Cory West has made the news in magazines such as Cycle News and Cycle World, and was featured on the cover of Road Racing World in 2014. Now, in addition to continuing his 20-year career road racing on street bikes, he operates a business renting motorcycles and taking people on dirt road tours of some of the more beautiful areas in Northwest Arkansas.
You might say that Cory, who got his first motorcycle at age four, inherited his love of bikes. His father, Denton West, and grandfather, Joe West, raced motorcycles. His grandmother, the late Louise Mesa, rode motorcycles and her father, Quinn Winters, had a motorcycle shop in Fort Smith.
“It is a family thing,” Cory said. “I am a fourth-generation motorcyclist. I have always been intrigued by going fast on motorcycles. I’ve always been competitive. This is just a good outlet for me. It is hard to describe the thrill of going 200 miles an hour on a bike.”
Cory moved to Eureka Springs when he was in middle school and started racing in high school. After he started traveling a lot to race, it was harder to keep up with grades, but he graduated from Eureka Springs High School in 2002, and his racing ended up being occupational training.
He had some great years before the 2008 recession took a toll on the bike racing industry. He was riding for big teams and getting paid to race. He was working for and racing for a motorcycle manufacturer in Wisconsin in 2014. When that company shut down, he was unemployed and returned to Eureka Springs where he bought a dual sport motorcycle – a street legal dirt bike – and started doing a lot of exploring locally.
“I went on a dual sport adventure with some friends in Costa Rica,” Cory said. “We hired a guide and that guide got us lost. We had kind of a miserable trip. After that I figured that I could do the same thing better and be based out of Eureka Springs. So, I slowly started purchasing motorcycles for people to rent and started my business in about 2016.”
Over his years of racing he built up a name for himself, and that helped launch the touring business Froggy’s Moto Tours. Over time, word-of-mouth and visits from friends and racers has kept the business rolling.
Some regular trips include taking people through the Madison County Wildlife Management Area where he shows riders waterfalls and the view from the Kings River overlook. Other trips go to Mount Magazine, Jasper or Ponca. He tries to keep people on dirt roads for the majority of the trip.
“Arkansas has exceptional dirt roads that are highly maintained,” Cory said. “Sometimes we take our country for granted, simple things like road maintenance. Obviously, there is no lack of scenery around here, so it worked out perfectly.”
In addition to customers from all over the country, he recently hosted international riders.
Froggy’s Moto Tours is a Destination Yamaha Rental Location where Cory has four rental motorcycles. One of his tour sponsors is Arai Helmets, so, for anyone who didn’t bring a helmet, one is provided by Arai.
Usually, he gets a group of buddies who want to travel together who rent bikes and go out for a couple days of exploring. Cory said rentals are easier if you live hundreds of miles away, and don’t want to travel with bikes and all the gear.
“Just come to my place, rent my bikes, and I take will take you out,” he said. “But I also get people who come with their own motorcycles who hire me for the guide service because I know the area.”
What’s all the noise about?
Motorcycle noise is a major nuisance in Eureka Springs, but comes from motorcycles that have had stock mufflers removed to blast even more noise. Cory keeps stock mufflers on his bikes.
“I particularly like to be stealthy,” Cory said. “If you are quiet in the woods, you can usually happen across some nice wildlife.”
Cory also rides mountain bikes. His home and business are on a property that borders Lake Leatherwood, which has miles of mountain biking trails. Cory said rigorous mountain biking is a good training tool to stay in good shape for racing.
“It is really neat that Northwest Arkansas has become a mountain bike mecca with all the new trails,” Cory said. “And it is good exercise. There is more to it than sitting on a motorcycle and turning the throttle. You have to be in good shape to race 30 minutes or more at high intensity.”
Cory’s girlfriend, Patricia Fernandez, also races motorcycles.
Cory doesn’t feel like what he does is a job. He lives the saying that if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life.
His career has provided plenty of travel and cultural experiences. He has been to 46 states, and raced in Spain, England, Canada and China, where he won two superbike races.
Cory’s business is called Froggy’s Moto Tours in honor of his grandmother, Louise Mesa, who operated Frog Fantasies Museum and Gift Shop on Spring Street for many years. She and her husband, Pat Mesa, used to wear frog costumes in parades.
“I’ve got those frog heads at my house,” Cory said. “When my grandmother passed away, she left me her frog collection, which numbers in the thousands. I still sell them on Etsy. Some people came to Eureka just to see the frogs and now some people come to Eureka just to ride dirt bikes with me.”
His website is Froggymoto.com, and he can be found on Facebook and Instagram. Cory can be reached at (479) 461-1133.