Garage Company

I don’t know about past reviews, but I can tell you what’s going on now (1 Sept 2015). I had an appointment with my regular mechanic at another shop who I really like and is very good, but he was running late so I gave the Garage Co a try. I had been to the Garage Co several times to hang out, but not to get my bike worked on (oil leak in a ’07 S&S 96 cu inch). I came in unannounced and Yoshi immediately introduced me to one of his mechanics, Jim L. What an incredible experience. Jim walked me through his extremely logical trouble shooting process until he nailed down the actual problem. I’ve been riding almost 30 years, but I’m no mechanic — Jim showed and explained things to me a way that I completely understood what was going on. While he fixed the leak we came across some other things that needed a little attention — mostly because Jim listened to me explain the history of this bike/​engine. This was exciting for me because we were able to get this thing running better than I thought possible (and I’ve owned 3 other S&S motors). Another great thing is that Jim was also able to consult with Marty (legendary mechanic extraordinaire) on different options. Like most people, I’m always worried about whether or not I can afford the work — the price was more than fair. I’ve had a lot of bikes fixed over a lot of years and sometimes things work the way we want and sometimes it would have been cheaper to buy another bike — the bottom line is that I’m sold on Jim L. at the Garage Co.

Yoshi and His Wife are so nice and honest… all motorcycles have issues sometimes hard to diagnose, but now with Jim it seems every issue can be discovered.

I was amazed at this place. I had always heard how great Garage Co was. But was overwhelmed with the amount of vintage bikes and parts. Yoshi was super inviting and knowledgeable. Even his wife came out and was so friendly.
They even offered me pizza they had provided for a local bike club night. I was able to see and purchase really hard to find vintage parts, and was taken back by Yoshi’s extensive vintage helmet collection.
They not only had a stock ’39 knucklehead but even a Crocker. apparently they are the sole dealer in the U.S.
I would highly recommend to any motorcycle enthusiast. the quality of their work can not be denied. They have even built bikes for the likes of Michael Shoemaker and David Beckham.
If you live and or are traveling to the LA area it’s a must! the Mecca of motorcycles!!!
good news is it’s near LAX so easy to hit even if ur on ur way out.

Recently, took my 2013 thruxton to the garage Comoany for some upgrades. I had a real positive experience with Yoshi and his mechanic Jim. They addressed all the issues with great care and competency. Their labor charge was comparable to other shops I had asked for a quote. Overall, I am happy with their service and plan to go back for future projects.

Mind blowing. A vintage motorcycle shop disguised as a museum, or vice versa. Welcoming atmosphere — feel free to walk around and then walk out.

If you have any interest in motorcycles, especially the vintage variety, you should definitely check out Yoshi’s garage which has got to be one of the very best places in the country to find vintage motorcycle parts. Yoshi is an obsessive collector and he’s always combing the local swap meets to find the best parts to add to his collection. It’s pretty unbelievable the amount of bikes and parts stuffed into this place! Yoshi is really friendly and personable and his passion for motorcycles really shows. If there is anyone that can help you find the vintage motorcycle part you’re looking for it’s Yoshi!

Nice shop Yoshi. Pleasure to meet you. Great selection of bikes and extra gear.
I posted a few photos too!
Best,
Parker

My final evaluation is an F «minus»
This place is deceptive. Most people have never been to a garage full of old bikes and parts, which gives it the appearance of a museum or the impression the owner is a person that cares and loves bikes.
In fact this place is a trap. Most people fall to its allure and end up paying dearly.
The place is understaffed. and the service is substandard. Caveat emptor. Some clients are people with plenty of money, great jobs, little time to work on bikes and the only thing they know is ridding bikes. They have no knowledge about mechanics, electronics, etc. Plenty of money, no time and no technical ability is the perfect recipe for a vainilla client, vainilla customer.
Those are the ones that leave those nice positive messages over here. Probably also close friends of the garage owners.
Stay away from this place. It took almost two years and substandard work to make me feel ripped off. The degree of negligence, non chalance and irresponsability together with poor basic skills like not scratching customer bikes, not throwing tanks, side covers, and the like on bare concrete floors, not grabbing a bike, handles, paint, with heavily oiled and soiled hands, a total cave man garage approach is pervasive and not the characteristic a self proclaimed «Heaven for Classic bikes Garage» should exhibit.
You come in here and will be taken for a costly, long and tedious ride, and you will regret having ever come in here.
These people have zero knowledge about bikes, the allure of seing a japanese man talk to you and make you feel your old classic japanese bike is in good hands is equall to finding a hill billy bum charlatan tell you over in Germany that he is a guru in american muscle cars.
And the owner will not even change a light bulb on your bike, it is his apprentices and journey guys the ones doing the work.
They will over charge you in labour, parts, etc, take for ever, because they have 30 bikes in need of repair, and only one or two guys working inside, and you will end up noticing scratches and dings all over your priced vehicle.
And their advise is terrible, it is like giving the control of a ship to a teen ager, a loudmouth teen ager.
You are warned. Stay away or else you are going to regret it big time.
My bike was not finished, they never seem to get to fix it, and simply had to take it out of that cave or else it would had stayed there anoter year. They really do not know what they preach, They keep messing up and tried new parts and things and you have to boot the time and money for parts, plus they charge you for all their bull time,
I hope some of you will listen. The ones that do, I can reat assured I did my part in saving them the hell I went through, the ones that do not, my consolation is, you will come back to this forum and read what I said, at least you will learn a «Post» fact lesson. Better than nothing.
If you have the money to spend, find a real proffesional garage. If you are on a budget, you better steer away or you might end up in a nightmare that could have very bad consequences depending on your personality and slack.

It’s cool to have all the classic stuff around to get ideas. As for getting parts or help finding things, not so much. I ordered some tuneup items through yoshi and never got a call when anything came in. Also called about wiring harnesses and some brackets and was told they were in store, but not when I got there a couple hours later and checked. Cool place to look and discover but not for specific parts in my opinion.

Hi. I have known yoshi and his crew for a few yrs now since they were at the old location and I and a few friends have had our motorbikes repaired there and not once have we had any issues from them we have also purchased motorbikes from them and they have ran well … I’m sorry to hear about those who have had problems but no shop is perfect. please talk with them and give them the opportunity to address any concerns you might have. I would recommend them to my friends and anyone looking around for a vintage motorbike or for parts …

Came for a simple job on my vintage motorcycle and more than a month later they not only didn’t finished it (the owner misunderstood my order even if I called to confirm almost every week) but the bill for labor was double what I was originally quoted.
I can’t recommend this place.

I recently bought a CB400 that needed the carbs rebuilt; I was referred to the Garage Company by a neighbor of mine.
I called and spoke to a gentleman named Yoshi, who was very helpful over the phone and told me it would be $ 200.00 to rebuild 2 carbs.
However, when I went in the next day, Yoshi was no where to be found and the person that was now helping me told me it would cost me $ 295.00 and will be done in 2 – 3 days.
I dropped off my carbs on a Wednesday and when I called on the following Tuesday to see when I would be able to pick them up, I found out that they had yet to start working on them. They promised me they would be done by Thursday, so when Thursday arrived I called again to see what the status was, I was then told that they couldn’t start rebuilding the carbs without a certain kit; which they charged me an extra $ 150.00 for without my authorization.
We are now a week and a half in and at $ 445.00; from what I was told would be $ 200.00 and completed in 2 – 3 days.
If you want to get robbed, go here! I DO NOT recommend this shop for any means of business.

I almost hate to write a review of this shop because I don’t want them to get too busy or too expensive. Also, I’m going to sound hyperbolic and insane, but I need to say something.
These guys are incredible. Yoshi is like a zen-​master when it comes to vintage Japanese bikes. After having my ride’s carbs shredded by another shop (who shall forever remain nameless and dead to me now), I took it to The Garage Company on the advice of a couple of friends. I’m glad I did.
Yoshi’s crew put my 1976 Honda CB550 back together like new. She runs better now than she ever has. In fact, I recently completed a 2-​day trip to Death Valley and ran her full-​throttle for about 10 hours each day. Didn’t have a single issue. I was even crushing a couple of other guys; one who was on a ’07 Triumph and another who was on a 2011 Ducati Monster. All thanks to Yoshi and Co.
These guys are the real deal. No joke.
Besides having world-​class mechanics, it’s just a great place to hang out, shoot the shit and look at a ton of awesome bikes of all makes and models. There’s always something new to see. They probably think I’m a freak, but I’ve been swinging by on my lunch break lately just to hang out.
I’m planning on having them do a few more upgrades soon, if for no other reason than I don’t want them to tell me to stop loitering.

I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.
I recently took my 05 Springer to South Bay Customs where the Owner, Michael completely butchered it, then proceeded to get a nasty attitude with me when I held him accountable for his shoddy work. His attitude was so bad that I decided I would rather pay someone else to fix his mistakes than have to deal with him and being treated poorly.
I took it to Yoshi at the Garage co. He not only fixed SBC’s hack job, but he pointed out other things they did wrong and made them right. Yoshi’s ability as a mechanic and visionary is unmatched, and the mechanics working for him are top notch. He fulfilled every commitment that he made to me and when I went to pick up the bike, he actually charged me less than his original estimate.
This experience was almost too good to be true.
I now see myself in Yoshi’s shop frequently having things tweaked on my ride… his professionalism and friendliness is second to none.
Thanks Yosh!

Basically what everyone else says (except Ken S.). Great place, great mechanics that know their stuff. They built my Knucklehead, shit they built David Beckham a knucklehead. Yoshi is super freaking cool as well as everyone I have met their.

Garage Company is indeed quite a place. As the reviews state, there’s tons of vintage bikes, loads of parts and a very personable staff.
I’m writing this so people who are considering having their bikes fixed at GC will be aware of the kind of shortcuts certain mechanics at GC have taken. I don’t know if this has happened to anyone else, but it happened to me, and I’m forever jaded.
**I also want to say I’ve only had 1 mechanic work on my bike at GC, so I’m not aware of the performance records of the other mechanics. I’m sure Yoshi or anyone else with half a brain would know that this is a bad idea. Unfortunately my mechanic at GC did not have half a brain.
I needed my carburetor manifold boots replaced. I had this done right around last October. I’m not sure if people know about these, but they’re installed between the carb and the engine. Anyhow, there are o-​rings that form the seal, and over time, these will break down and will need to be replaced. They cost 5 dollars. For all 4.
Anyhow, the mechanic who worked on my bike «didn’t have a chance» to order new o-​rings and used the same crusty cracked o-​rings from the old manifold boots and used gasket sealer to make the seal. DIDN’T HAVE A CHANCE!!! GASKET SEALER!!!
This is UNACCEPTABLE. Look, if you don’t have all the necessary parts to fix the bike PROPERLY, tell me to hold off for a week until you can get the parts. DON’T REUSE THE CRUSTY WORN OUT PARTS THAT WILL MAKE MY BIKE RUN LIKE SHIT IN 2 MONTHS!!!

One word, Three letters. Wow!
Simple if your into motorcycles you need to visit this place. Something here for every type of rider. Just go to look around.
The website does not do it justice BTW.

a religious motorcycle experience.
i’m appalled that i’ve never even heard of the garage company until a recent episode of the new show «café racer.» although it only relocated to this 18,000SF space in inglewood recently, they were in marina del rey for TWENTY years prior to that.
the episode portrayed the garage company and it’s owner/​collector/​historian/​mechanic/​soul, yoshi, accurately:
it’s one man’s (supported by the coolest wife ever) incredible personal collection gone wild of over 150 bikes and an entire warehouse of parts and memorabilia.
when you walk in, it’s literally overwhelming. every cool classic bike that you’ve ever seen, dreamt of, or fondled yourself over is there. and every set of leathers, autographed helmet, magazine, and stock or trick part is there too. what’s especially impressive is that ALL of the bikes START!!! i have only 3 bikes, and on any given sunday, chances are at least one of them won’t start.
what is a bit confusing is where the collection ends and the store begins. i suspect for the right person, trade, amount, or moment, anything at garage company could be for sale, but the only items that are plainly marked with prices are the t-​shirts. confusing, sure, but incredibly charming if you think about it.
the shop does do repairs, customizations, maintenance, etc. at standard rates, but as you can imagine the wealth of classic bike knowledge in that warehouse in inglewood is amazing. and as the breadth of his collection demonstrates, yoshi loves all classic bikes and is incredibly gracious and enthusiastic to fans of any make or year.
it’s the kind of shop, and he’s the kind of guy, where i’m already fantasizing about a conversation that starts with, «yoshi, for $X amount of money, what’s the coolest thing you could build me?»
fantastic.

They just moved to a new location in Inglewood from their former storefront on Washington Blvd. and DAAAMMMNN is the place huge. The new location which is about 3 times larger than the former, now has more vintage bikes on display, more space for the technicians, and a stockpile of vintage parts which were previously not visible or for sale at the old spot. If you dig vintage motorcycles, you won’t be disappointed. I think of this place as a living shrine to motorcycling. Hell, motorcycling is my religion, and Garage Company is my church.
Before they moved, I would come in here at least once a week during my lunch break… I was obsessed with this place. Well, as I had also commissioned them to help me with my custom café racer. They were happy to let me ‘art direct’ the build as Kiyo (an incredibly knowledgeable technician and builder) performed the fabrication. Yoshi (the owner) initially told me that the build would take about a month, but that month stretched into about 7 months. I’m not complaining as the results came out great… but just be aware that custom builds take time.
Good work takes time. I genuinely don’t think Yoshi is trying to dupe anybody, it’s just that they’re swamped with requests. It was fortunate that I worked in an office about a block from the old shop and was able to go in once a week to subtly nudge them to make progress on my build. I’ve heard that custom builds from this shop can take years to complete… you’ll be disappointed with their service if you approach bike building like surfing the interwebs — demanding and expecting immediate results.
There’s a good crew of guys here, and if you’ve got a vintage bike that needs repair, restoration, or other professional work done, it’ll be in the excellent hands of other passionate riders.

If you’re into moto-​culture, there is simply no better place to take it in than the Garage Company. Yoshi’s eclectic mix of vintage bike stuff and modern old-​school choppers and customs can’t be beat. Go out back and gaze at the massive random piles of priceless junk, or peruse books from every era and about every motorcycling discipline.
Its the bomb, check it.