Val and her team at motogrrl are more then just a garage. They are a pillar of the motorcycle community. Between the many events they throw and the motorcycle maintenance classes, there is so much motorgrrl offers the motorcycle community it's amazing. I will always be a supporter of this shop. Great amazing space. Cool and knowledgable mechanics! read more

I should have gotten to this review sooner, but here it is. Unfortunately I really cannot recommend MotorGrrl but will try to be as accurate as possible in my review. I had used MotorGrrl once before for a basic service and the day I picked up my bike, it shut off with me on the Grand Central. They towed it back and fixed the issue, a fuel line that they had creased during the service. no harm no foul, so I decided to give Val another chance a few years later. This all occurred in August, 2017. I called Val for a service on my VTX1800. Over the phone, she gave me an estimated cost of around $500 for the service so I brought it in on a Tuesday (they're closed Monday). While speaking to Val, she stated that it might be more if the valves needed adjusting and she would send me an estimate, so I said no problem. We also discussed changing out my stock shocks which she said she could do. I informed her I was doing a ride on Friday and needed the bike back. I also informed her there was a rubbing noise coming from the front end and that my aftermarket pipes and were backfiring significantly. She stated she would look at all these issues but that the service should correct most of them and that she could have the shocks in and the bike ready by Friday. She did the service but unfortunately there was a delay in the shocks coming in so I picked up the bike without the shocks being done for my trip. To be fair, she approved the payment of the service to date (which ultimately came up to about $750 without paying for the shocks which weren't in). This cost included a diagnostic to assess the rubbing sounds. Problem was that while heading upstate, the bike was still backfiring significantly and the rubbing noise was as present as ever. I brought the bike back on Tuesday and told Val about the issues was assured she would have her mechanic take another look and also complete the shocks in a few days. The following day, she reached out to me stating that her mechanic road the bike and didn't hear anything. She stated that sometimes there are sounds specific to the owner which only the owner can hear. Then she stated that they did research and these are "normal" sounds for the VTX. I informed her that wasn't possible because the sound was so prevalent and anyone could hear it. Also, I did my own research and none of this was accurate. She said they'd take another look. On top of this, it turns out when the shocks came in they were missing a bold, so they had to reorder the bolts. Again, I said no problem. Finally the shocks came in and were installed and the new bill came to approximately another $750 or so. I found this strange because everywhere else was charging $100 to install shocks and the shocks cost about $500 so the amounts were a bit off. When I called to inquire, I was sent the bill and noticed 2 things. 1) There is a $25 technical charge for every service. I inquired what that was and was told it was for lubricants that are used during the repair. 2) I noticed that there was an expedited shipping charge for the shocks. Now when I inquired about this, I was told that they needed to get the shocks in sooner so they elected to expedite . . . even though I hadn't asked them to (remember, my trip was the week before)! I was quite perplexed and pissed that I was charged $50 for lubricants, for a job that was ongoing, as well as $25 for expedited shipping for a part that I never asked to be expedited. When I tried to discuss this with Val, she because rude and was unwilling to budge on these charges and could give no explanation despite my inquiries why I was paying for shipping I didn't ask for. In the grand scheme of things $75 was not a big deal but having just spend $1500 and telling her I wanted to support small businesses, this was the response she gave. At the end of the day, held over the barrel, I had to pay to get my bike back. Interestingly enough, when I got there to settle, Val's demeanor had changed significantly, she was calmer and approached me to apologize and asked if they could change my front rotor at cost as an apology and to address the rubbing sound . . . which frankly she (a) claimed was "normal for the bike, (b) that was specific to the owners, and (c) that I thought was already repaired! It was not! Needless to say, I didn't want her touching my bike again. For all I knew, at cost means another technical fee! So no thanks Val. I will never take my bike to Val again. Too many unilateral decisions that cost me money for things I didn't request. Not to mention, the diagnostic I paid for seems to have been for naught since the rubbing sound is still there as is the backfiring. Trust is extremely important in a mechanic and I simply cannot trust Val. If you go, go with your eyes open and to ask questions and for details so that you don't end up in the position I did and out of pocket $1500 for work that seems not to have fixed anything. read more

Got a flat on my Suzuki Boulevard S40. So many places wouldn't take a Suzuki. They had me in and out within a couple hours and I was back on the road. I can't thank everyone here enough. read more

This place has been so kind to me, 5 stars is an understatement. I got my first street motorcycle (had been riding dirtbikes since I was little) in May 2015, a 1972 Honda CB350. Initially I had brought in the bike for an inspection and it ended up needing some repairs to pass. Tony was unbelievably kind and knowledgeable when explaining how the bike works and what needed to be fixed every time, and never made me feel stupid for not knowing something or asking questions. They got my bike purring like a kitten and kindly put it on a truck when I moved to Portland, a bittersweet parting. I can only hope that I find another bike shop like MotorGrrl in Portland, but MotorGrrl will always be my #1 recommendation in Brooklyn & NYC. read more

Don't, just don't. I made the mistake of letting them wash my bike. They promised me they would "make it bling", which I would expect if I am paying them $150 to wash and detail. But omg, I got it back and it looked like it did when I left it, except it had been sprayed with water. The owner asked what I thought and I said it looked the same, then she pretended like they weren't done with it and had the mechanic come out and told him to give it a quick polish, he rubbed the gas tank with a cloth and that was it. Ripoff city. read more

stay far away from this shop, they will rob you once they have your bike in their shop they will start billing you for more things that were not part of original scope of work and for get about time frame, my bike was there for 7 months, trust me this is not the shop you want go elsewhere read more

I had a horrible experience here. The owner kept my bike for over a week, I called everyday during that span and was told "we haven't started on your bike yet" on the 7th day I got a bill for $750.00 and was told "my guys put over 20 hours on your bike but we couldn't fix it". They were not only rude but unprofessional. The owner told me "look I'm sorry but the summer is were we make the rent" this is why some people tend to learn toward larger companies and not support small businesses. read more

Love this shop! The staff are devoted to supporting all riders and at all levels. They recently began a workshop series, and I strongly recommend signing up. I took both the winterization workshop (led by the fabulous shop owner, Val) and an introductory mechanics class. I was a complete novice at the start and by the end of the workshop I'd changed my rear brake pads, changed my oil, and tightened the chain on my bike. The workshop was lead by a talented mechanic who helped the participants every step of the way. It was a great way to get hands-on experience while still having the assurance of knowing qualified mechanics could look over your work and ensure safety. I'll definitely be signing up for the next class offered! read more

I've been riding motorcycles for 20 years. This is by far the worst shop I have ever been to for several reasons. I took my bike there and was told that they could get the job done in 4 days. They didn't get to it for 2 weeks. They then charged me a diagnostic fee of $100 to take a look. Originally all I needed was the brakes bled and an inspection. They adjusted my points and claimed they got the bike running. THE BIKE WAS ALREADY RUNNING. My exhaust no longer fit due to my new master cylinder and asked me to come down and take a look. I said I would be there in the next couple hours at which point the mechanic took an attitude saying "can't you get here any sooner? The bike is taking up the lift.". I told him I was at work but I would try to get down there as soon as possible. That was at 12:30pm. I promptly got down there at 1:15pm only to find out that everyone who works there takes lunch from 1-2pm. I gave up lunch that day because I had to go back to work, and then back to the shop 10 minutes after I originally said I was going to be there. The Harley mechanic said he had a welder at home that he was going to bring in and he we discussed an easy way with welding to make the exhaust work and he could have it done in a few days. Over a week passed and I finally called to get a status update. The lady who runs the place told me she would look into it and get back to me. She didn't. When I called the following day, I found out they hadn't done anything. They then emailed me an estimate for $754.96 saying it was more labor than they expected because of the fact that they didn't have all there tools due to their recent move. I didn't realize I had to pay extra because they don't have there things together. I told them to forget it and that I would take it elsewhere. When I went down there they still charged me $117.50 to release the bike because of there diagnostic fee. Basically They cost me a month of time, $117, and another $100 to get the bike towed elsewhere. The owner has no clue about anything. The guy in charge of customer service is a con artist, and the one mechanic I talked was grumpy with an attitude. These people have no respect for there customers, no clue how to run a business, and nothing led me to believe they could fix anything. The only thing they are good at is giving you ridiculous bills for doing absolutely nothing. I don't suggest that anyone take their bike there. read more