Making Contact Was Meant To Be
I was passing through Mancos on Sunday, on my way home from the Overland Expo, and I noticed a motorcycle shop that I was not sure I had any familiarity with. It was Basin Motorcycle Works, a name that I’m certain was selected because the initials are BMW, and the shop is a BMW shop.
Basin Motorcycle Works in Mancos
And then I forgot about it. I got home on Monday, flew to Philadelphia on Tuesday, flew home on Thursday, and this morning–Friday–I was at the computer playing catch-up and an email arrived. It was a guy named Mac Musick who is, get this, in charge of marketing and sales for Basin Motorcycle Works.
Mac greeted me saying, “I like your website very much in spite of the fact that we are not included among your listing of dealers and service shops.”
OK, that answered my question. They’re on the page now.
Mac continued that, “We would love for you to highlight hwy 145 south to Dolores (along the beautiful Dolores River) and Cortez, and also hwy 184 that goes south east from 145 just south of Dolores to Mancos and comes to the intersection of hwy 160 about a block from our shop.”
Here at least I was able to respond that I do already have most of that route on the site, as the Lizard Head Pass page.
And he gave me a bit of a pitch for the shop: “Our business is owned by Harry Hill who has been wrenching on BMWs and most other motorcycles since 1969. We moved the shop from Durango to Mancos about this time of year in 2009. Our location close to the entrance of Mesa Verde National Park and alongside the busy highway 160 makes us a valuable service and repair center for folks who are riding in the Four Corners.”
So there you go, now you know there’s a motorcycle shop in Mancos and you know something about it. Now I know these things, too.
By the way, if you peruse the Dealers and Repair Shops page and see that a shop you know is not included, please let me know so I can add it. Also, if you see a shop listed that you know has closed or moved, please let me know that as well. Thanks. I appreciate it.
Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Bullet points sum up sessions at Overland Expo
Biker Quote for Today
You’re a biker wannabe, if you set at least one mirror, if not both, to reflect yourself.
Tags: motorcycle dealers
June 1st, 2012 at 1:13 pm
Last summer I was on a longish (700+ mile) day ride through SW Colorado from my home in Santa Fe, NM. When I reached Telluride (via Durango, Ouray, Ridgeway) I was disappointed to find my rear tire was done. I found Basin Motorcycle Works in the phone book and explained my problem. They said that someone was headed to Durango and could pick up a tire for me (they didn’t have a Pilot Power 2CT in stock)and that they could change the tire when I got there.
I reached Mancos and Basin Motorcycle Works at 3PM on my worn tire after a nervous ride over Lizard Head Pass, a distance of eighty miles. FOUR HOURS and $400 later, Harry Hill put me back on the road with “It would have been cheaper if you had made it to Durango!”
As a result of the extended wait time (did I mention FOUR HOURS) I had to ride through multiple elk herds in the dark on the stretch from Pagosa Springs to Chama, NM. Very dangerous, but thankfully Harry had warned me (@ around 4:30PM) as I waited patiently in his shop.
Every time I inquired about how much longer it would be to fix my bike, I was told, “your bike is next.” I could have taken a nap or walked into town or hitchiked to Pagosa for a soak or pushed my f****ng bike home… had I known going in that it was going to be FOUR HOURS. Actually, I would have limped the extra 20 miles to Durango and saved myself at least a hundred bucks and probably three hours.
Did I say that the bill was $400? The tire was full retail ($220), delivery was $50 (even though I was told that someone from the shop was going to Durango and “it would be no problem” to pick up my tire, NOT “we will charge you $50”; something like $40 to take off my rear wheel (’05 Yamaha R1) and $40 to put it back on, and something like $20 to lubricate the axle or some BS.
To treat a fellow rider (and BMW owner — ’98 K12RS) in such a manner was shitty to say the least. Maybe it was because I was on a sportbike. Maybe it was because I am from Santa Fe (tho I’ve been out of work for over 3 years and am bankrupt poor).
It wasn’t because I was some self important loud mouthed jerk — I was polite and patient. I have been riding motorcycles for forty years (I am 54) and this is the ABSOLUTE WORST that I have ever been treated, especially while on the road.
For those of you who say “you shouldn’t have gone for such a long ride on a tire nearing death,” I challenge anyone to look at a tire and determine how many miles are left on it. I did indeed take a hard look at the rear rubber, but thought that it had at least another 1K in it. In my (did I mention forty years?) experience, this was the SECOND time that I ran out of rubber on the road.
If you are passing through SW Colorado and think that you might need service, I recommend AVOIDING Basin Motor ripoffWorks and heading to Durango instead. Or telephone someone to come pick you up. Hell, I’ll come pick you up! “BMW” doesn’t deserve your (or my) business! Mancos is actually a nice town; too bad Basin Motorcycle ripoffWorks sullies it.
To Basin Motorcycle ripoffWorks credit, after I got home and stewed for a while, I called them to complain. Harry Hill was kind enough to refund me all of $20.