“We are primarily a social club. These places were popping up as kind of country clubs for car people. That’s not really representative of all the people who love cars and motorcycles,” said Erdman.
The oldest part of MOTO’s building dates back to 1880. The space is a 25,000-square-foot compound. The project took about nine months to complete. Recently, they have opened a cafe providing its visitors with high-quality sandwiches and charcuterie boards, or “adult lunchables”.
“My favorite interactions are ones where the neighbors will walk in and be so surprised by the building itself. I will be giving tours of the building and people will say, ‘This is incredible! It just keeps going,” Erdman said, “Most cafes are like, ‘Oh we got coffee and like three crusty pastries’. We don’t do DoorDash yet, you have to be here. We want you to experience the place, talk to your neighbor.”
They opened their cafe at the end of July, 2026. The cafe is owned and operated by Andy French, a member at MOTO. With all made in-house food choices, the social club takes pride in the quality of the refreshments they provide each day. The kitchen is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“I always intended to have a cafe, because it immediately tells everybody that this isn't a biker gang. So now anybody can come in and check out the space,” said Erdman, “We were already roasting our coffee from scratch; we dedicate a good portion of the space to roasting and selling our coffee in cans. All in house made.”
Before MOTO, Erdman worked in an aerospace machine shop and an electric vehicle startup, helping build everything from scratch with his team. Erdman is a creative person by trade, a car designer prior to opening MOTO with his wife.
“The hope is that it creates bridges between what we are told are our groups of people. We are being divided more and more, we like to say we are the analog answer to the digital age. We are being so digitized now, and people are fighting back,” said Erdman.
Erdman’s favorite sandwiches from the cafe have been The Figaro. It is a slightly sweet sandwich with fig jam on Italian bread from a local bakery. The menu is always evolving, as they have only had an open cafe for a short time. The charcuterie offers a grab and go experience, and the in house roasted coffee can be purchased at the cafe as well as in cans.
“It is a great way to try before you buy it. Andy is doing a phenomenal job, he has four employees. All the sandwiches and charcuteries, all Andy’s original designs, from scratch. The team cuts it from chunks of smoked meats and amazing cheeses everyday and we get bread from Crispelli’s,” said Erdman, “Basically, it is really hard to just get a sandwich somewhere. We thought ‘we can put our own spin on this one’.”
The coffee served at MOTO is a house blend of Colombia and Guatemala coffee beans, roasted to a medium-light roast. AJ Nichols is the lead roaster, the former owner of Ashe supply company in downtown Detroit. Nichols has won awards for his roasting, so he brings credibility that Cafe MOTO otherwise wouldn’t have.
MOTO Social Club is a welcoming and inclusive space for art and creativity. It is a social-focused business, not a biker gang or a boys’ club. The space is Detroit aesthetic, popular for photo shoots and TV commercials.
“We just had a brand new Ferrari the other day right next to a really old Ferrari and I liked the juxtaposition of that. There's something for everybody, it's not just car people. If you have ever looked at a car or a plane or a train or a boat, and you are obsessed with the mechanical details of that, then you've found your home.”
MOTO also offers many perks for its members, such as a photo studio, guest lectures, workshops, yoga on Sundays and an art gallery. They pride themselves on variety.
“Metro Detroit just really didn’t have a social club like this. My wife and I went to Europe to visit some family, it was a nice reset to provide me that I was on the right path. Like, ‘Oh you can just sit at the cafe corner and chitchat with some stranger’.”
Starting the social club, they had originally hoped that it would be people in their 30s or 40s looking for a way to make friends. They were surprised by the amount of people from all walks of life that join, the eldest member being in their 80s, and the youngest in their early 20s.
“I visited a few places across the country that I was researching all the similar models to this, they always felt like they didn't have an underlying theme to them. It just felt not alive or interesting. It is a social club first, it's a place for people to hang out and just be, it’s not work, it's not home, here you remove those roles and you can just be yourself,” said Erdman.
MOTO has also introduced a joint membership, which allows spouses a half-off membership. Erdman and his wife say that a sense of discovery earns you a sense of belonging or ownership over the space. This is a critical part in their membership model because members are excited to bring friends to the space. They focus on true natural growth for their business, spending zero dollars on advertising so far.
“You might think politically that we are all very divided, but in reality, just talk to your neighbor for a little bit and you might find out you have much more in common than you think. Especially Detroit, we all have some kind of tie to automotive or the car companies in general, that is a great starting point for conversations,” said Erdman.
“The hope is that it creates bridges between what we are told are our groups of people. We are being divided more and more, we like to say we are the analog answer to the digital age"
MOTO
is a social club and coffee roastery first and foremost, but also an art gallery, café, and event venue. Offering the following perks for Members: tool suite, photo studio, upcoming recording studio, event space rental discounts, guest lectures, workshops, movie theater, office space, conference room and more. Open to the public every Sunday 10am-1pm. 721 E Saratoga St. Ferndale, Michigan 48220. Visit motomichigan.com for more.
Membership Inquiries in person, ask for Hunter. Every Sunday.