Every month I see a post here about a GTA store or bike shop closing, I've seen so many motorcycle shops close that my fingers and toes are not enough to count them all, it first started with McBride's in Dundas St. W and Old Weston Rd about 20 years ago, then with Kahuna Powesports on Steeles ave W and Weston Rd about 10 years ago. Every year there's literally less bike shops to go to, pretty soon there won't be any left, where are we suppose to fix or service our bikes without waiting a month and then another month to get it fixed?
I travelled back to the home country of my parents this year and the motorcycle community over there makes the GTA bike community look like a lizard standing next to Godzilla. It's HUGE. How many motorcycles in Toronto? 20,000? 50,000? Try 1 million motorcycles in a country that only has 1 million more people than the GTA, and is as big as New Jersey. Every single block in any city has a motorcycle shop. and I'm not talking about 2 old guys like it was the case with Rosey Toes, I'm talking about 6 to 8 mechanics working simultaneously in each bike shop. Over there in the home country there's also no such thing as a nerdy stuck-up mechanic that says he won't touch a bike because it's too oily or dirty, over there they love to get dirty with motorcycles. Every single shop overt there does motorcycle over-hauls, they disassemble your engine and put it back together the same day. There's always a parts store within 2 km in the city they send out an 11-year-old boy in a scooter to go fetch it for them, LOL.
How are prices? Well, let me tell you, I have a Yara Serpento 2000 and it wouldn't start after not riding it or starting it in 3 years. They dumped the fuel, they pumped out the brake oil and put fresh oil, they swapped out the oil reservoir because it was clogged, they took out the carburetor, disassembled it and cleaned it, they greased the chain, they took off the gas tank and emptied it and cleaned it, they changed a turn signal that was stuck, and they swapped the headlight bulb because it was burnt, they put air on both tires and adjusted the chain. When I asked how much $$$ for all this (labor work) they told me $11 U.S. dollars, or $15 canadian. My friends gave me sh1t and told me that the other shop in the same block would have charged me cheaper, maybe $8 dollars.
There's sooo much infrastructure and industry behind the motorcycle community that it's nuts. Even corner stores sell motorcycle paraphrenilia, good luck in Toronto with that. The only downside is that I went to Yamaha and Kawasaki dealerships and they don't sell the R6 or R1 or the Z-900 but I was told they could get them, you have to order them and they'll come by ship in 2 months. No problem, I can live and wait 2 months. I also found out that there's local machine shops that literally build motorcycle parts for you. There's speed limits but the signs are there just for birds to stand on them and poop, cops do NOT enforce speed limits, they are usually just chilling under tree shades, probably sleeping. The curious thing is that you don't see anybody going over 110 km/h in rural highways. I love the atmosphere there, the motorcycle atmosphere. It's huge and fun.
I quickly learnt that NOBODY in another motorcycle salutes you, and no wonder why, half the vehicles are motorcycles and 2 or 3 pass you every 3 seconds. When I was there I saw various American and Canadian tour bikers with their KLR's and big BMW bikes, saw a guy with British Columbia plates in a motorcycle at a gas station, we chatted for a bit. He shipped his bike to Panama and was riding it all the way to Vancouver, and he wasn't old, maybe about 37 years old. The motorcycle thing here in Canada is a niche market, or it will become soon, like owning a yacht, that is sad.
I travelled back to the home country of my parents this year and the motorcycle community over there makes the GTA bike community look like a lizard standing next to Godzilla. It's HUGE. How many motorcycles in Toronto? 20,000? 50,000? Try 1 million motorcycles in a country that only has 1 million more people than the GTA, and is as big as New Jersey. Every single block in any city has a motorcycle shop. and I'm not talking about 2 old guys like it was the case with Rosey Toes, I'm talking about 6 to 8 mechanics working simultaneously in each bike shop. Over there in the home country there's also no such thing as a nerdy stuck-up mechanic that says he won't touch a bike because it's too oily or dirty, over there they love to get dirty with motorcycles. Every single shop overt there does motorcycle over-hauls, they disassemble your engine and put it back together the same day. There's always a parts store within 2 km in the city they send out an 11-year-old boy in a scooter to go fetch it for them, LOL.
How are prices? Well, let me tell you, I have a Yara Serpento 2000 and it wouldn't start after not riding it or starting it in 3 years. They dumped the fuel, they pumped out the brake oil and put fresh oil, they swapped out the oil reservoir because it was clogged, they took out the carburetor, disassembled it and cleaned it, they greased the chain, they took off the gas tank and emptied it and cleaned it, they changed a turn signal that was stuck, and they swapped the headlight bulb because it was burnt, they put air on both tires and adjusted the chain. When I asked how much $$$ for all this (labor work) they told me $11 U.S. dollars, or $15 canadian. My friends gave me sh1t and told me that the other shop in the same block would have charged me cheaper, maybe $8 dollars.
There's sooo much infrastructure and industry behind the motorcycle community that it's nuts. Even corner stores sell motorcycle paraphrenilia, good luck in Toronto with that. The only downside is that I went to Yamaha and Kawasaki dealerships and they don't sell the R6 or R1 or the Z-900 but I was told they could get them, you have to order them and they'll come by ship in 2 months. No problem, I can live and wait 2 months. I also found out that there's local machine shops that literally build motorcycle parts for you. There's speed limits but the signs are there just for birds to stand on them and poop, cops do NOT enforce speed limits, they are usually just chilling under tree shades, probably sleeping. The curious thing is that you don't see anybody going over 110 km/h in rural highways. I love the atmosphere there, the motorcycle atmosphere. It's huge and fun.
I quickly learnt that NOBODY in another motorcycle salutes you, and no wonder why, half the vehicles are motorcycles and 2 or 3 pass you every 3 seconds. When I was there I saw various American and Canadian tour bikers with their KLR's and big BMW bikes, saw a guy with British Columbia plates in a motorcycle at a gas station, we chatted for a bit. He shipped his bike to Panama and was riding it all the way to Vancouver, and he wasn't old, maybe about 37 years old. The motorcycle thing here in Canada is a niche market, or it will become soon, like owning a yacht, that is sad.
