Consistent great work for all the nails my tires seem to find! Thanks to all the friendly helpful folks.

I had a really good service experience with KC Engineering. They got my bike in quickly and did an oil change an an electrical system diagnostic. I think the mechanic, Dave, was thorough based on the conversation I was able to have with him, which I appreciated. I also interracted with Christina and Stephanie. Everyone was friendly and professional. In the end, my bike is running great and I think the cost was fair. read more

Brought my Vespa 300 in for a new set of tires. Opted for the more expensive Michelins. Take a look at the pictures of my brand new tires (the front one) and decide for yourself. Should I have them fix this? If that's the quality of their work, I'm going elsewhere. read more

KC Engineering - Close up - Motorcycle Repair Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Boy was I lucky to pull into KC Engineering again. My motorcycle died on me right at the end of the exit on 4th and Bryant (charging system failure). I was able to push it three blocks into the trusted KC Engineering shop. Amanda was able to write me up, get all settled, and take my bike in the same day, all during lunch hours. Advised me that they would have to order parts and may take an extra day. Mechanic even suggested that they can diagnose the stator before having to replace it, instead of having to order both stator/rectifier. He also suggested that I go with OEM since I personally replaced the stator/rectifier 4 times over past 2 years. Two days later I get a call that the bike is ready to be picked up, turns out the whole charging system fried, cables, connectors, rectifier/stator was fried. They were able to replace all that for under an hours worth of labor. Diagnostics + OEM Parts(i think?) + Labor for only $300. They even checked and noted the tire pressure for me. What's even better is that I had my bike sitting in dust for a while, and I've been riding it that way. When I got my bike back, the tach and mirrors were so clean, it felt as if I had the bike returned brand new, I've honestly never seen it that clean before. Special thanks for that! The steering is also a lot less stiff than it used to be, feels much easier to maneuver now. Thanks again K.C. Engineering. I heard Ken's daughter runs this place now, good job keeping all your employees happy! Very friendly and competent crew at this shop. Much thanks to Amanda/Mason/Zach for getting everything settled :) Don't forget the 10% Yelp Check-in offer! read more

Patch friendly with extra discount ... wear your colors and they will take extra off the invoice. "Nice discount " Thank you for taken me in last minute and getting me back on the road !!! Brethryn MC " Dew" read more

KC Engineering - Motorcycle Repair Near Me - San Francisco, California

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If you need a repair . This is the right place . Everyone friendly polite and professional. I extremely recommend this place . Stephanie is super helpful. And the price are fair. read more

I dont know who gave this company 4 star . I have a 50 cc scooter and i wanted to they to fix my scooter , then they told me that i dont have a appointment so i have to wait little bit ( by the way i waited 25 days ) , and they called me and they told me that if i pay 420 they will fix it totaly , i told them ok fix it , ten days later i was still waiting and they told me if i pay 370 they will fix it , i told them ok again , at that time they did not check anything just they were talking about not makesense, today i called them again and they told me your engine is burned and u hve to pay 340 for labor cost , can u imagine ? They did not do anything and i paid 340 for scooter , this company is untrusted company dont trust and they are liar , they stole my money , i dont recommend this place , never go never never !! read more

I want to give 1 star for this mechanic store, people in this mechanic store , they are so rude , i just wanted them to fix my motorcycle so i went to this mechanic but i couldnot even ask price , they were super rude ! And also prices are super EXPENSIVE !! read more

Was in a very very fast need of a tire and they provided me with an awesome quote and manage to do it within the hour of my call.. Super friendly and extremely professional service which I prefer and always recommend. read more

These guys have done almost all the work I've needed on my KLR650. They're definitely the best at tires, but they've also been amazing about my oil changes, valve adjustments, etc. Be friendly and the guys and gals here will do so in return. Truly a place of motorcycle lovers a d feels like a mom and pop shop (which is why I'd go here over SFMoto any day) read more

I don't want to hate on these folks because they are probably doing the best they know how. But honestly; they don't know a whole lot; charge quite a bit, and may not actually fix what you paid them to fix. And after that, you won't want to go back for them to take another run at it, do you? Well, I certainly didn't anyway... So, use them if you are in a pinch...but there are many better moto mechanics out there. read more

Great place for a hard to find ytz12s battery, as needed for my depleted Honda NC700

Got into a few hiccups with the staff regarding some overcharging and damaging a part due to a wrong part put on my bike because Stephanie, who I usually deal with was not available, but when I returned next time and discussed with Stephanie, she took care of everything and even personally did the minor fixes on my motorcycle which I was not sure how to get done. I love how she takes responsibility, is very professional, keeps her calm during every situation and most of all, gets the job DONE! Highly recommend! read more

Had some problems with my Yamaha a couple months ago while in SF and they do walk ins so it was perfect. Service was really quick and simple and I haven't had problems since read more

Great service. Great people. Always helping me whenever they can. Giving me advice. As a semi new rider it's very appreciated

Best place in the City to get you bike worked on. They have been around for ever. The owner Steph really knows her stuff.

I haven't had the opportunity to visit KC for service but have interacted with Stephanie and can attest to their incredible service and transparency. I was looking for some custom work, but KCs production schedule at this time was heavy so Stephanie called, then followed up with an email to let me know their situation and on top of that recommended another shop (Norman Racing), provides a point of contact and all their information. If this is an indication of how they treat their customers, then this is the place to go! I will definitely be going to them and recommending them to any riders, builders, enthusiasts. read more

This place has been around SF for a long time. Over the years I've bought some parts here and KC gets a positive bump for having lots of current and obscure parts in stock, no need to order online and wait for delivery. This was my first time checking them out for tires. New tires were priced at full retail ouch + tax and installation numbers were high with lots of little gotcha extra charges. Some kind of discount was offered if I would check-in and write a positive Yelp review. A sneaky way to get positive reviews if you ask me. For next time I plan to save money buying new tires online with zero tax and have one of the other local SF shops with 5-star ratings do the install. And speaking of ratings why is KC with their 4-star rating sorted first ahead of the other 5-star rated shops? read more

Why do you think the owner checks every single review on Yelp? Because he depends on NEW business, NOT repeat business. Yelp is a reference for people who don't know where to begin. As long as there are new riders getting into the sport, there will be suckers to rip off. Don't be a sucker! Newbs: ask about these criminals or do a search on Bay Area Riders Forum before you open your wallet. Edited because I did mess up the name of the mechanic. It was Francisco, not Jose. I got "Jose" from one of the other reviews here (BTW a five star review, so the reviewer wasn't accused by the owner of "jabbing" at the practice of hiring Latino workers) and thought it rung a bell. My apologies for that mistake. Everything else is true; they are the Golden Gate Cycles of the bike repair world (old schoolers: do you remember Hoss who went Marin-bound?). It's where newbs live and learn. read more

I will NEVER take my bike back to this shop. EVER. The story goes as follows: After two or three routine visits for tire changes I had my bike towed there for a rear tire change. When I got the bike back, the ignition was malfunctioning. I brought the bike back to KC and they proceeded to diagnose the problem. Turns out someone tried to hot-wire the bike, or tamper with the ignition, and it worked fine before it was towed. Needless to say, the bike had to be fixed and I was not having it towed again. So, Francisco gave me an estimate of about $500 bucks and two weeks to fix it. I stopped by the shop after two weeks and they said they were still waiting for the part. Three weeks? The part had a arrived but they hadn't located it. WHAT?? Finally after a month had past they said that the part was located and they would complete the repair, rewiring the bike to bypass some other features. And they wanted to charge me $625 for the labor and part. Luckily the owner was aware of how bad the job had been screwed up that he brought the charge down to the original $500 estimate. The bike starts fine, but my trust for KC will never return. This would be a Zero star review if it was allowed. read more

Crooked shop. I won't take my nice bike there, but I figured on giving a second chance with a routine valve adjustment on my rat bike. They said no. Probably better they didn't F* it up for me. I used to ride past it every day on my way home from the Union Hall and I always thought it looked shady. Judge it by it's cover, this time it's alright. Go inside and look a the cluttered shop and dirty equipment, if you care about your two-wheeled stallion, then it deserves better than this. If you're looking for a good shop, do a search on BARF. Personally I like MotoJava on Bryant. Search for KC engineering and you will find it almost universally despised. EDIT: the reasond I stopped going there in the first place is they didn't balance the new rear tire properly on my old SV, scratched the rim taking the old one off, and on the way home from the shop, my chain guard fell off. read more

I will never go back to this place again. Read the reviews below, people. Lots of 1-stars for a reason. I brought in an '02 R1 for a tune up--basic stuff. The mechanic had trouble removing one of the spark plugs and ends up stripping it when he finally gets it out. Jams another spark plug its place and makes some shady bracket to hold the spark plug in place. He shows it to me, explaining how he went above and beyond, by making this bracket thingy that's bolted onto the engine, and since I didn't know a lot about working on bikes I kind of just have to believe what he says is true. Sure enough a little while later the spark plug comes loose from the bracket, and now I'm running on 3 cylinders and need to stop riding ASAP so I don't risk more damage happening to the bike. I showed it to a different (very reputable) mechanic and he busts up laughing when he looks at my bike. He calls over all the other mechanics to take a look at the shoddy work that was done on my bike. They all feel really bad about me getting crappy work done, and when I tell them it was KC Engineering they all collectively go "well there's your problem!" Literally every single person that I told that this happened at KC Engineering, has shaken their head and told me horror stories about this place. Ask any other mechanic around, and they will all say that this is the ONE place to avoid, if possible. Oh, and KC ended up charging me $1K for the work they did on my bike. The guy charged me 3 hours of labor for the stupid metal bracket he made to hold my spark plug in. Go to TokyoMoto or O'Hanlon Motorcycles. They probably have a longer wait to get your bike in, because everybody goes to them because they do great work. But trust me, it's worth the wait. Just compare the reviews yourself, and you'll see. read more

Brought in my Xiaomi (Bird) electric scooter to replace tires. The job was done promptly - would recommend!

Note how the owner responded to my post. He wasn't concerned that I had a crappy experience at KC Engineering - he just denies it. Dude, I have the receipts to prove it. If you want to make things right, you should refund me the $$. I understand that electrical systems are hard but you shouldn't take on the work if you don't have the competence. You certainly shouldn't charge for it. Since that work, it did not fix the problem but I wasn't about to bring the bike back to you guys to be charged even more. As it happens, My bike was stolen earlier this year and really trashed when I recovered it. Honda in Oakland put it back together again, and in the process told me the battery was the wrong type, they replaced it and the ignition system, and it all works perfectly now. The good thing about Yelp is that businesses with bad attitudes are made very public and consumers can steer clear. I'm more concerned about your attitude towards customers than engineering competence now. :( read more

I shelved the idea of reviewing this place for quite some time, as I hate to bash any small family run joint, and because I like Stephanie (Ken's daughter) because she's not only very pretty but she's really sharp at running the business when dad's not around, however, I just came across my last invoice for a tire purchase/install and I can't let this slide no mo! Running an almost bald rear tire with a fast approaching long distance road trip, I stopped in here, after not coming around for awhile since I was still pissed off about my last experience, but alas, here I was one last time, for a good nickel and dimeing experience. Please pass the lube. It's true that they usually have your tire in stock. It's true that they can probably get you in/out of there in under 2 hours. It's true that you're gonna get ripped off on price and all the additional "fees" that come with a tire install. Shock drop? Gotta pay extra. Spokes need weights? Gotta pay extra. Need a tube? Gotta pay extra for the labor. But wait.............there's a silver lining to all these costs. If you pay cash then you save on tax!!! Never mind that you just overpaid for all your parts to begin with and you just got nickel and dimed on all the extra fees. By the time you walk out the door, you just dropped almost $400 for that new rear rubber goodness, that will haul your ass down the road for about 7k miles. BTW, if it's got a white wall, you're gonna roll out of there with it blue, cuz' they ain't gonna clean it for you unless you..............................pay extra for that phool!!!! I now order my tires online, at a substantial discount and I have them delivered to shops either in Berkeley or Santa Clara and get them mounted at a fraction of the price with flat rate install rates and no extra bullshit fees. Sorry Ken but I don't like your business practice, so I choose to exercise my right as a consumer and take my business elsewhere. Good times in Frisco. read more

I went here with my wheel, and after selecting a discounted tire, I left the wheel there and told them I was going to come back at the same time the next day to get it. I marked the RIGHT side of my wheel. I came in the next day, payed for the tire, and drove home. I got home and the tire was mounted backwards. So, I drove all the way back and complained and they fixed it. I hate wasting time. If I weren't so meticulous, I would have been riding around with the direction wrong on my new hundred dollar tire. You'd think in 24 hours, they could double check something so important. No offer to refund me for my lost time, so I'm done with KC Engineering. I can afford to pay $10 more somewhere else, thank you. read more

I must start off this review by saying that if there was a way to give negative stars, I would be doing so for this business. I went here after finding them on Yelp. I read some reviews and was a bit hesitant but figured I was only buying a part. I took my service dog with me, where I was greeted by a mechanic named Nick and a man who I can only assume was the owner. From the start, they told me no dogs, even after I informed them it was a service dog and they can't refuse them. Nick than asks me if I was blind and if not what my disability is. Anybody with disabilities, as well as smart San Francisco business owners, realize that you are not allowed to ask a person with a service animal what their disability is. At this point, the mechanic, Nick, started to become irritated and provoking when I would not provide them with proof of my disability. Both Nick and the other man with him became very condescending and down right rude at this point, so much so that I had to walk out without buying a part. For $20 bucks more I went four blocks down the street to Cycle Gear where they were very welcoming of my service animal and had the parts I needed in stock. Moral of this review: A shop that has been in business for 36 years should know much more about hiring professional employees and treating their customers who have disabilities with much more respect. read more

Good price on tires, but check their work! I brought my street/track R1 in for a new Power Pure tire set and was able to pick it up that evening. Nice. A couple days later I try to roll my bike out of my garage and it won't back up even though it is in neutral. Lo and behold the weights from the rear wheel have fallen off and were laying on the chain! Not the end of the world, but disappointing. I call Monday about wanting drop it off for a re-balancing and mentioned that it was idling rough and dying so I wind up talking to the very pleasant Jose to schedule a day (Thursday) to investigate and let me know what he finds. When I drop it off Thursday there is no note in Jose's schedule about my R1. Then I have to argue with someone (the owner?) about the fact that the weights fell off. He was telling me that it couldn't possibly have happened. Furthermore, "most tires balance out to zero." After being interrupted a few times I was finally able to tell him everything the way I saw it and how I found them. When I showed him the weights and they were the same type they use in the shop I get a lame excuse about how they can't use lead in California and these new weights don't stick so well. They called me later in the day to let me know the bike was ready. I asked them what they found about the idling and I get passed to Jose. Jose says I should just check the spark plugs. Wow. Did that already and I synched the carbs, but I was still having trouble which is (one of the reasons) why I brought it in. Upshot: Bargains on tires are everywhere, so if my service can't make it in the book for the day I made an appointment and I get generic advice to boot I have no incentive to return. And I won't. read more

BAD customer service and POOR QUALITY WORK have earned KC engineering 1 star. I went in there to have some work quoted. I was told $150-180, and then once they had the bike, they called to tell me it would $250, b/c it would also take an hour to get the part on/off the bike. Also, I purchased new tires - front and rear, and riding home, I noticed something was amiss. Obivously, they didn't even spin the front wheel after they remounted it to be sure they'd done it properly. They had jammed the wheel in, dislocated one of the front brake pads that was dragging on the rotor, damaging both in the process. I called to tell them and they said to have the bike towed in, and if they determined it was their fault, then they would pay for the tow. I chose not to do that. At this point, how could I trust them to be honest about that? I also noticed the pressure valve on the rear tire was not set right, and that I couldn't screw the cap on it all the way. Additionally, they list a "cash" discount on their website, yet when you ask about it in the store they look at you blankly and try to avoid it. They guy with the blatantly dyed hair likes to play stupid. Or maybe he just doesn't care. Either way, I won't be returning, ever. Even if they are cheap, and close to my office, it just is not worth it. read more

KC Engineering is poorly run. Francisco, the head mechanic, knows his craft and does good work. But the rest of the bunch, including the owners are jokers not worth wasting your time or money on. I have a 2001 Kawasaki Ninja 600 that I took in for 20,000 mile service. I wanted full service to manufacturer's specs. Francisco called me with his findings, also advising that the full service would be spendy. So far so good. I had them go ahead. I told him if he didn't get finished the first day that would be OK. So I didn't hear anything the first day, but I chalked that up to my giving them the OK to keep the bike. The next day at 6pm I hadn't heard anything and I called. The guy on the phone said that the mechanic had left and he didn't know anything and could do nothing. Turns out this guy was one of the owners. When I insisted on an answer he said he'd call Francisco and call me back. Turned out the bike was ready to go. The work performed was good but the business practices are unacceptable. At a previous instance I took it in to get my chain tightened and they found the whole chain including both sprockets had to be replaced. When I asked how this happend I got a generic non-specific answer, although I didn't talk to Francisco. The vibe in the place seems tense and unfriendly. Two stars only because they do have one capable mechanic. I wonder what all the other guys do there. The primary reason I picked this shop is because it's walking distance to my office. I've since found O'Hanlon and will go there next. Reviews for O'Hanlon are glowing. Don't bother with KC Engineering. read more

I was really disappointed. My boyfriend brought my bike here after Werkstatt said they didn't work on older Yamaha Viragos. 1) He was told that the brakes were mushy because the front fork was bent (~$700 to fix). 2) He was also told the shift problem wasn't the shifter but an issue with the transmission (greater than $500 to fix) I don't know much about motorcycles, but I knew that wasn't right. So we took it elsewhere, where both things were fixed, and the clutch tightened up, for less than $500. They seem to be the place to go for tires, so when i need that done, I MIGHT give them another chance. But frankly, I think I found my new motorcycle mechanic elsewhere. read more

Friendly and easy to do business with. Got a couple of tires replaced on a ninja 300. Brought my own tires in and they charge extra for that. Wasn't cheap but comparable to other shops in the area. read more

I dropped by their shop 10 mins before closing time to get a new rear tire (i had a screw in my tire - still had plenty of life left), and they were willing to help me out and replace the tire. They turned me around in 30 mins. Discount for paying with cash - usually awesome but I got a shady, seedy feel from the transaction. Go figure... The downside to my story is that (maybe in their haste) they shaved off about 1-2 mm on half of my rim on one side. Not cool. It also occurred to me that they may try to resell the tire with a plug in it, and after reading one of the reviews online, it definitely seems like a possibility. read more

Nice people but I'm not 100% sure of their competency. KC was good about squeezing me in at the end of the day but I think the tech must have been in a hurry to get the job done before close. They put new tires on for me and about a week later I took my bike in to Desmoto. The guys at Desmoto told me that the tire was on backwards.... I can only see this being a problem when riding in the wet as the tread pattern is facing the wrong direction. Since I ride every day to and from work in all conditions its a potential safety concern. Next time I'm doing it myself at MotoShop. read more

This place is shady. I don't know why I've been back so many times, but I have, and I should know better. Francisco is a competent enough mechanic, but he's terrible at diagnosis. If you have a mystery problem, you're in for the minimum $225 "troubleshooting" fee. That's three hours of labor, after which Francisco will tell you something's wrong that isn't, and then you have to pay for his labor to fix it. If you KNOW what's wrong and have the set to go in there and tell him to fix that and nothing else (get ready for a long discussion), then you might be OK. The other employees show the origin of the term "grease monkey." They're mostly dirty and subhuman. One guy doesn't even know how to ride a motorcycle and is allowed to put tires on other peoples' bikes. How can someone be trusted to do a job when he can't even judge the end result? The final stage in any repair procedure is the test ride, and he can't do it. And then there's Ken, the owner. He's just crooked. If ever you have a dispute about the quality of work or a part (and you will), it goes to Ken. He tried to charge me a 20-percent restock fee to replace a defective part! Joey, the parts manager, is actually OK. You can tell his heart is i the right place, but he just rushes you through your decision making process. Bottom line: if you know what tires you need and your wheels don't need a ton of balancing, you can get away with this place. It sure is cheaper than anything else in town. But in my opinion it's worth the extra few bucks to go somewhere with the expertise to make sure your bike is safe to ride. read more

I don't usually write negative reviews but Worst PLACE EVER, so slow. My boyfriend came when they opened at 8, told him about yelp so they can get a good look Total Scam. just for a simple front tire change it took them 2.5 hours to finally apply the new tire, then implied he needed new break pads it took them 1hr to do both sides. So now they screwed something up and say something electronically is wrong with the speedometer, like people do your job precisely. 6 hours total. awful awwwful job!! If we've known this issue we would've taken our business elsewhere. read more

The mechanics here can be down right rude. I came in needing help with starting a bike and the mechanic was extremely curt informing me that they are booked out and cant look at a bike for 2 weeks. The lady behind the desk, on the other hand, was extremely nice offering a business card and saying i should call to check for availability. As soon as she did that the mechanic chimes in again (we werent even talking to him! - she was being courteous with a customer) - "i told you, we are very busy and wont be able to get to it to until another 2 weeks". At this point, i gladly left the store - seeing that customers are not welcome. There are soooo many well reviewed bike stores in SF. Take your business somewhere else. I did, and even though i live two blocks away i would never go back to this place or even recommend it to a friend. If they are this rude at the very beginning i cant even imagine what happens when your not fully satisfied with a repair - suffice to say, looking at other reviews you can see that (the guy with a brake line failure). There are tons of repair shops with 5 star reviews - for a reason! read more

Welp. I hate having to leave negative reviews, but I may not be able to sell my motorcycle before leaving the country next week due to a clerical error here that delayed my fixes by two business days with no communication. On the day that I was going to sell my motorcycle, several parts were stolen from my bike overnight. With this being the worst timing ever, I frantically searched for a shop that was open and could take my bike in to replace the parts ASAP. Having explained the situation, Amanda from KC engineering (who was wonderful btw despite how awful this experience was), said I could bring it over right away and they'd start ordering the parts I needed. I received several calls from KC while I was at work that day, confirming what I needed done, and assuring me the parts would be ordered right away so I could get my bike back up and running within 3-4 days. They'd hold onto it for me till then, and I was told I'd get a call the next day to confirm when the part shipment would arrive. Two days later, KC engineering still hadn't contacted me. I called just before they were closing for the day, and... they hadn't even put in an order for the parts that should have been well on their way. With them knowing full well how dire and time sensitive my situation is, not even ORDERING the parts for two whole days without following up with me has really screwed me over. As kind as they've been when speaking to them in person and over the phone, this is a glaring mistake, and may have completely ruined my vehicle sale. read more

So came back again and had to get another tire. They didn't have it so I had to leave it for a couple days and I was promised they would call me on the Monday since it was the weekend. So Monday comes and it starts to get late in the day and still no phone call. So I end up calling them. Similar thing occurs on Tuesday and I even tell them what time I'm getting off work which is before they close. The only call I got from them was at the end of the day when they wanted to close early and asked if I was still coming. I happened to be in my friend's car on my way. Kind of annoying when they seem to have forgotten to call me but once my bike was the last one and they wanted to go home early before the stated closing time, they somehow could remember to call me unlike those other times when they actually said they would. That being said. They did the job fairly quickly and no issues with the work. Thus they get an A-OK. But if you're looking for that 5 star, feel like wow this place really gives a damn about you then there are definitely other shops in SF that I've been to. Don't get me wrong it wasn't absolutely terrible but just like them I'm pretty busy and trying to figure out a ride over etc and make sure I'm home on time to get over there so the phone calls may not seem like a big deal but it's a big deal in terms of customer service. So they get an A-OK. read more

I went there a few years ago to have my rear tire replaced. It already had two plug/patches in it and I had just run over a screw. When I got the bike back and took it on the freeway, I was feeling vibration from a bad balancing job. I took the bike back to the shop and spoke with the owner. He had his tech check it out and said they couldn't fix the balancing. The owner said sometimes they leave a shop rag in the tire by accident (!), but in this case they couldn't fix it any better than the balancing job they already did. I also saw my old tire, patched and plugged again, on their for-sale tire rack. I confronted the owner about it and he said, so what? NEVER go here. The techs are incompetent and the owner is an embarrassment. read more