Steel Buffalo Motors - Culver City, California

Ryan K.

Ben's expertise & dedication in assisting me with my Harley Sportster was truly commendable. He went above and beyond to ensure I had all the information needed and offered invaluable insights and recommendations.
Professionalism A+
I trust them with my bike & I highly recommended for anyone seeking pro service or buying used bikes.

Steph E.

Beautiful shop of custom built motorcycles. New and vintages Indian Motorcycles. They sell and also repair bikes of all makes and models. The store also offers fashion items like unique leather and jeans jackets, shirts and even... Cigars. Ben the owner is a great guy. Very professional and passionate about his bikes and their history

Colton S.

This shop is great. I've taken my bike to them twice and each time I've been satisfied with the service. The second time I needed their services, Achilles and Will drove out to USC and towed my bike to the shop (free of charge). This was during a time where one of their main mechanics had unexpectedly left the shop, so even though they were busy, they took the time to take care of me.

Next time my bike needs some TLC, I'll be calling Steel Buffalo Motors.

Paul G.

A Great place to go if you like being taken advantage of 🤷🏻‍♂️

If you own a newer model bike, you should be especially careful when dealing with this place. They automatically assume that you are a bit of a “noob” And WILL attempt to take advantage of you accordingly.

I have a newer model, Harley Davidson,
I reached out to this mechanic because I had acquired some colored LED ground effect lights. I wanted to mount them on my bike, but soon begin to realize that the schematic was slightly outside of my field of expertise, and it would probably be best to have them installed by professional.

I called steel Buffalo, and spoke with a gentleman there who told me he would charge me $580 to install them, which is absolutely ridiculous. I was supplying all the materials, they were supplying nothing more than the labor, and the job should’ve taken no more than two hours at the maximum to complete. Yet they wanted to charge me approximately $300 an hour in labor…
for work that required no grease on her hands… it was ridiculous!
I’m just lucky that my father was a mechanic, and I know better. But there’s a lot of people out there who don’t.
This is not the place to go to ever have any work done for anything. their business practices are deceitful, predatory, and questionable at best!
I would never set foot in this place, and I’m glad I was able to see their true colors before I actually did.

Daniel C.

Ben and his team at Steel Buffalo motors were very accommodating and helped me get back on the road with my bike. After having some tire trouble, they got it taken care of same day when I brought it in for service. Though there was a misunderstanding about the amount of work required and what it entailed, they honored the original quoted price. I'll definitely be coming back here for all my bike's service!

Indy S.

Overview: I consigned my motorcycle to Steel Buffalo Motors last August. Eventually, I was told it was given away without any money exchange, then the story was it was damaged and went missing. Seven months later, after hiring a lawyer, I received final payment for my property, and reimbursement for the bank fee’s incurred due to the owners’ negligent communication. My overall experience with SBM has been uncommunicative, unprofessional, and outright hostile.

The details: I consigned my motorcycle (2015 Indian Scout) to SBM, paying $900 up front for a tune up. Over the next 3 months I received no updates on its status. I left messages but never got a return call.

I drove to the shop in early November to find out what was happening. I was told there had been multiple offers on the bike, and that they had spent “thousands” on advertising. The owner just needed the title and he’d get me some money. I left surprised at all these new details, and I was also surprised on the amount he was now offering. I went home and researched the cost of listings, value of the model of my bike, and looked for my bike being advertised, but I didn’t find my bike listed anywhere. I didn’t understand how listing a bike could cost so much money. And I really didn’t understand if he’d had offers, why he never called me.

Unfortunately a few days later I had a death in the family and left town abruptly. I didn’t return to SBM for 2 months. I never heard from anyone at SBM during this time. I went to the shop in early January and discovered that the owner had given away my motorcycle without taking any money for it or calling me about it. Next I received text messages that this person wouldn’t pay, the bike was damaged, and couldn’t be returned. The owner took responsibility and said he would pay me but he didn’t have any money and would have to make payments over time. I asked details, how much in payment over what time. I received no answer. So I called. Ben said he wouldn’t have any money for me until April. I’m completely shocked, no bike, no money. But, I say I’ll call him April 1st. He said don’t call, he would call me. I waited 3 months. I NEVER heard from him. I went into the shop on April 30th, asking about the money. He responded with irritation and anger and comments such as “What are you a Swiss watch?”

He ended up writing me 2 posted dated checks two weeks apart for mid-May and end of May and asked me to text him before depositing. I texted both times, depositing on the date of the check. Both checks bounced and I received return check fee’s for both. He has apologized and said he would pay the return check fee’s (but didn’t at that time). There were different excuses both times that the checks did’t go through. He sent me a Zelle payment after the first returned check for the amount of the first check. I thought this meant he was actually finally taking care of this issue. But after another six weeks passed from the second check bouncing there was a new story about future payment.

When I followed up again in mid June Ben replied that if I “slander his Good name” he would sue me in court. So I hired a lawyer and posted a yelp review. We sent a standard legal demand letter for payment. His response was an email with a counter demand - saying he had the money to pay me for my missing property, but he wouldn’t until I removed my review and signed a legal document saying I wouldn’t post on any platform about this experience. I started the filing for small claims court. Three weeks later he sent the remainder of the money, including bank fees. And I delivered the title to him. An exhausting and painful experience.

Josh F.

BEST SERVICE IN LA!

I’ve had my Harley serviced by a lot of mechanics in LA, but this was the best experience by far. Ben is fair, honest and a genuine good dude. So many bike shops around town have a pretentiousness that feels unwelcoming, but not here. I needed a big job done on my bike, and not only was the price reasonable, he basically did double the work for half the cost - at no extra cost to me. Just because he knew it was right for the bike. She now runs better than ever. I’ll definitely be booking my regular tune ups here. Happy to finally have a reliable regular mechanic.

David G.

Update June 2024: had to take my 2016 Indian scout in for a major electrical service, and Ben and his people fixed everything with quality parts. The bike rides great and Ben even took care of a few things that the bike needed that I was unaware of. I highly recommend taking your Indian motorcycle to Ben at Steel Buffalo.

Finally, a shop in LA that works on Indians. The owner Ben was super friendly and completed the work well and in a day or two.