Looking through some paperwork in the CRM office’s overstuffed file cabinets recently, I unearthed a copy of the original rental agreement on our first garage space. The magazine has been launched back in 2008, but in just two years, had become successful enough to warrant relocating the back issues storage, editorial offices and motorcycle storage and workshop areas to a much larger facility. Truth be known, managing editor Kim Love and I had cooked up the idea for a magazine centered on new and classic high-performance motorbikes without imagining the concept would be commercially successful in such a short span of time.
Having the good fortune to find a rental space large (and affordable) enough to suit all of Cafe Racer’s needs was an unbelievable stroke of luck- that the garage just happened to be located less than a mile from our home sweetened the deal that much more. We realized it was high time to cease wrenching in the basement of our family home after an over-generous use of starter fluid caused an old Norton Atlas we were struggling to bring back to life, nearly burned the house down…
And while the new digs were pretty much fireproof, unfortunately, our first garage turned out to have a massive target attached on it in the form of a being in a very attractive location. That meant we were forced to relocate after just 18 months, but by that time, we’d come to realize even more space was necessary. When conceiving Cafe Racer magazine, we were determined to generate editorial coverage of actual, hands-on motorcycle maintenance and customization. The stories would provide readers with real-time tips on modifying their own machines, a mission that required not only several bikes in varying states of repair on hand to serve as test mules, but also a decent workshop equipped with the tools, workspace and parts necessary to turn sketchpad ideas into reality.
Over time, the CRM garage space has more than fulfilled that original mission, as we’re quickly approaching our 100th issue(1) with an uninterrupted stream of illustrated tech coverage a part of each magazine. We’re now settled quite comfortably into our fourth workshop space, and after years of enduring complaints from neighbors who didn’t care for the sounds of noisy motorcycles being test-ridden on their quiet residential streets, we’ve found a location within an industrial park where nobody much notices us.
In addition to providing a space to experiment with performance and aesthetic upgrades to the various motorcycles featured in CRM’s tech section, we were determined that the garage not become a hangout for friends and visitors. We’d been inside enough garages where little mechanical work could be conducted due to a constant stream of friends and curious onlookers stopping by to chat, share beers and goof off. These excellent images by contributing columnist Anthony Conroy capture an open house day we held recently which proved far more enjoyable than we could have imagined. The day’s events, filled with BBQ, cigars, a few shared beers and plenty of fun motorcycle road tales proved so much fun that we’re actually considering making a CRM open house an annual event. Of course for that to happen, we’ve got to convince everyone to pitch in with a cooked meal and a few extra hours clean-up time.
We’ll let you all know if that comes to be- you can never know what renting a garage space will bring until you throw open the doors.
