So Cal Custom Cycles

What a dump. This business is just as shady as it appears from the street. After just a brief chat with some big angry bald guy, I realized I wouldn’t let these people WASH my motorcycle, let alone be trusted to do any repairs on it. Then for a laugh I looked on YouTube. Sure enough, video of the owner out threatening customers on the street. Lol. Caveat Emptor big time.

Not a please time

My electrical system just kaput a couple blocks away from Sam’s shop and I walked up to him and told him my predicament. He came back on his dinky gas powered scooter and pushed my 800cc back to his shop.
I might of felt a little rushed with the diagnosis and ordering the parts but it was only after telling him that I was in a super SUPER rush to get my bike back on the road since its my only mode of transportation. He made sure that he ordered the cheapest prices without any sacrifice to quality and showed me the whole process. He did ask for cash only, for an added discount, but my bank was far away. No problem, he let me ride that same dinky scooter twice to pick it up.
Fixed her up a day early and phoned me during the entire process. Not bad :)
I’d say the shop price is a bit much but competitive given all the great stuff he did for me!

So now it has been almost TWO YEARS to the day since my husband and I did business with SAM Bauges and his wife DAWN both who are still as unbearable and unapproachable as ever. How they are still in business is beyond me. We took them to court not long after our ordeal and of course we won the case. Sams defense was a joke and had nothing to do with the actual case which was that we paid him to fix our Motorcycle which he had quoted to be only a 2 week job and three months later just gave us the bike in PIECES which is unprofessional and just disgusting. We are STILL to this day attempting to regain the money that we lost. He still has yet to pay us back a single dollar and so now of course we still have to go back to court and try to keep fighting for our money. I hate to speak bad about people but Sam and his wife just have no morals or ethics. I was pregnant when this whole ordeal started and there were plenty of times when Sam got into my face threatening to hit me and hit my husband of course police were called and its all detailed in the police reports. In addition we made sure to record our encounters with him. Sometimes people think that these reviews are untrue or that they dont have any sound facts especially in this case because I guarantee you that if you go in to Sams shop as a new customer he will be polite and nice but once business goes bad or he feels threatened in anyway then that’s when things get real and his true colors come out. I have attached a link to a video of when he gave us the motorcycle back in pieces and he was even being a total dick to the police officers that were on the scene. A pictures worth a thousand words well this video is worth a million. Buyers be Ware due your homework before doing business with anyone but I would most definitely never tell anyone to go to SO CAL CUSTOMS.
Sam if you or Dawn are too see this you can easily contact us and make right what you did by paying us the money you legally owe us and apologizing for all the trouble you caused us.

The owner of SoCal sent me a text message last night (11÷30÷13) lamenting my review, stating «…you seemed happy the last time you I saw you…» and then attempting to impugn me for how I «…do business…» after «…I hung in there with you on your project…»
It’s very simple… If he had got the parts I paid to have put on my bike and what I was promised when the bid was done and when the job was started and not BS me about what was and was not available from Heartland, there would be no «…hanging in there…» required, the job would have been done already. In October NOT June. With the kit I paid for. With the kit I was promised.
With the Heartland kit I would not get nickel and dimed for remediation after the job caused by the work to begin with.
After more than 8 months for a 2 week job, YES, I was happy to have it back! Yes, I was happy it was not in pieces in that shop like it sat for 7 months!
The Heartland USA kit included:
seat pan
seat
french fender with build in light
ALL spacers, adapters, main
trim parts
warranty
Tech support
Hopefully this all sounds familiar to him. If not, I have an invoice that says «Heartland USA» with a paid in full notation from September 2012 that might remind him.
Unfortunately, I believed this guy when he told me Heartland had no kit for my bike so I will consider the experience a lesson for my ignorance (and misplaced trust) but I’m certainly not going to make the same mistake twice.

Never, Ever will I do business with the guy. I really dont have the time to deal with a short tempered guy that has zero customer service and an attitude when you ask questions regarding repairs. I’d rather pay regular price than deal with this hole in the wall junk yard. Dont waste your time at this place!!!

Please read the filtered reviews. Unilocal should not be excluding them from the overall rating because they match our experience, as unbelievable as that may seem. Broken promises, profanity, and even threats of violence. Needless to say a very bad experience. Never have I ever seen anything like this.

Ripped off and THREATENED WITH PHYSICAL VIOLENCE!
I bought a 1983 Yamaha Seca 750cc from Sam and Dawn which was advertised as being in good running condition and having freshly cleaned carbs. I asked Sam in person if it had any back fees on the registration and he assured me that it should not cost more than $ 150 to register it. The registration ended up costing $ 500,of which Sam was so graciously willing to refund me a whopping $ 100 of the original price, ignoring the fact that I would never have bought it at that price knowing the registration would cost so much. The hits have just kept coming since: the alternator and/​or wiring is bad so the battery will not hold a charge, the bike does not run without the choke on (likely due to dirty carbs that were supposed to be clean), the tail lights and turn signals were non-​operational. Sam and Dawn have been very friendly on the phone and even given some free advice, and would be happy to fix the problems for me at full service cost. What a rip off. Stay away from these people, and do not trust their friendly and helpful demeanor.
UPDATE:
Wow… After Sam Baugues read this negative but factual review about his shop, he called my cell phone and told me «I know where you live, I will hurt you»… How brave of a big biker guy like Sam to threaten a 5′ 9″ 140 lb 22 year-​old kid. So Cal Custom Cycles is a disgrace to American free enterprise and should be put out of business immediately. I even told him I would remove the negative review if he fixed the bike, and his response was violence. Simply amazing, I can’t believe people like this are allowed to go into business. I have filed a police report against Sam, a complaint with the BBB, and am in contact will small claims court for restitution. I hope my experience serves as a warning to anyone who is considering doing business with So Cal Custom Cycles. Feel free to contact me if you would like a first hand report of my experiences or to ask any question.
I can be reached at

This is a cool shop, a real Mom & Pop shop where customer service still matters. Sam & Dawn Baugues are good people. you can get you bike fixed or customized for a fair price that will be ½ of what dealerships will charge, and the work will be top notch. Check them out.