Short Version:
If you're looking for a motorcycle shop that can do high-quality work for a (very) fair price, this is it.
Jimmy, the owner, took a bike that I was on the verge of selling and completely transformed it (in a good way!).
Thanks, Jimmy & co., for taking care of me and my bike. For as long as I'm living in SoCal, I'll be coming back to your shop for sure.
Long Version:
Owned a 2005 Suzuki GSX-R750 for 5 years and while I love it to death, it started giving me issues and was debating selling it. With the labor quotes and diagnosis received by the dealership, it didn't inspire much confidence that the issues of my (salvaged title) bike would ever truly go away. Jimmy and his crew changed that.
The issue that first brought me into Jimmy's shop was a snapped engine bolt when the dealership tried to remove a bent frame slider per my request. The dealership wasn't confident that they could get the bolt out in an efficient manner. They said it could potentially take 2-3 hours of labor.
Looked on Yelp for another shop to get a second opinion and found Riders Revelation. Called Jimmy and he said to bring it in first thing Saturday and that he would take a look at it. Showed up and 30 minutes later, problem fixed! Told Jimmy how much I appreciated his help and that I would come back for more service.
A few weeks later, I returned with a slightly more complicated issue: vibrating front end feel. Asked Jimmy to ride it and see what he thought. Turned out the issue was with the front suspension. Somehow a cartridge from a different bike made its way to the left fork. One would only catch this when comparing the two cartridges side-by-side (which Jimmy did) since they were very close in length.
Not only was the cartridge the wrong part, which also appeared damaged and not fully functional, but the preload for that fork seemed to have been taken out completely, causing it to act like a pogo stick. (So problems on top of problems.) Per Jimmy recommendation, I Ebay'ed a replacement part to hopefully fix all this.
Kept the bike there while the part came in and had the following done in the meantime was:
-replaced fork seals
-replaced front/rear rotors
-bled front brakes
-cleaned/lubed chain
-retouched some existing dents/scratches
-installed toe guard
-oil and oil filter change
-cleaned air filter
-R1 throttle tube mod
Fast forward, as the cartridge comes in, Jimmy installs it, goes for a ride and tells me everything is all good and that "it feels like a race bike now."
Conclusion:
First, I was surprised on how little all this work came out to be. I guess I got use to paying dealership prices so when when I saw the final quote, I was pleasantly surprised to pay something that I thought was (very) fair.
Second, the bike felt completely transformed!! Not only was the vibration gone, but when I took the bike out to the canyons the next day, I had to get use to how quickly it was turning in. I'm so happy with the bike right now that I can't imagine letting it go while just a few months ago that I was creating a Craigslist ad to sell it.
Thanks Jimmy, and your his crew, for all the work you have done. It's a no-brainer that my bike will be coming back here for all its maintenance/mod work.
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BOTM Feb 2015
