Grandma and Grandpa, Their 50th anniversary, atop Mike's 84Ci Shovelhead Rigid.
 

Lawndale Cycle began as accident and necessity:  Mike had a friend that asked him to repair a bike.  So satisfied was this friend that, by his word-of-mouth alone, the news spread like wildfire.  The necessity – Mike needed to take care of his family after finding himself without employment.

Mike was born into motorcycling. His father, uncles, even grandfathers rode motorcycles.  Most of these people were “gear heads”, so from an early age, Mike was surrounded by machines being either torn apart or rebuilt.  Soon he began working alongside the others and began performing maintenance on his own cycles.  His Dad taught him to ride a Honda 50, telling him, “if you want to ride it, keep it running…(and)…you won’t learn it any younger”.  He did just that – not bad for an 8 year old!  Pops lent a hand whenever he was stuck on a project, but Mike was repairing neighbor’s cars, friend’s motorcycles and anything else people would bring him. 

  The Industrial Arts Program in high school provided Mike with classes in Drafting, Printing, Machine Shop and small business, but his favorite was Auto Shop. He quickly worked his way to Shop Foreman and, after completing all his credits, was made Teacher’s Assistant, graduating at mid-term his senior year.

  In the years that followed, Mike worked as a member of the pit crew for Top Alcohol Funny Cars, Formula Fords, Super V’s, Sprint Cars, IMCA cars, Modified cars, Pro Stock cars, Street Stock cars, Mini Stock cars, Quarter Midget cars and most classes of Off-road cars.  While employed by Hawkins Performance/Hansen Welding, Mike built engines that set no-less-than 6 national records while being raced by the skillful hands of Garret Hansen. These records still stand today.

  Mike himself has raced in off-road events, has raced stock and mini-stock cars, and has ridden Motocross, Scrambles, Desert, Trials, Short Track and numerous years on the street.  All of this well-rounded experience, in both riding and repairing bikes, means one thing:  He knows what it takes to keep your bike in top form and on the road.

  Lawndale Cycle is purposefully run as a small, personable shop.  Your bike won’t be kept for months while you wonder when it will be repaired.  All repairs are scheduled, so needed parts are waiting when you arrive.  The goal here is to get you in and out quickly and back on the road.  We strive to make every customer as happy as that first customer who started this whole thing – by accident!

4605 Manhattan Beach Blvd
Lawndale, Ca. 90260
(310)643-0013
Fax:(310)643-2939
Email: info@vtwinbuilders.com