Keith garage closed.

I happened to be driving through Keith this week and noticed that the bike garage has closed. Would anyone happen to know where the mechanic “Colin” has gone to work?

He was a dab hand and I had taken various BM’s to him over the past few years.

I had a long chat with them last time I was in, they had spent a lot of money to rejuvenate the whole premises, when it was finished the council inspected said they had done such a good job the property value had been increased so they thanked him for saving the business and doubled his rates. This was just another nail in the coffin and he was no longer making a profit from this point on, that and he struggled to find decent staff in the other areas of the business aside from the bikes.

As mentioned Colin was a dab hand on all BMWs from airheads to the modern stuff he was also Ducati trained. If he has shut it's a sad loss for a local business, he looked after my bikes in recent years and would use them in preference to the local BMW dealer for servicing.

That's a real shame, he was good and not as expensive as many other places. Be good to know where he has gone - hopefully another independent garage

The main problem with Keith garage was the owner ! He was an obnoxious and rude little man who treated his staff ( and also customers depending on his mood ) badly, it wasn't just a simple case of that they couldn't get dependable and trustworthy staff to manage the various departments, more a case of that they couldn't find anyone who could put up with the obnoxious owner longer term !

I really feel for Colin the bike mechanic, he was a knowledgeable and conscientious bike mechanic and was also bringing up 4 ( I think ) young kids..I just hope that he has moved onto another garage who fully appreciate his skills and amiable manner.

The majority of bikes in the showroom were from the owners personal collection and almost everything else was over priced as he'd hoped to latch onto the overpaid Aberdeen oil industry ( his words )..