Ken’s Cycle Center

Can’t say enough about these guys! They really helped out of jam on a Friday evening. Great service and knowledgable staff.

I searched high and low to find a place to fix my motorcycle, and in the end decided on this place despite it having no reviews on here. Well, permit me to add one.
In various storms from this past autumn, my poor motorcycle (which has to be parked out in the open since I live in an apartment complex with no covered parking) fell over several times, one of those times resulting in the front right turn indicator smashing on the pavement. While I have since figured out a way to keep it safe, this indicator still needed fixing, and I headed to Ken’s.
It’s a ways out from Richmond proper, so if you’re a Richmond denizen like me, you’ll end up on a very long bus ride or needing help from a friend (I experienced both, would advise you to try to do the latter). The location is a retail as well as a repair place, and they have lots of beautiful bikes on display inside. The counter worker was very polite and informative, listened to my explanation, and arranged for my bike in the parking lot to be taken inside to be fixed. They said they would call me back in a day or two to let me know about the estimate and get my approval for repairs.
ONE WEEK LATER…
Still no call. So I called them back, they apologized, said they were quite busy and that it would still be a bit, though no estimate yet.
ONE WEEK LATER…
Still no call. Called them back, they quoted me a price on the spot, I gave them my okay, and they said they’d call within five days or so when it was ready.
ONE WEEK LATER…
No call. Called them again, they said the bike was ready and could be picked up when I wanted to. It was Friday and I wouldn’t be able to make it in time, so I planned to go get it on Monday. They called me back and asked if I wanted them to make an inspection on it while it was there for a few extra bucks, so I said sure.
Came in and settled up on the bill with them. It wasn’t too bad, and they had checked/​inspected the bike and found it to be in great shape. They drove it out into the back lot for me and I was pleased to see it back in its state of former glory.
The delays and phone tag were a bit troubling, though everything else in the process went quite well. My advice for them is to make better notes in their computer about when customers are expecting to hear from them and try to keep them informed of the process. I completely understand that they get extremely busy and have a hard time handling it all, though if they made sure to keep a checklist of those calls customers are expecting, they’d be the uncontested best motorcycle repair place in the entire Richmond region.
Overall: 4.0 stars
— — — –
Pros:
— Polite and knowledgeable staff.
— Nice location with lots of beautiful bikes inside, if you’re looking to buy one.
— Pricing is reasonable on repairs and they seem to be an honest bunch, hard to find in any sort of repair these days.
Cons:
— They don’t keep you updated well on the progress of your repairs. Really you just need two calls: one to confirm the estimate and get approval to do the repair, and one to let you know the bike is ready. If they get better at that, I’d gladly update this review and give them a perfect 5-​star rating.