When Tim Schneider, owner of Classic Motorcycle Wrenchworks, Inc. -- a.k.a The Shop -- started talking about bikes and racing, it was like the flag had been dropped, and he was off.
In between answering phone calls -- all of which pertained to greasy subjects like tune-ups and what he wanted on the pizza that a friend was bringing over for lunch -- Tim explained that The Shop (910 E. Land Pl.) is located in what was once the Gallun Tannery's equipment storage building. It's also the only motorcycle shop on the East Side, and recently underwent a $20,000 renovation.
Before he opened the business, Tim was an engineer by trade, and he fixed and built bikes just for fun. But in 1998, after an evening of drinking pints of Guinness with Scott Johnson (co-owner of Fuel, Comet, and Hi-Hat), he decided to go for his dream, and make motorcycle mechanics his profession.
"Scott said 'You gotta do this' and I said, 'OK, I'll do it,'" says Tim.
Months later, in August of 1998, the cement-block building with the blue stripe rolled open its garage door for business. And since then?
"It's absolutely insane. Business has doubled, but I don't want to grow too big for my britches. We're growing so quickly," says Tim, who hasn't spent a dime on advertising. "It's all word-of-mouth, business cards, and the Yellow Pages."
The Shop offers machine shop services, everything from tune-ups to cylinder head porting on an in-house flow bench, and sells accessories such as leather jackets, helmets, gloves, tires, oil, bike covers, sparks and sunglasses.
The Shop is smack dab in the middle of Harley Country, but it's a Harley-free zone. "We'll work on anything except Harleys," says Tim. "Everybody's doing Harleys, but we're doing this."
A truly unique attribute of The Shop is the layout of the workspace. The mechanics work on the bikes in view of the customers, and encourage them to ask questions.
"We'll tell the customer exactly what were doing," says mechanic Greg Klassen. "It might not be the best thing for business, but we're about good service and education."
Best of all, The Shop has this fantastic small town feel. Perhaps it's the whistle-while-they-work friendliness of the staff: Tim's laugh; Greg's laid back demeanor. Or maybe it's the matching blue, name-embroidered shirts. Whatever it is, The Shop has really good vibes.
Although he services modern bikes, Tim's passion is for vintage cafe racing bikes. These bikes are from the 1950s and '60s --"The Golden Era" of cycling. Characteristics of racing bikes include clip-on handlebars and full fairings, and the riders commonly wore pudding bowl helmets and thin leather jackets.
Tim owns a fleet of vintage bikes: '63 BMW R60-2, 1977 Honda 400 cafe racer, 1952 Zundapp, 1955 Parilla (there's only one or two other bikes like this being raced in the country), and a ZX9 custom side car racer.
"These are the bikes I dream about," Tim says. "These bikes are icons. They're what motorcycling was all about."
Tim has been building and working on the '71 CB350 for the past five years, and Scott has raced this bike in the AHRMA (The American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association) races.
Tim and Scott are also really into side car racing, which involves two people on one bike, a driver and a "monkey." The monkey hangs on to the back of the bike and controls the directional steering by shifting his weight back and forth.
"The side car thing is a unique sport. People who have seen it really love watching it, but so few people know about it. Everyone knows about NASCAR and truck racing, but that's such crap. Sidecar racing is the real deal. I think people would die to see this stuff," says Johnson.
Speaking of dying, what about injuries? Considering speeds get up to 160-170 mph, the occasional injury, even death, is unavoidable. (And a couple of years ago, three people during Elkhart Lake's Bike Week actually did journey to The Great Oil Stain In The Sky). Tim admits to possibly breaking a rib once while sidecar racing, but he never went to a doctor, so he's not certain. "It hurt like a son of a bitch though," he says.
{INSERT_RELATED}The motorcycle riding/racing scene has gained popularity in Milwaukee. Every July Fourth since 1998, an unorganized motorcycle ride called The Cafe Race attracts between 50 and 60 cyclists who ride together from Fuel Cafe to Bob's Java Hut in Minneapolis. (Neither cafe actually sponsors the ride/race, because city motorcycle racing is illegal.)
These days, Tim is also into racing modern dirt bikes, called flat track racing. The sport involves riding around an oval, dirt track on a dirt bike, wearing a steel shoe on the left foot to assist in fast corner taking.
Supermotard, or superbiking, is a similar sport, and also popular in the racing world today. It is the same as flat track racing, only the dirt bikes have 17-inch sport bike wheels and tires. "It's super hooliganism. Lots of wheelies and burn-outs," says Tim, who then adds, "Motorcycles and racing are such a passion. I love these things more than anything."
Have you, or someone you know, ditched a day job for a dream? If so, e-mail me at molly@staff.onmilwaukee.com
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
