After some spirited back-road driving – as one does on a day like today – I arrived at T7 and once inside I was greeted by owner Blake Taylor who told me all about T7‘s history and what they do. “We started in 2007-ish working out of my home garage and then eventually moved here in 2014. I grew up racing motorcycles, especially in Motorcross. I’ve always been interested in Off-roading and Motorcross racing. In the beginning we did a lot of specialty work, but nowadays we focus more on Repair & Service work … trying to keep other peoples equipment in top shape.”
He continued “at T7 we take great pride in being able to provide our customers with quality parts and services form our large selection of parts and accessories in stock. We have invested in our own machining to give the customer best result possible; We do our own in house machining and dyno tuning and testing as well.”
Blake, at 33, is a modest guy but his certifications definitely stand out: Yamaha Pro Program, Honda Tech Program, K-Tech Program, F.A.S.T.- Factory Authorized Suzuki Training Program, Suzuki Select Tech Award, Race Tech Technical Edge Seminars, Dynojet approved power commander tuning center and more – He’s also an authorized Cobra-Moto dealer!
They say great things come in small packages… such a true statement when we put it in the context of Motorcycles, ATVs and UTVs. Compared to the grand scale of most automotive shops, T7 is much smaller and you can really pack a ton of items in the shop. It offers plenty of room for the machine room, dyno and service bays.
A shout of “he’s does awesome suspension work too – don’t let him fool you” – came from the back room from one of Blake’s techs as the conversation carried on. “Yea… I don’t get to do a lot of racing anymore myself, I’m always busy here in the shop, and it’s getting harder and harder to find places in this area to ride off-road.” Which was a perfect segue into my next question: Where did you ride or race? – “There are a few places still around: Shippensburg, Bud’s Creek which is near MIR, Trailways, and some others…”
As we chatted a little more: What types of clubs or organizations did you race with? – “Well, the AMA (American Motorcycle Association) is the head of all of them really. But around here you have MAMA (Mid-Altantic MotorCross Association), MDRA (Mason-Dixon Riding Association), District-6 and ECEA (East Coast Enduro Association) to name a few.”
As we wrapped up Blake and I addressed safety in the sport and how to get younger riders more involved, two topics that all of us can resonate with these days. I can’t thank Blake enough for spending some time with me to talk about his work and his passion. I learned quite a bit and we (at GTM) wish him the best, continued successes, and maybe we’ll see him back out there on track sometime soon. If you’re looking to get advice or have your Motorcycle, ATV or UTV serviced, be sure to reach out to Blake and his team over at T7!
#neverstoplearning #merrymotoring
