Click on any photo to enlarge it and scroll through as a slide show
With 12 million vehicles crowding the highways and byways of L.A., any new garage space is a boon. Make that a boon-boom for bike fans thanks to the recent Grand Opening of the all new 18,000 sq. ft. Garage Company, a center for bikes of all flavors, makes and models from classics to customs plus the parts to keep them running. After more than 20 years hunkered down in a fraction of that space at the original spot on Washington Blvd. near Venice, CA, the all-new and vastly larger facility made the momentous move to the intersection of Hyde Park and Augusta in Inglewood, strategically located a short putt from the Los Angeles airport (LAX) and literally a few feet off the 405 Freeway.
A combination classic bike restoration/custom chopper building/parts and memorabilia museum, the Garage Company is the life’s work of Yoshi Kosaka. The story began in the early 1970s and in Japan where a young dental appliance engineer, Yoshinobu “Yoshi” Kosaka, became somewhat obsessed with motorcycles. He didn’t just collect them, he raced them as well.
By 1986 he was racing in ARHMA events (earning a national title in 1993 in Formula 250), and a year later married Kyoko, his high school sweetheart and a constant source of support for motorcycling aspirations. When she noticed his bikes were spilling out into their front yard, she came home with a key to a small building where he could better enjoy his hobby and maybe open up some space at home where 150 bikes had taken up residence.
His weekends were spent wrenching and organizing his growing parts collection. People started dropping by, bikes started to get swapped. Since he didn’t really want to sell his stuff, Yoshi and Kyoko instead printed up some Garage Company t-shirts for the visitors. They sold out in a flash. Taking it as a sign, a business was born, including an eventual move to the 5400 sq. ft. shop, the original Washington Blvd. location.
While originally a source for vintage British, European, American and Japanese vintage, classic and collectible motorcycles and parts, the Garage Company also focused on Old School Harley customs, a look they call Retro-Bobber.
Yoshi and the Garage Company crew, including their ace fabricator Kiyo now have designed and built more than 40, each one distinctly different, snapped up by customers across the country coast to coast and overseas as well. Their customers include the likes of Ferrari when they wanted to give a special present to multi-world champion Michael Schumacher on the occasion of his retirement from Formula One racing. Yoshi built him a killer bike, Ferrari red of course.
The all new expanded facility, the Garage Company is certain to become a L.A. “must-see” and certainly a point of pilgrimage for motorcycle fans looking for an immersion in history as well as a source for rare motorcycles, past, present and future.
The Grand Opening Party took place on Sunday, June 6, 2010 and attracted longtime customers and friends as well as members of the classic bike community from far and wide. Yoshi and Kyoko literally rolled out the red carpet including
setting up a lounge area with a big screen TV showing classic biker and racing films, a roomful of banquet tables laden with tons of food, from hot dogs to freshly grilled roast beef and barbecued chicken.
Adding to the festivities was a The Garage Company jazz trio John Zainer on keyboard, Roger Newmann on sax and drummer Steve Hileg.
Inside they enjoyed not only the showroom of bikes but also the miles of motorcycle reference books, bike apparel, decals, videos and displays of historic memorabilia as well as a huge separate room a literal “shopping center” for vintage parts, a forest of shelves you could amble through at your leisure.
Several icons of the sport showed up including legendary Triumph racer Sonny Nutter along with his beautiful TT bike, veteran custom bike builder Mil Blair aboard his latest creation and Motorcycle Hall of Fame sidecar guru Doug Bingham of Side Striders as well as mega- bike collectors like Urban Hirsch, founder of Ink Systems.
Congratulations go out to Yoshi, Kyoko, Kiyo and the Garage Co. team for making
a major contribution to the sport and helping to put L.A. on the classic motorcycling map as a much needed resource for all vintage bike fans.
The Garage Company
956 W. Hyde Park Blvd
Inglewood CA 90302
www.garagecompany.com
1-800-393-3766
Please follow and like us:
