Chappie Rocks

[u_cant_prove_it]

OK, so I have to say, you would never have guess our little pretty boy friend Chappie, he bailed my ass out. I had some issues with my Mille, brought the casecover down to Moto Weregonnafuckya and dropped it off to get new seals pressed in. I would have normally done it myself, but they have had alot of issues with these, some dealers have had them come back several times to get it right. They quoted me one thing, withheld the lube, tossed in some sand and fucked me, about doubled the price, took forever to do it and then, when all was said and done, they fucked up on the seals, and wouldnt help me! As Chris (employee) said "Youre fucked, what do you want to do? We arent going to warranty it." So after 3 weeks straight calling Jason (owner) twice a day, I gave up, and said "F it!".
So when hearing my story, Chappie said he would do it. I figured what the hell, he was way less than half the price of the other fuck offs and how bad could he fuck it up right? I dropped it off and said bye.
Not only did he do the work fast, cheap and with a warranty on the labor, he made sure it was correct prior to handing it back, he cleaned all of the oil that the motor had spewed all over itsself from the first and second time it blew the seal. I think it is cleaner than when I bought it! The rest of the bike was clean as well and most of all, I got to spend a sunny day up in the twisties after weeks and weeks of headache, back on my Mille.
Chappie, I dont care what they say about you and your hair, you rock. As for the rest of you, incase you didnt know, Chappie is getting into restoring vintage bikes, but will work on others also to get the word out there. He is really reasonable, does clean work and most of all, stands behind it!
Take advantage of him before he gets some business and gets too busy to deal with our little bikes.

2000 Aprilia RSV1000R Mille

[Frenchmillerlover]

Re: Chappie Rocks

Yeah! That Chappie guy rocks. ;D I can't wait to see your Mille this Friday! As for Motoetc, it is why I ride all the way to the city for maintenance and to get my new tires (I picked the pilots), because they are good at Scudewergonnahelpya I got the 03 RS50, the 03MilleR there and now we spent Sunday looking at their scooters for my girl.. but what the hell is Kymco? Any feedback on those Taiwanese little things? I like Vespas better, don;t they use Piaggio engines anyway?..

[timmeh]

Re: Chappie Rocks

I'm jealous. I thought I was the only Vampire getting butt sexed by Moto Weregonnafuckya. What does Mr. Two Stroke have to say about things?
T.

[Ix]

Re: Chappie Rocks

Okay.... who's Chappie? I decided a couple years ago to stop going to Moto Lackadaisico, but I still haven't found a good bike mechanic to do my Duc maintenance. I'm bending over backwards to get service done at Honda Peninsula Ducati over The Hill, but I'd much rather find someplace in town.

[u_cant_prove_it]

Re: Chappie Rocks

two places I know of, Chappie (Cafe Moto) 476-8127 and Cycle Imports (by we all ride) dont know his number off hand. They are both great to deal with and fair. Chappie is a smaller operation - out of the garage type of shop and Cycle imports has the shop (and a dyno) woo hoo. Either one is 10 times more qualified than the monkeys over at that other place. Im sure if everyone quits going there, they will be replaced by someone who can actually do the work. The problem is, they are still there and people keep going there because its local and easy.

[Ix]

Chappie does, indeed, rock

I just got my Duck serviced by Chappie. He did such a good job, it feels like a different bike. He's a good mechanic, a conscientious businessman, and right now, a helluva good deal (he has low overhead while he's still shopless). If you need any work done, see if he'll do it for you.

When he speaks with authority, he knows what he's talking about, and he admits when he doesn't have an answer. But he also knows how to *find* an answer, and he appears to have a pretty extensive network of experts and specialists to rely on when he has to go asking or farm out work.

I hope he finds a way to get a shop set up. I'd like to have a regular mechanic I trust right here in Santa Cruz. I'm perfectly happy hauling my bike to his garage, but I imagine his neighbors and/or landlord may eventually have something to say about that. :-)

He was in constant contact with me about the state of the work on my bike, and he always checked with me before starting anything we hadn't already agreed to. He drove all the way to SF to get Ducati parts from a reputable source when he needed them. He also found a good deal on a new chain and passed the savings on to me. What awesome customer service!

When you call his number, you may get an answering machine with his wife's voice, that doesn't say anything about Cafe Moto. Leave a message anyway - he'll get it. His full name is Chad Beason.

Think we can get Moto Italiano to sell their shop to him? :-) Gawd that would be nice.... I'd finally stop missing John McCoy.

BTW: I called Cycle Imports when I was looking for someone to do the service on the Duck, and was told that they can't (or just won't?) do Desmo valves. This isn't a slam at Cycle Imports, just a warning to other Ducati owners. They may do other work on Ducatis, but I didn't ask.