MotorGrrl

I brought my 76′ Honda to have new brackets and rearsets installed but was told they were going to «have to pass» because I wouldn’t pay $ 200 for a «recommended» 2 hour diagnostic.
My bike runs perfectly. I had just had it tuned a week before, and told them that. I simply needed the brackets installed.
They claimed it was a liability issue. Well, rest assured you shall never be held liable by me for anything in the future.

I made a reservation on their website for an inspection on my new bike. When I arrived promptly at 10am, I was told that there’s no one available to take a look. However, the woman in the office said she could do it, reluctantly. Why even have an online reservation system? Besides this, she was laughably rude and extremely unfriendly. My bike’s back break wasn’t working so she promptly failed me and walked away. Understandable, but why not offer the garage’s services? She could have made some money fixing my light, although I probably would have told her I was going elsewhere due to her attitude. Going to be looking for a garage with real human beings, not rude and condescending pricks.

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.

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.

I started parking my new bike here a couple of months ago after my other motorcycle was stolen out of my private garage in Greenpoint. I’ve been in and out of here quite a few times previously for minor things like inspections and purchasing parts to do my own oil changes. Tony even took a lot of time to discuss aftermarket parts for my Ducati Monster, even though I wasn’t exactly in the market to buy any of them yet. They’ve always treated me fairly and I’ve found them to be nothing but helpful and very nice.
Now that I’m parking there, I absolutely love the sense of community. There is always someone there in the morning when I grab my bike to head to work. I can’t remember his name, but one of the mechanics always offers to check my tire pressure before I head out. He’s also offered to back my bike out for me and other small things that are really helpful and completely unnecessary little added things that make their customer service far superior to other shops I’ve been to.
Everyone seems to keep their spaces well maintained and everyone is respectful of other people’s property. I think it’s really helpful that they stock a lot of things that a local auto parts store or other motorcycle garages don’t have the room for.
Val plans great group rides for her customers and has many years of experience in both riding and working on bikes. I love her passion and cheerfulness.
Great spot.

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.

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 7^th 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.

I live in Staten Island and park on the street, but store my bike during the winter. This year I needed a space where I could work on the bike, and seeing as I know just enough about wrenching to get myself into trouble, I wanted to find a place where I would have access to a lift, tools, and technical support. I decided to go with Motorgrrl.
Val really took me under her wing and helped me with some big projects, like replacing my mechanical seal, and was readily available while I was completing other other maintenance projects like cleaning and syncing my carbs, replacing and adjusting my back brake, bleeding my brake system, adjusting my valve clearance, replacing my broken throttle and speedo cables, etc.
There’s a cost to everything, but you get what you pay for and every dollar I spent at Motorgrrl was one well spent. I got a lot of individual attention and care from Val, Tony and all the staff. My bike is super happy and ready for the season. Looking forward to being with them again next winter and doing some more wrenching!

After riding around and viewing a bunch of shops I stopped by Motor Grrl and thought the clean garage spoke volumes. I met Tony and asked if he had time for an oil change and inspection. He managed to get me in quickly and after I came back from lunch my bike was ready just as he said it would be. The inspection was quick and painless and it was a pleasure to bring my bike there. I mentioned my brakes were squeaking after the inspection and Tony then took time out to clean my calipers for no extra charge — worked like a charm.
Overall, it was a great experience. I felt taken care of and I trusted them with my bike. I will be bringing my bike back.

The owner Valarie is remarkably rude and unprofessional, like, to the point where it would be laughable; that is until you realize she’s got your money. D’oh! I really am loathe to give a 1 star review but man, she deserves it.

I read the bad reviews but I needed to get inspected and thought that I might give them a shot anyways. I always read reviews with a grain of salt. She told me that my front fork was leaking oil (true but not to my knowledge a deal breaker for inspections) and that my rear brake was loose. I tightened the rear drum brake with the thumb adjuster and asked to be inspected again. While I waited I looked up the inspection vehicle code online which states clearly that «A leaking shock absorber or MacPherson strut is not cause for rejection.» This can be found at: dmv​.ny​.gov/​f​o​r​m​s​/​c​r​7​9.pdf on page 42. I calmly and politely tried to reason with another mechanic but he would not be reasoned with. I immediately took my bike to Triborough where I passed inspection without any issues.