About

The History of Carter Powersports

The year 2009 marks the 29th year of operation for Carter Powersports. It has been a memorable time for those of us who have been here for most or much of that period. If you’d like to know where we came from and how we got here, I’ll do my best to recall it accurately.


The origins of Carter Powersports go back to a small store on West Sahara, beginning in the year 1980. Our store name at that time was Kawasaki West of Las Vegas. We had fewer than 10 employees and it was truly a family business. West Sahara was largely undeveloped then: Customers could ride their dirt bikes and ATVs right up to our back door, and they did so very often.

In the year 1983 we were able to purchase the Honda franchise of a store that had ended in bankruptcy, the old Honda West on Valley View Boulevard. We re-opened the Honda store in that Valley View/Spring Mountain location as a second operation and renamed our company Desert Honda Kawasaki. We all worked hard and the Honda store was very successful from opening day. We became so busy in our new location that a decision was made to sell off the Kawasaki store, and that was done.

Desert Honda is the name we operated under at that time, and our company continued to grow. In 1985 we purchased property on Tropicana Avenue and drew up plans for building a new home for our store. It was finished in the spring of 1986 and we moved into our new dealership facility on the day before Memorial Day.

It made for a short holiday weekend, but Memorial Day was saved for its rightful purpose.

As time passed, we added new products to our lineup. In 1989 we began selling a line of personal watercraft. Sea-Doo started slowly, but soon grew into a major division of our company as they gained acceptance and added new models. Then, in 1992, we put Suzuki motorcycles and ATVs in our showroom, becoming a true multi-line dealership.

The resulting name, Desert Honda Suzuki Sea-Doo, adequately described us, but was quite a mouthful when answering the phone or at any other time. So in the year 2004, to emphasize the local, family-owned values of our dealership, and to rededicate ourselves to providing the best customer service in the West, we adopted the new name of Carter Powersports.

We have learned much during the last 29 years of operation. We believe that we have successfully applied our acquired knowledge to the betterment of our business. That can be proven by the satisfaction and loyalty of our customers, our employees, and our suppliers.

The year 2007 marked a rebirth for our company as we upgraded to a newer, bigger, and more convenient location at 6275 South Decatur Boulevard at the I-215 Beltway.

Please join us and enjoy the ride.


Customer service is our goal.
Your convenience is our mission!

Our store hours are:
Monday through Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Closed Sunday