It Happens Here: Roxbury's Madhouse Motors breaks barriers with custom motorcycle parts
ROXBURY - Roxbury is a melting pot of art and culture. The neighborhood now has a motorcycle shop that will shift your view of what a repair really is.
Owner J. Shia started Madhouse Motors in a dirt yard in Cambridge in 2009. Thirteen years later and now in her fourth location, her creativity and distinct eye for unique motorcycle parts is racing the culture forward.
For example, they made a taillight out of an egg slicer and turned a soprano saxophone into an exhaust pipe.
Rami Bishara, originally the owner of a custom motorcycle shop in Beirut, joined the team earlier this year as a motorcycle fabricator and designer. He has a simple explanation for why he came to Roxbury.
"Madhouse brought me to Madhouse," he told WBZ-TV.
"We want to be part of a shop that's kind of breaking down barriers. Doing things differently." Madhouse Motors manager Nick told WBZ.
Art bikes are just a sample of what this shop works on. Vintage or new, café or bobber, your bike is in the right hands.
Each one of the Madhouse mechanics brings their own touch to these motorcycles. Their different experiences, backgrounds, and individuality is helping spark the next generation in Roxbury.
"I have an apprentice that was sent here by his high school to study a vocation and he's been a great addition to the team," Nick said.
A team, that's more like a family in a shop that's now a home for motorcycle enthusiasts from around the world.
"When it's a motorcycle. When it's got an engine in it. Yeah, we'll work on it, as long as it's not a scooter." Evan, a Madhouse mechanic, told WBZ.
For more information, visit their website.