Trusting your motorcycle to a repair shop is no easy feat. Firstly, far less motorcycle repair shops even exist compared to car repair shops. Then out of this small pool, you're supposed to find the most skilled mechanics who don't treat you like a tool for not knowing how to adjust your own valves. Secondly, if they f*ck up, it could mean your death. Yes, motorcycles are essentially engines strapped to wheels and not much else. They have to be in the best shape possible or you could DIE. Lastly, your relationship to your bike is exquisitely unique. You feel every turn, stop, acceleration, and bump with your motorcycle. And you accept your bike's every oddity, quirk and personality issue. Because when you straddle your bike, no enclosed compartment, bucket seats, and climate control separate you from the unique pleasure of becoming one with your fast moving death machine.
This is why, when you take your baby in for maintenance or a simple wrench job, you want your bike to be in the best hands possible.
I have a 2012 Triumph Bonneville. I love my bike. I love pulling up on the throttle and feeling the two tires underneath move the earth behind me at many many many miles per hour per hour. When I park it. I always look back for an admiring stare. When I come back to it, I pause to take in its beauty. When possible, I do my own work. But for the more involved mods, I had to take it in to the original dealership. The first strike: they charged me way more than the initial estimate. I get it. Sometimes you run into issues that make the process last longer. I wasn't happy. But I sucked it up. But then on another visit, they forgot to bolt one of my side covers back. I found out it had been hanging on the side of my bike the entire 45-minute ride home. And then had to ride back because they had the bolt. Strike two. And then strike three, whenever I went there, I never felt like I was a welcome part of the shop. I tried to have conversations about bikes. But I really felt like I was at some lower level of motorcycle geekdom.
I decided never to go back.
So I decided to try SUB based on Yelp reviews. And after doing some Internet digging, I found that the owner of SUB used to own Ducati Seattle. When I mentioned that to a Monster-owning friend of mine, he urged me to check them out because he had fond memories of Dave (the SUB owner) and dealing with that shop in the past. I called SUB and call itself was a positive experience. I wasn't transferred to some other department or put on hold and forgotten. I talked directly to one of the mechanics. He quoted me a price and assured me that they have a ton of Trumpet experience.
When you enter, you immediately feel the mom and pop vibe of the shop. It isn't full of plastic or sleek thousand-dollar displays. It's simply four walls with a lot of used motorcycles, used gear, and super friendly staff. Dave greets you as soon as you walk in, and the mechanics greet you too. This is no mega-shop dealer with overeager gangs of otherwise bored looking employees. What you see is what you get. And you get something that has long been missing from the motorcycle scene in Seattle, a small shop where you can lounge around, have some real talk about bikes, and never feel like you're a nuisance or annoying. They even invited me into the repair area, so they could show me the process. Dave doesn't even mind going through Craigslist with you to show you bikes that he thinks are good deals, from sellers who aren't SUB!
My experience was unforgettable. I felt at home with the staff there. And other people who dropped by had similar comments. Then when the time came to pay, no surprises at the register. They charged me just as they had promised and even fixed another slight issue that they caught. I left with a smile on my face, and a promise to write this review. This is where I'll be taking my bike from now on. I unequivocally recommend SUB for all your bike repair needs. They may not have the bike you are looking for. But that's ok. You can drop by and Dave will help you find the best bike for you somewhere else!
If you want a simple shop that's a cross between a neighborhood bar and your bike geek friend's garage and that reminds you why you started riding motorcycles in the first place, then go to SUB and go nowhere else.
tl;dr SUB treated me with respect, never talked down to me, had great rates, charged me what they quoted, and made me feel like family. Go here! read more