Our History
Chase Harper was started back in December of 1979 by long time friends John Chase & Ron Harper who meet each other through their mothers in grade school. The relationship began with wrestling or grabbing each others ears and grew into a strong friendship that eventually cultivated into business partners. In the late summer of 1979 John called Ron and said, "sell your house we are going into the Motorcycle business." Without hesitation, Ron put up went the "for sale" sign. After a successful sale and some cash in his pocket, Ron worked with John to build a plan for Chase Harper.
As all good startup stories go, Chase Harper began in a garage. THIS garage happened to be in Santa Barbara, Ca, and was the domicile of John Chase. The dining room held the office, and the garage housed the sewing machine and layout table. After much deliberation the first bag was born, the 750 expandable tankbag! This was quite an accomplishment for the two, who immediately sought to patent the design. The product line that grew from this bag would eventually be called, "Compac," a name that soon transitioned to a more generic. "Chase Harper." With their names on the bags, and nothing but ambition, the two entrepreneurs set out to make motorcycle bag history.
They outgrew their Santa Barbara Mesa home and moved to a location in Montecito with a large basement, which served as their production facility. With several tankbags and offroad products, they were off to the races. Over time Chase Harper grew to embody the spirit of motorcycle travel as customers came from far and wide to purchase their goods.
Ron and John spent years building the company and riding central coast trails in every minute of free time they had available. After each adventure the two would return to discuss improvements for their bags. Their combined vision built the foundation of Chase Harper and carries through to the brand today.
Chase Harper has, and always will, build the highest quality motorcycle bags in the industry. With one eye on tradition and the other on innovation, Chase Harper builds bags that capture the essence of the motorcycle enthusiast.