Don Hutchinson is a grown man with the emotional maturity of an 8 year old. If you happen to criticize his repair work and you WILL (see below) or for anything else you might say that bothers him the slightest, just the mention of what you read on the INTERNET will do it, Don will get back to you in ways that will have consequences on the well-being of your motorcycle. He runs his shop with Mike, his sidekick, who knows nothing about motorcycle repair, but who keeps Don company and helps him around the shop.
Why would you complain about his work as a mechanic? You see, Don Hutchinson specializes in Vintage Triumph Motorcycle RENOVATION not REPAIR. Renovations are for people who will never ride their Motorbikes, who just want every piece, every nut and bolt to be an original one, so the Motorcycle will LOOK just as it did when it came out of Triumph's factory in the 60's; strangely enough, It does not matter whether their bike runs or not, and as a matter of fact it does NOT RUN which is fine with the bike owner because he/she will never ride it. It is just meant to be on display and to participate in contests for best renovations.
Don hires mechanics on a contract basis when he needs them. Their priority will always be renovations because renovations are much more LUCRATIVE than repairs. If you bring your bike for repair, don't expect to get your it back the next week, or month, or quarter, just don't be in a hurry to get your bike back. Don's mechanics will get to it when they can as dictated by Don.
Last but not least, Don may replace expensive working parts with the parts he resells, he is also a reseller of Triumph parts, which btw you can get for cheaper on ebay. Where it gets a bit dodgy is when he replaces possibly defective parts with used defective parts that he sells to you as new parts.
That is a summary of my experience being a client of Don Hutchinson for my 1971 Triumph Bonneville T120R which now works like a charm after qualified mechanics worked on it. I also came to the conclusion that vintage bikes were not for me and I have just put it on the market (9/20/16) in case you are interested.
AVOID Don Hutchinson like the plague read more