Used Bikes Direct & Friendly Powersports Partner With Ekho to Go National

The dealer group behind Used Bikes Direct, a storied used motorcycle specialist with a reputation for curating some of the most sought-after inventory in the South, and Friendly Powersports, a legacy off-road dealer carrying top brands like Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Polaris, today announced a partnership with Ekho, the AI-native vehicle commerce platform that helps dealers scale their proven online buying experience to riders nationwide.

Ekho gives dealers AI-native websites built for speed, mobile performance, and search visibility across SEO and AI search tools like ChatGPT, paired with a complete online transaction engine integrating financing, KYC, fraud detection, titling, registration, and compliance. With AI agents that answer buyer questions, qualify leads, and book appointments around the clock, Ekho turns a dealership into a 24/7 sales machine while preserving the dealer's existing processes, margins, and brand.

Used Bikes Direct has built a loyal following by making pre-owned the core of its identity. For over two decades, the team has consistently sourced high-quality, hard-to-find motorcycles that draw buyers from across the region — and they were early to offer a fully remote buying experience with delivery direct to the customer's door. Combined with Friendly Powersports' full lineup of new and used off-road and watercraft offerings, the group covers the full spectrum of what powersports buyers are looking for.

Daniel Hyde, CEO of both brands, is a rare operator in the industry. He pairs sharp media and content strategy with deep operational thinking and is equally comfortable building an audience online as he is streamlining how a dealership actually moves units. It's a combination that positions him and the group to push powersports retail into its next chapter.

Though the group was early to remote buying, any experience built through manual workflows has its limits. Used vehicles are often the most complex transactions a dealer handles, with title history, lien verification, and state-by-state compliance requirements that multiply when selling across state lines. For a dealer group that has already proven the demand for online purchasing and is ready to take it national, the transaction and compliance infrastructure needs to match the ambition.

"We've been selling motorcycles and shipping them to customers for years, so we know the demand is there. What we needed was a platform that could handle the full transaction, financing, compliance, titling, and registration, across state lines without slowing the customer down. Ekho gives us the infrastructure to take what we've built regionally and offer it to riders across the country, with the same quality and transparency our customers expect from us."

Daniel Hyde, CEO at Used Bikes Direct / Friendly Powersports

"We've long believed powersports retail needs to evolve, and we're ready to help drive that change. Our customers deserve a buying experience that matches the quality of the bikes we put them on. Partnering with Ekho gives us the infrastructure to lead that shift, so we can keep raising the bar on customer experience no matter where the buyer is."

Jordan Wright, GM at Used Bikes Direct Grand Prairie, TX

Ekho will be rolled out across both Used Bikes Direct and Friendly Powersports, powering online sales for the group's full inventory. The partnership brings Ekho's AI-native vehicle commerce platform to one of Texas and Louisiana's most established powersports dealer groups, giving buyers nationwide access to the inventory and buying experience that has made the group a regional leader for nearly 30 years.

"Daniel, Jordan, and the whole UBD and Friendly team are the kind of partners we love building with. They think deeply about what their customers actually want, they move fast, and they're not afraid to push the industry forward. We're thrilled to power the group's modern, customer-first buying experience."

Rowan Mockler, Cofounder & CEO at Ekho