The powersports industry recently lost a legend: Ken Boyko, famed for co-founding Cobra Engineering and widely known throughout the motorcycling community, in Southern California, across the country, and beyond. He was a giant of the aftermarket, an innovator, and pioneer in creating a whole new category of “metric customs” based on Japanese cruiser models.
He was also a genuine enthusiast with his own wide-ranging collection of bikes, and he greatly cared about motorcycling, providing keen insights and wise counsel to help boost the industry and make it stronger.
“Ken invested his talents and time into the serious work of the MIC, and he did it in his own quiet style,” said Tim Buche, former MIC President and CEO. “He did not seek headlines or recognition, but Ken answered the MIC’s call when it launched the MIC Aftermarket Committee. He helped refine our approach and worked with his peers to increase participation. A phone call or lunch with Ken was a true master class in membership recruitment and satisfaction, with a focus on key and critical priorities. He always added a strong dose of encouragement, and a commitment to engage his many connections and channels in support of our efforts.”
“When the MIC launched the Rockefeller Motorcycle Show in New York City in 2002, Ken sent a handful of great examples from his personal collection for weeks of public display in the heart of Manhattan, which generated incredible mainstream media coverage,” Buche said. “Ken wanted to see future generations of riders enjoying the fulfillment and fun of motorcycling.”
“Ken was an industry icon, although he would deny such a statement,” said Larry Little, former MIC Chairman and Cycle World Publisher. “He was his best possible self, take it or leave it – always looking to innovate and improve the status quo, whether it was a new product or a vision for growing the industry. If you knew Ken – and it seemed there weren’t many people he didn’t know – you were among the lucky and blessed.”
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Ken’s name to the Adult Ahmanson Congenital Heart Disease Center at UCLA. It was at UCLA where he received the gift of life from a donor and treated with love by the many talented doctors and nurses over decades.
