Color Matching Auto Paint Shop San Bernardino Ca
We batten with three motorcyclists from Silicon Valley, Minneapolis and Brooklyn for a three-part alternation alleged “Motorcycle Interviews With The Restorer, The Adventurer and The Retailer.” With motorcycles as the accepted denominator, their backgrounds couldn’t be added apart.
The aboriginal account is with addition actually abutting to home, Scottie Sharpe. The 49-year-old Philadelphia native’s best BMW apology boutique is beyond the artery from the sprawling Nvidia campus, aloof nine afar from my home in Mountain View, California.
Here’s Allotment One of “Motorcycle Interviews With The Restorer, The Adventurer and The Retailer.”
Cycle World: Acquaint me about your automated background, arch up to motorcycles.
Scottie Sharpe: I’ve consistently been a motorcyclist. My aboriginal bike was a Honda 75 aback I was a boy. I’ve consistently had a motorcycle aback then. Aback I was old abundant to drive, I started alive on cars. My aboriginal car was a 1974 BMW 2002. I’ve been absorbed on BMW cars anytime since. I own several best BMW cars including a 68 2002 and an e28 M5. About 2007, I capital to accompany my accompany who were benumbed in best motorcycle rides, such as the Moto Melee. I capital a motorcycle that would be reliable, fast and comfortable. The Melee, for example, is about 1,000 afar over three canicule on some of the roughest, best ambitious roads. I chose a 1962 BMW R60/2.
Over the abutting two to three years I dismantled and rebuilt that bike several times, consistently gluttonous to accomplish it added reliable, and to access the performance. Allotment of that adventure led me to several old timers who knew a lot about old BMWs: Duane Ausherman, Joe Groeger, Roy Reynolds and several others who were adept BMW technicians. I approved to apprentice as abundant as I could about best BMW motorcycles. The added time I spent with these guys, audition about their careers as BMW adept mechanics, and acquirements how to fix old BMWs, the added adorable that affairs articulate to me.
In 2011 or so I answered a Craigslist ad from a adolescent who bare advice abating his Slash 2. “Roll it over to my house,” I said. Abutting affair I knew I had 10 old BMWs lined up in my driveway apprehension restoration. In 2012 I abdicate my job and started alive on motorcycles abounding time.
I was blind out at Joe’s boutique on weekends, assimilation up every ounce of whatever he would acquaint me. Sometimes he accomplished me how to assignment his age-old chiral machines such as the lathe, milling machine, apparent grinder, arid bar, honing machine, or whatever. He accomplished me about acid and abstraction metal, lapping and applicable parts, tips and tricks, how to break problems, how to be creative. Sometimes he aloof told me belief about his activity as a adept artisan and inventor, WWII war stories, or he'd advise me about watchmaking. I accomplished that I admired Joe’s boutique and I capital to accept my own boutique anytime aloof like his, area one’s acuteness was one's alone limitation.
CW: Acquaint me about your software career, arch up to your accommodation to accessible Scottie's Branch abounding time.
SS: I got complex in computers at a absolute adolescent age. My mom bought me an Apple II aback I was in elementary school. In aerial academy my dad's acquaintance Michael Yaskin assassin me to install a Novell arrangement and boutique administration software in his shop, Bavarian Specialities (a BMW adjustment shop, of course). Alive for Michael was a abundant befalling for me because I got to see the apparatus of a acknowledged adjustment boutique from the central out. In academy I formed a ancillary job at the bounded computer abundance and it was there that I abstruse about banking software, networking and servers. Anytime aback again I’ve been arena with computers, designing software and databases and starting companies. I accept a accurate absorption in designing business operating systems that accord marketing, CRM, accounts and fulfillment.
CW: Why best BMWs? How abounding accept you owned?
SS: My aboriginal car was a 2002 and I’ve been absorbed on BMWs anytime aback age 15. I’m absolute amorous about BMWs. Article about BMWs that blaze my interest. I like how the aggregation is appreciative of its accomplished and focuses on confined barter who accept old BMWs. So abounding BMW owners are able to adjustment and advance their old machines because of BMW Archetypal (formally Mobile Tradition). I’ve apparently had two dozen BMW cars in my life. I still accept three: 1968 2002 in which I’m clearing a 6 butt BMW agent and bristles acceleration transmission. I additionally accept my "dream car", an aboriginal e28 M5 with a Dinan Stage 4 suspension, aboriginal Dinan Fiske wheels, and an M88/3 “euro” agent bandy which I performed in 2005. With the B&B stainless exhaust, it is a beast! That car is in the book “History of the BMW 5 series” by Marc Cranswick. My circadian disciplinarian is a absolute banal 1995 e34 525i, aerial white with a argent interior. I still accept a few BMWs on my "must have" list, including a 700 Sport.
My BMW motorcycle accumulating is consistently alteration and generally “up for sale.” There are several R69S’s currently in the garage, as able-bodied as a Daytona Orange R90S, a 1991 K1 with 1,300 aboriginal miles, “The Gray Ghost” (a custom /2 congenital as the world’s ultimate best BMW touring machine), and a bisected dozen or so non-BMW motorcycles.
CW: Acquaint me about your clientele: how do they become customers, and how abounding repeats accept you had?
SS: We’re amorous about motorcycles, and it’s the acumen we appear to assignment everyday. It keeps us busy; it’s a antecedent of pride; it allows us to aggrandize and exercise our skills; it makes us smile. We assignment on motorcycles not because we accept to, but rather because we appetite to; we adulation it. We assignment on motorcycles in a way that satisfies us. This aesthetics seems to allure abounding owners who appetite their bikes advised in such a fashion. We amount their bikes; they amount our time and skills. It's absolute agreeable for everyone.
One affair I capital to breed is the affectionate of boutique atmosphere were the barter are accustomed to appointment and adhere out. My mom was a abecedary and there is actually some abecedary in my genes; I like teaching bodies what I've learned. Having barter accompany their bikes over for aliment and chat is nice. Aback a chump rolls up with a bike in the aback of a truck, I anticipate anybody in the shop's eyes ablaze up because they appetite to see the bike, accommodated the chump and allocution about bikes.
CW: What's been the best accomplishing bike you've restored?
SS: They’re all appealing alarming frankly. We’ve adequate a few absolute attenuate machines, but honestly, the aberration of the models amount absolute little to me. It’s the belief abaft the machines that affects me the most.
We adequate Vincent Chan’s father’s R50/2 that he brought aback from the Philippines. That bike was in abhorrent automated condition. I had to do some austere machining on that thing, but we brought it back! It was his dad’s motor and it is analogous numbers. Aback you see the pic of Vincent's face aback he took his aboriginal ride on his dad's old BMW...seeing that was massively fulfilling. We’ve adequate actually a few “dad’s” BMWs over the years. I adulation those!
We’re architecture a 1951 R67 appropriate now for a adolescent who has a terminal illness. It was his father’s bike and it has been in his ancestors aback new. It’s been his dream to see it run. His accompany got calm and absitively to accomplish it happen. They brought the bike to us at the Workshop. We capital to get the bike done in time for him to see it and apprehend it run. That’s appealing alarming and absolute affecting for me.
CW: You mentioned the machining and agent assignment you've provided for others worldwide. How did you access up for that effort, and how do bodies apprehend about those services?
SS: Joe accomplished me aloof about aggregate I apperceive about machining. He is 97 years old and a adept craftsman. He has abandoned added than I will anytime apperceive about acid and abstraction metal. Over the accomplished six years I’ve spent aloof about every Saturday with Joe at his shop. The added time I absorb with Joe, the added I apprehend how abundant I like his alignment for analytic problems, the joy he extracts from anniversary day of life, the way he’s set up his branch and I am consistently afflicted with his accepted lifestyle. I anticipation to myself, ‘if I can apprentice article from this man, maybe I’ll get agnate results.’
My aboriginal machining jobs came from blind out in Joe’s shop. Bodies would bead by and ask Joe to fix something. At first, I’d watch Joe do the job and he would explain to me how the job was done. After a while, he was absolution me do the job while watching over my shoulder. Joe still goes to assignment every day, but he brand to focus on the tasks that accompany him joy: acclimation clocks and watches, acclimation accouterment and accessories in his branch and tinkering. Now aback bodies appear into his boutique with BMW repairs, he aloof gives bodies my business card.
When it comes to business article that you are not so abiding you can actually do, you alpha out absolute slowly. In my case I started acclimation butt heads. I had two adept BMW machinists advise me how to restore butt heads. I additionally bought their accoutrement aback they were retired. So I started accomplishing some for myself and I was admiring with how they were advancing out. Some accompany who own BMW adjustment shops asked me to do their butt active and I was off and running.
CW: What's been the best big-ticket bike you're restored?
SS: I actually don’t know. Some of the bikes are account a lot of money. We accept a 1931 R11 in the boutique now. We adequate a 1951 R68 recently, one of the best big-ticket BMW models on the bazaar today. Some may not be account as much, but the account bestowed aloft them by their owners is aloof as great. So we amusement them all equally.
We had a alarming acquaintance with a about flawless, 7,500 mile, original-paint R69S a few years ago. The buyer had burst bottomward and alleged for a barter to booty the bike to our shop. The barter abettor was not accustomed with carriage bikes, and while auction the bike, he slipped and alone the bike off the flatbed truck. It fell three or four anxiety and landed on the appropriate ancillary cylinder. My affection actually chock-full beating.
Several fins absurd on the butt and head, damaged pipes. Acceptable Lord! On one hand, it was like the end of the world. But a lot of acceptable things happened because of that abhorrent incident. First, we don’t use that towing aggregation anymore! Second, we abstruse how to use our TIG welder to accomplish about airy fin aliment to BMW cylinders and active and now we are accepted common for that blazon of repair. We additionally fabricated a chump for activity because we actually disassembled that agent and went the added mile to ensure that our customer’s bike was brought aback to 100 percent aboriginal condition, including acclimation and re-chroming the agent blast bars. The barter driver's company's allowance paid for all the repairs.
CW: What's the five-year plan for Scottie's Workshop?
SS: There are four departments: best workshop, archetypal workshop, acrylic boutique and apparatus Shop.
In 2012, our aboriginal mission was to accommodate the best repair, aliment and apology casework for best (1948-1969) BMWs, and we are still actually appreciative of the connected success of that administration and the joy that it brings our advisers and customers. We’re accepting bigger at that everyday. It acclimated to be that our restorations would booty two years or more. Our ambition is to get that timeframe bottomward to one year, reliably. We’re additionally accomplishing a ton added mailorder basic repair. Bodies address us engines, transmissions and final drives for apology from all about the world.
My aesthetics in acclimation and abating old motorcycles has consistently been to try to use the aforementioned accoutrement and techniques that were acclimated aback the bikes were congenital aback in the ‘50s and ‘60s. We appetite to accumulate that best vibe and activity abounding through the bikes. We appetite them to feel old, appropriate bottomward to the accoutrement and techniques that are acclimated to adjustment them. That’s why our branch has such a best vibe; we adulation old accoutrement and old techniques. That is abnormally accurate in the apparatus boutique and acrylic shop. So I’ve approved to focus on advancement as abundant ascendancy over those processes as possible. That includes owning and active my own acrylic and apparatus shop.
Many motorcycle shops await on automotive acrylic shops for their acrylic services. Not Scottie's. We are committed to old-school metal alive anatomy adjustment techniques and BASF Glasurit paints. The aftereffect is smooth-fitting metalwork and deep, bright acrylic jobs that attending like they’re still wet to the touch. Authentic colors bout the aboriginal hues in every way because they are the absolute OEM paints by Glasurit application the aboriginal formulas.
In the apparatus shop, we’ve been ramping up our applique and accommodation to handle anniversary of the capital needs of a motorcycle apparatus shop: butt arch rebuilding, butt arid and honing, crankshaft rebuilding, and accepted repairs, adjustment and machining. Best of our boutique accessories is from the ‘60s and ‘70s. And aback you attending up “old school” in the dictionary, there’s a photo of Bart Williamson, our full-time machinist. We’re additionally accepting added mailorder assignment from added adjustment shops about the globe. Accepting things done in a appropriate amount has been challenging, but we artlessly can't accommodation on accomplishing it right. I achievement to appoint added machinists if I can acquisition those committed to the bikes, and to quality.
Many of our barter ask us to assignment on their “newer” bikes too. To handle that need, I assassin adept artisan Tim Johnson a brace of years ago to adjustment and advance “Classic” BMWs (1970-1994). It’s been a huge success and we accomplished a absolute ample appeal for Tim’s services, but Tim can alone assignment allotment time. With the dealerships abeyance assignment on all old bikes and the closing of abounding San Francisco Bay Area shops like Dave Gardner’s Recommended Service, Ted Porter’s Beemer Shop, and Jennifer Bromme’s Werkstatt, we accept apparent a massive access in appeal for Archetypal BMW tech services. With such a ample exhaustion larboard by The Beemer Boutique and others, I’m assured that we will anon be the better BMW motorcycle branch in the Bay Area.
We’ve additionally been accepting a acceptable acceptability in the BMW Microcar association for our assignment in abating BMW Isetta, 600 and 700 engines and transmissions. I admire the abstraction that we ability accept a administration for abating and acclimation BMW microcars someday, although I accept actually no abstraction area we'd put them!
