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Motorcycles, Lattes and Leather Jackets Converge at Williamsburg Bike Shop

By Tanay Warerkar | January 30, 2014 11:36am
 Williamsburg's newest retail venture where customized bikes are sold alongside lattes and desginer biker clothing
Jane Motorcycles
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WILLIAMSBURG — Motorcycles aren't the only thing revving up riders at this new bike shop.

Jane Motorcycles on Grand Street is switching gears from the traditional bike shop by selling lattes alongside custom-made hogs with the goal of making the store a gathering spot for the chopper-riding community. 

“It’s a place where friends could meet up, drink coffee, go for a ride and talk about things we enjoy like music, clothing, art and books,” said co-owner Adam Kallen. “It’s all things motorcycles.”

A gleaming silver Yamaha and a luminous black BMW greet visitors walking through Jane’s sleek glass door, located just off bustling Bedford Avenue. Framed pictures of motorcycles hang on the wall across from a rack displaying leather jackets and sweatshirts emblazoned with Jane Motorcycles’ logo on the front.

Kallen opened the shop in November with his business partner Alex Dimattio. Kallen moved to New York a couple years ago from Los Angeles, where for a number of years he ran a clothing company and worked in e-commerce. He and Dimattio met through mutual friends, and Kallen credited Dimattio for getting him into motorcycles.

“I grew up surfing and didn’t bike as a kid,” Kallen explained. “But biking is the best way to get around the city — you can be anywhere in five minutes.”

For Dimattio, motorcycles have been a lifelong passion.

“I was the guy who would go to motorcycle shops and be there all day long,” Dimattio said in a video posted on the store’s website.

The store’s name came from a childhood memory Dimattio has of riding motorcycles with a girl when he was 10. He said in the video he couldn't recall what she looked like, but noted she seemed like the “perfect girl on a KX80,” referring to the Kawasaki bike she rode. Jane was the name he decided to give the girl, he said, inspiring the store's name.

Jane Motorcycles has kept true to Williamsburg's local movement, getting its brews from Parlor Coffee, which roasts its beans in the neighborhood, as well as clothes created by the Williamsburg Garment Company.

Customized bikes at Jane can range from $9,000 to $20,000, with the bikes specially made at a garage in Long Island City.

Jane Motorcycles, 161 Grand St., is open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.