Dreamcycle Creates Endless Opportunities for Motorcycle Enthusiasts
By Jo Boxwell
Dreamcycle Motorcycle Museum owner Mark Lane with adventure bikes (photo credit: Scoop staff)
Mark Lane has been passionate about motorcycles since childhood. He quietly amassed a collection of bikes while he was working as a commercial tree planter in Grand Prairie. After he began experiencing back problems that necessitated a career change, Mark realized that the 50 models he owned were enough to establish a small museum. All he needed was the perfect location to make his motorcycle museum dream a reality.
Mark and his wife Doreen (who sadly passed away recently) began their search for a motorcycle museum location on Vancouver Island, where Mark grew up. Five years went by. Then, a friend in the Shuswap suggested a property on the Trans-Canada Highway in Balmoral. Mark and Doreen came to take a look – and their first impression was that the building was in the middle of nowhere – hardly an ideal spot for a visitor attraction. Mark credits his Christian faith for a change of heart, and he came to believe that this location would be a great place to build his business.
Dreamcycle Motorcycle Museum (photo credit: Scoop staff)
Dreamcycle Motorcycle Museum (photo credit: Scoop staff)
The doors of Dreamcycle Motorcycle Museum opened in May 2012. “The place is amazing. It’s actually the centre of everywhere,” Mark commented, since bikers are frequently travelling along the highway from big cities and regional hubs like Calgary, Vancouver, Kelowna and Kamloops.
Outside of a COVID disruption, the museum, which also has a gift shop and a café, has seen steady growth. There are over 100 rare and remarkable bikes on display, and Mark keeps things interesting by switching out three or four models every year. Some people who visit don’t know anything about bikes, but Mark said, “they really appreciate the history that they learn from going through the museum.” The collection includes bikes that date back more than 100 years, and a couple of the models on display are the only ones left in the world.
In 2019, Mark added a motorcycle adventure tour company to his business, and interest has grown quickly. The company offers multi-day tours that take riders through spectacular locations such as the Rockies, Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. The tours have attracted international visitors from countries including the UK, the United States, Australia and the Philippines. Most of the tours begin at the company’s Shuswap base, and one full-day tour is dedicated to exploring the local area. “A lot of people come on that tour to find out if they like adventure riding,” Mark explained.
The one-day Shuswap experience takes bikers through the North Shuswap with a stop at Albas Falls, lunch at Smurf’s Country Kitchen in Seymour Arm, into the back country and then down into Malakwa. The trip includes old growth forest and spectacular views of the lake and mountains as the group work their way down Anstey Arm. “There’s lots of really cool creeks with lots of moss growing all over the trees… People just love that one-day tour,” Mark said.
Creating quality adventure tours for bike groups isn’t a quick process. Mark and his team have dedicated many hours to discovering the best roads. “The key is to find amazing scenery on a route, and make a route up using that amazing scenery, rather than just any road going anywhere, because there’s 750,000 kilometres of roads in BC.”
People come from around the world to bike in the Shuswap, and Mark also sends bikes from his Shuswap location around the world as part of an auction company. Bikes arrive in Balmoral for a tune up and to be photographed before being shipped off to locations like Hong Kong, England, Germany and Australia.
Mark came to the Shuswap to build his dream business, and as it continues to expand, it provides unique experiences for locals and visitors. Mark described his work as “very busy, but it’s a lot of fun.”
Find out more about motorcycle adventures in the Shuswap and beyond at https://dreamcycle.ca.
