Cycle Shop

A couple of weeks before this review I thought I had a $ 2500 used Honda Shadow motorcycle nailed down at another establishment. Everything was great until they showed me the final invoice of almost $ 3200 of asinine fees and other garbage on a CASH deal. I was about to give up on dealers altogether and go private owner but decided to give it one more try at The Cycle Shop and boy am I glad I did. The people there know how to make you feel «at home» and were knowledgeable regarding the Suzuki I was interested in (which I wound up purchasing). The people there are riders themselves and the shop has a «Biker» vibe that you dont get at the large dealerships. Several of the other shops I visited could learn a thing or two from these guys. HIGHLY recommended!

A few weeks ago, I ran into Dean Rugare at Sea Dog Brewing Co’s first weekly bike show. Dean and the crew from The Cycle Shop (most are former Fletcher’s H-​D staff) had a tent promoting the shop which opened late 2012. During our conversation, I found out that they are an authorized shop under Harley-Davidson’s Extended Service Plan. After a few emails back and forth The Cycle Shop became a sponsor of FWCMC and took out a large half-​page ad in our club newsletter.
I was due for a 10k mile service on my Road King. I also had a set of rims I wanted to use to replace the stock lace wheels and an electrical harness which required a little more splicing than I was comfortable doing myself. I thought I would give this new sponsor a try. I called and spoke with Eric Matusiak who set my appointment. Based on what I wanted done, I would drop my bike off Tuesday morning (per the sign on the door they are closed for riding on Sunday and Monday) and pick it up in the evening on Wednesday.
The Cycle Shop advertises themselves as «Your local independent cycle shop», so I was sort of expecting some hole in the wall workshop. When I pulled up this morning at 8:30 am, I was quite impressed with their storefront. The shop is right on Belcher, easily seen from the street and there are multiple garage doors on the side to the workshop area. Dean just happened to be outside to say hello.
Inside, the showroom was spacious, bright and well organized. In addition to the scooters for sale, there is a section of parts, clothing and helmets. The shop manager, Shane Taylor, quickly greeted me. Shane quickly got me into their computer system. He asked if I wanted synthetic oil, and I replied that I’ve always used Harley’s SYN3. Shane told me they carry two brands of synthetic oil, Castrol and AMSOIL. Both, in his opinion are better than SYN3. At Shane’s recommendation, I went ahead with the AMSOIL. My work order was printed and it already had the 10% discount The Cycle Shop offers FWCMC members. Although the entire process lasted only about ten minutes, my wife (who was with me to give me a ride home) was quick to notice a pink helmet with 70’s style candy flake among the selection for sale.
I felt very comfortable with my decision to give The Cycle Shop a try for my maintenance. I was blown away when I got a call from Eric at 3:30 pm telling me that my bike was all done. Considering our area is facing heavy rains for the next few days, I was happy to be able to pick the bike up today. I got down to the shop around 5 o’clock, and before I even got to the counter Eric was already bringing my bike out. For the work I had done, I felt the price was more than reasonable. They offer flat rate tire install pricing. I got a quote from another local shop who wanted more to install the tires than my total bill came to today.
After saying goodbye to Shane and Eric I turned up Belcher to stop at Sea Dog for Bike Night. It would also give me about 11 miles to feel out the bike after the service. The new rims were a huge improvement. I had some wheel wobble before, probably due to the wearing of the front tire. One thing I really did notice was how smooth the bike was shifting after it got warmed up. I’m going to assume this was the «thinner running AMSOIL» Shane recommended. I’m glad I took his advice and I will be back for service in the future.
The Cycle Shop is located at 13 355 Belcher Road S., Largo, FL 33 773. They service Harley’s, Metrics, Trikes and Scooters. They can be reached at 727−286−6137 or online at
. You can also connect with them on Facebook. You will get a 10% discount when you show them your Florida West Coast Motorcycle Club membership card.
You also read this review on my blog posting: