Skidmark Garage opens a community motorcycle garage near Ohio City, in Cleveland

We all ride alone, but we get a lot from being in the community of riders. Half the beauty of owning a bike is hitting the open road, but the other half is our participation in the shared stories, photos, and conversations that emerge any time two, twenty, or 200 riders get together. Skidmark Garage, an open and publicly accessible motorcycle shop set in a former meat-packing plant in Cleveland, Ohio, has found a way to carry that sense of community into the garage, turning the typical isolation of garage-work on its head.

Wrench, Relax, Repeat

Brian Schaffran, owner of Skidmark Garage has a big sign hanging at the front of the shop and on it is the shop’s mantra, “Wrench, Relax, Repeat”.

With six fully stocked bays anchoring the workspace, the layout is every gearhead and tinkerer’s dream. Skidmark also has a parts washer, sandblasting cabinet, tire changer, and wheel balancer available to the public; all work and access to all the tools is on a per-hour, per-month, or per-year basis.

Not only do members have access to the tools and bike storage, they also have access to one another. Something amazing happens in a community workspace that doesn’t happen when we’re alone in our garage fixing our bikes. At Skidmark, members frequently come together over a problem or help improve each other’s work with a suggestion or reminder. Along with the shared problem solving, there’s plenty of time spent with folks around a motorcycle having a creative back-and-forth that winds up as inspiration for new projects and new ideas. The “Wrench” part of the sign’s mantra comes across loud and clear from the moment you walk in the door. This is a place to enjoy your work, engage with your hands, and gain skills by working alongside others.

Activity breeds Activity

Dani Pajak said that he was “all in” the moment he walked in the doors of Skidmark Garage. As a multiple award winning custom motorcycle designer and builder, Dani immediately saw a future in moving his business to be part of what Brian was creating in the Hildebrandt Building. The space is an old-meat packing plant, converted into an artist, start-up, and maker space that is home to several very successful local enterprises.

For Dani, while having his own shop was nice, Skidmark Garage offered something more than just a place to work, it offered a community of like-minded problem solvers and artists. One benefit of becoming a member and moving his Disowned Customs into Skidmark Garage is this incredible access to a very talent-rich, interesting, and ambitious crowd of locals. “Activity breeds Activity”, Dani says, “when I look around and see all these people working on their ideas, it makes me want to work on mine as well. I had a shop, and it didn’t have people like this coming around. I like the community part of all of this.”

Of course, it goes without saying that the rest of the community, especially other burgeoning custom designers, benefit from being so closely situated to Disowned Customs and Dani’s work. His work ethic is paralleled only by his quality. A welder by trade, Dani can make you anything even while encouraging you to learn along the way. He is just one of several folks in the Hildebrandt Building taking Cleveland’s rustbelt mentality and turning it into a new model of community based business. Skidmark is lucky and honored to have Disowned on the premises. It is the ultimate partnership for Brian, for Dani, and for all the members.

A third place

Unlike most motorcycle shops, Brian has given as much thought to the relaxation part of Skidmark Garage as he has to the bike work that gets done in the space. He realized that people who work hard, especially when they’re wrestling with a problem on a bike, need the chance to just hang out and mull things over.

With plenty of couches, a foosball table, dart board, ping-pong table, and a usually man-stocked fridge, Skidmark Garage is the rec room you always wanted to build off of your own garage but never got around to. It’s a perfect third place, one that doesn’t feel like work and without the distractions of home. If you’re in Cleveland, give Brian a call and bring your next project, bike, or business into an atmosphere designed to give you the tools you need and the people to help put a smile on your face and a thought in your brain. If you’re not in Cleveland, start poking around to see if there’s anything similar to it near you, and if there isn’t, build it!

For more info on membership and rates contact Brian Schaffran, tel: 1-440-591-4822 or check the website at Skidmark Garage, located in the Hildebrandt Building at 3619 Walton Ave. Cleveland, Ohio 44113

See more from Disowned Customs or contact Dani Pajak, tel: 1-216-220-6964.

Photos courtesy of MollyHayesVaughan Photography