abuse that you can throw at it.  Shockwears and Scrub Bags alike will last for years as long as they are taken care of properly. 

Has the increase in ATV sales been noticeable for Outerwears?  Definetly.  The increase in sales of ATV’s directly relate to the increase in riders at the races.  Our products are geared towards the racer as well as the recreational rider.  The racers do a fantastic job of promoting our products to their friends that are recreational riders.  The magazine companies also play a major role in informing the consumer of our products by involving us in their project bikes and press release sections.  Consumers will check out the magazines for the hottest and the must have products made available from aftermarket companies such as Outerwears Inc.

Why use your products?  Outerwears products are built to improve everyday performance.  We have designed products to protect performance parts including the air filters and the shocks.  The Pre-filter deflects dirt away from the filter.  This allows the air filter to flow maximum amounts of air without clogging the pleats or closing the holes in the foam filters.  Outerwears Shockwears include a (CAT) cool air transfer system.  This allows the hot air to dissipate and draw in fresh cool air.

Does Outerwears offer custom products to resale vendors?  Custom pieces are a staple to the Outerwears Company.  A good part of our reputation is that we will custom make products for customers.  The distributors that we have do an excellent job of placing custom orders for there dealers.  I want to let people know that customs are available thru all of your dealers. 

Do you have a website?  Our website is www.outerwears.com.  We have completely redone the site.  It is much easier for people to get information.  It will contain all of the different industries that we are involved in.  Outerwears products can be used in many different industries.  A lot of your readers may find it interesting that we manufacture products for Wet/Dry vacs, bagless vacuums, commercial lawn equipment, military products, R/C cars, boats, planes, marine, automotive, sprint cars, late models, go-karts, sport compact cars, industrial equipment etc…

How many amateur riders do you sponsor?  I don’t even want to add up the total.  I do know that we sponsored more this year than any other year in the past.  We have focused a lot of energy on providing more opportunities to the amateurs because of the great support they have provided us over the years.  We are also looking at generating new and exciting ways to sponsor riders for many years to come. 

Who does someone contact about sponsorship?  I handle all of the sponsorship requests.  I do ask that all sponsorship proposals be mailed to my attention (Steve Giebel) at Outerwears Inc. 12611 US HWY 131 Schoolcraft, MI  49087.  We accept proposals in the months of October and November.  Only proposals received within the time frame get considered.  The proposals must be a hard copy, no e-mailed proposals.  We really appreciate all of the requests for sponsorship so we commit to calling each person back to let them know the results to their requests. 

There has been a lot of products come on the market in the past couple years to deflect dirt from shocks, but do they offer the same protection as one of your products?  I’m happy to see others get into the market because it raises the awareness of Shockwears.  We are the originators of Shockwears so most often people will ask for our product by name.  We offer the CAT (cool air transfer) system.  This allows the heat to dissipate from within the Shockwears while drawing fresh cool air back into the Shockwears.  We also offer heavy duty fold-over elastic for maximum holding strength.  We follow that up with the use of the highest quality of hook and loop for closure.  We use Velcro USA brand Velcro in the construction of the Shockwears.  All these parts play a vital role in assuring the customer get a top quality piece that Outerwears is proud to provide.  Outerwears also offers and Evolutions series of Shockwears.  These have a full graphic design printed to the Shockwears.  We are always working on developing new ideas for the next series of Shockwears to accommodate or customers. 

Outerwears is a huge supporter at a lot of ATV events. Do you expect to see this sport continue to grow at such a rapid rate?  I know that all of us in the industry are committed to promoting the sport and assisting in the growth.  The television coverage is definitely going to help the sport grow.  The sport of ATV racing has already grown leaps and bounds just in the last 10 years that I have been involved with it at Outerwears.  Sometimes I have to sit back and take it all in on how much the sport has evolved.  I think that the success is due to companies within the industry for taking a hands on approach to business.  Some of the little things get overlooked.  Companies in the industry are fortunate enough to be able to hire people that have a true passion for the sport.  This carries over into the success of the sport.

Any new products coming out that you can tell us about?  We have a lot of new marketing tools for the dealers.  We have been focusing on increasing dealers sales by providing them with all of the tools they need to succeed with our product line.  I did want to let everyone know that we do offer Pre-filters for your air intake systems on your trucks/ haulers/ suv’s/ sport compacts and R/C cars.  Yes, I said R/C cars. 

The entire AEM staff wants to thank Steve and the Outerwears team for playing a key roll in the future of ATV Racing!