We’re proud to announce that our newest ExNotes advertiser is the San Francisco Scooter Centre, and I thought I might take a moment to tell you how we came to know Barry Gwin and his fine shop.
About 10 years ago when I was a consultant to CSC, the company was manufacturing the Mustang scooters. I was one of the guys responsible for talking to potential CSC dealers, and one of the dealers I contacted was the San Francisco Scooter Centre. My research indicated that these guys were the “go to” spot for all things scooter-related and that they were the heart of the scooter scene in San Francisco.
CSC ultimately decided not to sell through dealers (you can read all about that in 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM), but when I spoke to Barry Gwin at the San Francisco Scooter Centre, I was impressed for several reasons. I didn’t know Barry from Adam at the time (and he didn’t know me), but he took my cold call and spent an hour on the phone with me. I learned more in that one hour about how a dealer approaches the question of taking on a new line than I had in all of my time with the other prospective dealers. The other dealers I spoke with were condescending and cynical; Barry was polite, patient, and informative.
A year or two later, Sue and I were watching an episode of American Pickers (one of our favorite TV shows) in which Mike and Frank had purchased a very rare Vespa Ape (it’s pronounced “Op Ay” and it’s a Vespa three-wheeled cargo vehicle). On the show, Mike and Frank took the Ape to an expert to get it appraised, and that expert was none other than Barry Gwin at the San Francisco Scooter Centre. “Hey,” I told Sue, “I know that guy!”
Sue and I are in Nor Cal on a fairly regular basis, and I knew I wanted to get into San Francisco and meet Barry in person some day. Well, that some day was back in May of 2018. I sent Barry a note, he said sure, come on in, and we did. It was a hell of a day.
We drove into the city early in the morning and we got lucky (we found a parking spot directly in front of Barry’s dealership). We entered to find a big guy staging scooters for the day’s service activities. That guy was the world-famous Diego, Barry’s premier scooter tech (if you don’t believe me on that, do a search on Google and see what shows up). I asked if Barry was in, Diego told me Barry would be in a little bit later, and when I asked about finding a good coffee shop nearby, he pointed us in the right direction. The coffee in downtown San Francisco was great, and Sue and I shared a WBE chocolate-covered coconut macaroon (as in “world’s best ever”).
After enjoying our macaroon, we crossed the street to go back to Barry’s shop. We met Barry, and he immediately introduced us to Lunchbox (his 11-week-old bulldog pup). Barry gave us the grand tour…the showroom, the service area, the parts and accessories area, and his private collection of Lambrettas and other vintage scooters upstairs. It was really cool stuff.
While Barry was busy helping a new scooter rider select a helmet, Sue and I chatted with a guy named Steve and his wife, Debbie, who had just flown in from England. Debbie told us that she had always wanted to visit San Francisco, but Steve did not want to make the 11-hour flight from London until she told him about the San Francisco Scooter Centre (it seems Steve is a vintage scooter enthusiast, too). That sealed the deal for a trek to America. It was a funny story told with a delightful British accent. Imagine that…flying across an ocean and a continent to see a scooter dealer!
We spent a lot of time with Barry on the second floor, where he keeps the vintage stuff. It was an amazing collection, and it was obvious Barry loves his bikes and all that goes with finding, restoring, and in some cases, hot rodding vintage machines.
It was a great day for us, and spending it with Barry at the San Francisco Scooter Centre made it even better. This is a guy who knows his stuff, and it’s obvious why Barry’s dealership has become the epicenter of the San Francisco scooter scene. I was impressed before I met Barry; I’m even more so now.
But wait, as they say…there’s more. As a Genuine dealer, Barry also sells the new Genuine G400C motorcycle. That’s an interesting bike to me on many levels. I first saw it when I rode across China a couple of years ago and the bike was intriguing. The one I saw was customized to look like a 1960s Triumph, and I think the Chinese manufacturer (Shineray, pronounced Shin-you-way) out-Triumphed Triumph. To me it was more evocative of the earlier Triumphs I knew as a teenager than are the current Bonneville reproductions, although I’ll tell you I sure like the modern Triumphs (and I’ve been thinking real hard about a new Bonneville).
So it was that bike you see above that Genuine rebadged and imported with modifications to become their G400C model, and I like the idea of it. I’m going to be in San Francisco in the near future, and if Barry still has any G400C motorcycles in stock I’ll grab some photos and post them here on the ExNotes blog.
So there you have it. If you’re in San Francisco, drop by Barry’s shop and say hi. Tell him the ExNotes crew sent you and maybe he’ll let you pose for a photo with Lunchbox. The San Francisco Scooter Center is a fascinating place with great people and I think it’s well worth a visit. Tell Barry Joe sent you.