March 2011
Biker of the Month
Vicki Neely and/or Nathan Cowart are wholly responsible for the content of the following article and/or story, including, but not limited to any and all facts and conclusions contained therein. Further that A Cowgirls Corral, A Cowgirls Corral-in Conroe nor any and/or all owners/principals thereof are not subject to any claims, accusations, assertions, and/or lawsuits and are to be held harmless from any claims, accusations, assertions, and/or lawsuits of whatsoever nature that may arise in connection with this article/story. The contents of this article/story are solely the responsibility of Nathan Cowart and Vicki Neely.
Nathan was born in downtown Dallas, Baylor Hospital on August 12, 1959. He got his first bike, a Yamaha 90 Enduro, when he was 14 years old and has been riding ever since. He also got his first ticket riding this bike on the street in Richardson, Texas.
Right after high school, Nathan spent 4 years in the Air Force from 1977 to 1981, as an airframe repair specialist on F4-E Phantoms. This is where he gained knowledge working with metals, plexi-glass, fiberglass and related materials. In 1989, after ten years of riding homemade choppers, he finally got his first Harley, a 1975 Ironhead Sportster and joined H.O.G. which he has been a life member of for 22 years now. He worked two years at Harley-Davidson of Dallas on Shiloh Road, and prior to that seven years as maintenance engineer for 3 premier hotels in downtown Dallas. He then realized that if he was ever was going to have a business of his own it would be then or never.
He looked for months for a loan and a location, but no financial institution was willing to back a motorcycle shop. He had all but given up the idea of owning his own business since he was not going to receive any financial assistance. He still had one appointment to visit a location for lease on Garland Road ~ he kept this appointment. This old pawn shop was newly remodeled and knowing he had no financial backing, when he was walking out of the lease space he said he’d take it. They gave him the first month rent free.
White Rock Custom was born.
After starting with items he had in his garage, he successfully ran this business from that location for 10-1/2 years. The shop not only had parts and accessories but also customized Harleys and he became a dealer for over 40 motorcycle part/accessory distributors.
In 2006, he was approached by representatives of Easyrider Magazine and asked to enter 6 or more of the bikes he had customized into their annual show at Fairpark. They gained his support in assisting in the revitalizing of the spectator participation with
an offer of a free booth for his store.
He brought in an impressive 8 motorcycles which took up an entire aisle of custom bikes,
two of which attained trophies as class winners that year.
Going into this business he knew it would be difficult and he had to have an edge, it seemed the shops were opening everywhere. One was location but the main edge he had was he would keep the same hours as the auto parts stores (i.e. O’Riley’s and AutoZone) which involved being open every night till 9:00 pm and being open on Sundays. To this day, no motorcycle shop can claim the record of over a decade opening every Sunday and seven days a week till at least 9:00 pm. This of course took its toll on his family life. “If I’d known what was to follow, I may have never devoted my life to the service of the biker community for all that length of time,” Nathan stated.
The economic downturn that overtook the country and the subsequent land grab that was to follow in 2008 definitely had an impact on Nathan and White Rock Custom. Most of his customers were laid off from their jobs and others could no longer afford accessorize or service their motorcycles. Nathan had already moved into his facility due to the great increase of criminal activity in the area. This coupled with the long hours he had already put in and the loss of his sales, greatly affected his home life which was to terminate.
After the loss of his insurance policies and operating eight months without electric service, and having his bank account frozen by the State, he was finally evicted in June of 2009. He decided to make good on his desire and move to the country, so he packed up his $250,000 of merchandise, service equipment and store fixtures, which included 3 Harleys and a vintage Honda chopper, he loaded up an old RV he traded for an old Sportster, and headed out to look for a new location hoping for a fresh start.
Filing bankruptcy and giving up everything he had worked for, for himself and for his children, was not an option.
After leaving Dallas, he looked for a small town to start anew. Following two attempts, quite by accident, he finally settled in East Tawakoni at a place on the lake where he could park his RV. Spotting a small “for rent” sign at Margie’s Groceries in West Tawakoni, he knew that this had potential because of the annual biker event “Wet and Wild” which he had participated in the past, and he started again.
Many unfortunate incidents happened during the year there including the loss of his RV, his company vehicle
and the theft of his personal Harley-Davidson, a ’92 Softtail Springer.
He filed a police report but soon realized that information leading to the whereabouts of his bike was being concealed
and the people involved were being protected.
Nathan offered a reward for information, followed many leads which included trading his last motorcycle for an old pickup
to travel to Galveston where the thief had moved to.
He found out down there from a local sheriff that his Harley wasn’t even on the “hot sheet.”
This was the beginning of a long and dangerous investigation with many law enforcement agencies turning a blind eye.
He subsequently uncovered copies of five forged documents from the DMV which proved identity theft had been used to re-title his motorcycle as a commercial vehicle 13 days after it was stolen, to an individual in Oak Cliff.
One of these documents was a photocopy of this individual’s Texas driver’s license except on it had the name Nathan C. Cowart and an address in Duncanville which came up belonging to a certain wrecker service. Due to the discovery in Galveston, Nathan had all identifying numbers re-posted on the State wide theft report which solely contributed to the recovery of his Harley,
420 miles away in Warsaw, Missouri when someone attempted to re-title.
To this day many individuals have been re-assigned and although proof of guilt amongst many individuals has been presented,
no one has been charged with the theft of his motorcycle.
This was in August of 2010 almost a year to the day he had opened at Margie’s Groceries.
The effect of this search of his motorcycle took its toll on the focus of re-opening the store and gaining business.
He relocated everything into the Hunt County Trade Center located at 9065 FM 751, #13 in Quinlan, Texas.
He added the word “Lucky” above the number 13 on the door to reflect the retrieval of his stolen motorcycle.
He is re-establishing White Rock Custom at the trade center on weekends
(although he is still available seven days a week if there is a biker in need).
He has also put White Rock online at www.whiterockcustom.com to provide merchandise for bikers worldwide.
Even after all the trials and tribulations, long hours and the loss of everything dear to him, Nathan still makes himself and White Rock Custom available 24/7 to bikers everywhere.
This month A Cowgirl's Corral we would like to introduce a very brave and very determined man, that has always refused to accept defeat, and with much diligent effort has overcome many challenges in his life. May we present to you...
MR. NATHAN COWART
Nathan with love of his life-Vicki Neely
Nathan with his two sons Hunter (left) and Brennen
Nathan's beautiful daughter, Holly
Vicki Neely and/or Nathan Cowart are wholly responsible for the content of the following article and/or story, including, but not limited to any and all facts and conclusions contained therein. Further that A Cowgirls Corral, A Cowgirls Corral-in Conroe nor any and/or all owners/principals thereof are not subject to any claims, accusations, assertions, and/or lawsuits and are to be held harmless from any claims, accusations, assertions, and/or lawsuits of whatsoever nature that may arise in connection with this article/story. The contents of this article/story are solely the responsibility of Nathan Cowart and Vicki Neely.
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