Hey all. I recently had to send my KTM 350 head and crank to Mongoose. The work and customer service was deplorable to say the least, I was really shocked as was my mechanic. Does anyone have recommendations on a good machine shop for motorcycles other than Mongoose. Such a shame to see such a good reputation being ruined.

Whoa!!  That is terrible.  I haven’t had need of a machine shop for many years.  Then the go to places were Mongoose or Wally Routledge.  Not sure I spelled Wally’s name correctly.

Crazy, I dealt with Mongoose about 5 years ago, they were great at the time.

I've got a cylinder head out with a joint in Quebec right now, I'll let you know how it works out.

  I’m also very surprised and disappointed to hear of Mongoos’s apparent reduced quality. I remember a time they took on tricky stuff like rebuilding Laverda crankshafts, with very high quality.

  I’ve always had really good luck with Heads Unlimited. Recently moved from Surrey to Aldergrove, they do full engine rebuilds.

We had Mongoose bore and sleeve a couple cylinders for a 1910 Sears Model L Runabout.

These are like a two-stroke jug, head is integral to the cylinder. Other than some grumbling about it being a weird job, they got it done with no issue. Took about a month but the work was good.

That was 5 or so years ago.

Yes, Mongoose's reputation has always been high but about 3-4 or so years ago something happened with the business and the machine shop shut down for a year or more and it has split in two now, Parts and the Machine side of things, when you call the main Mongoose number it speaks to that and give different numbers for the machine shop side of things. I haven't heard who owns the machine shop, have just spoken to the same fella each time with the multiple issues. Is Wally Rutledge an actual shop or a fella doing work out of his garage? contact info?

I'm picking up a rebuilt KX250 head today, Recreation Supply sent it out to a place called CVTech to be done.

I'll post the results when I get back.

  So this is the place in Quebec? Surely there's a place around Saskatoon that is more trustworthy than sending stuff to a different country???

Here’s Wally’s contact info from 411:

Wally Routledge. 62 Cres 23873, Langley BC, V2Y2G5. (604) 533-3530

Way back when, before my crash in 2016, I had Wally do a number of cylinders and heads for a few of my Zs.  I had no issues with his work.  Although he would bitch at me for delaying him with conversation, and then he would just keep on BSing.  He had a really nice Water Buffalo that he had restored to the Nth degree.

Cheers,
Ross

Machine shops out here don't want small jobs so they price accordingly.

As soon as my Bridgeport arrives, I'll be the town machine shop.

Wally did a lot of work for me between 2015 and 2018.  Towards the end he was mumbling about retirement, so he may be out of business now.