Hey, I you’ll see below, I was inspired to write this Chica story. I ran into the man at a show and told him he had to buy me lunch so I could interview him. I haven’t been able to reach him since. I’ve sent e-mails and left phone messages. I wish I was delivering more direct info on this build, but shit happens. If you want to see Chica bikes with Livia (above) you’ll need to watch for Biker Beauties. It’s published in three states, including Virginia, back east. Enjoy--Bandit

It was Saturday night and I had the barroom blues. The ATF closed my favorite watering hole and the next choice, the Foc’sle, a has-been longshoreman dive in the worst part of this ghetto, was my only escape from angry women and bad checks. I was into my second Jack on the rocks when my cell phoned rattled across the bar, “It was just my imagination, runnin’ away with me,” it sang from an old R&B tune.

“Bandit,” the voice, like a warm butter patty atop steaming hot cakes, made me lick my lips. “It’s Livia, from Biker Beauties magazine. I need a favor.” My mind raced with images shot by Sam Dixon of Livia making love to every hot chopper across the eastern seaboard. I remembered her sultry smile and the shape of her… Suddenly my night glistened.

“Anything, baby,” I snapped.

“Could you cover Chica for my next issue?” Livia smoldered over the phone. “My writer is out of touch, but the next time I’m in LA I’d sure like to touch…” The connection crashed as if a sexual grenade was dropped on the line. “I need it Monday morning,” the link returned.

“I’m all over you, I mean it,” I said and the line went dead. I had 24 hours on a Sunday morning with a hangover, and Chica’s shop was closed. I reached into my past and our Bikernet.com archives and went to work.

Chica is one of the first Japanese, All-American builders. He’s not an overnight television success. He’s built custom Harley-Davidsons for some 25-30 years. He owns a humble Huntington Beach shop, in a light industrial strip area and is a family man. Until recently he spoke limited English, but has always had an extreme work ethic, which often ran off talented shop help.

He started building bikes in Southern Japan, Kyoto, after being trained as a Honda mechanic and doing a service- work tenure. He finally broke away and refurbished old Harleys, imported from the states, and made them run and look sweet for his customer base. For nearly a decade there was Harley business shift recognized by few builders. H-Ds weren’t selling well in the states but the custom fervor spread across the Pacific and the Atlantic.

Rick Krost, president of U.S. Choppers, snagged old bikes and basket cases, around the country, or from Mexico, cleaned ‘em up or piled ‘em in steel containers and off they went to Germany, Sweden and Japan. “Between ’89 and ’94 I could sell bikes to Chica in Japan for double the U.S. market price,” Rick said. “Then the yen shifted and the Harley market in the U.S. surpassed overseas sales.” A sad vocation, but it kept many a scooter tramp and struggling shop alive.

Lee Clemens, the owner of Departure Bike Works in Richmond, Virginia, sold 20-foot container loads to Germany in the mid ‘80s. “We shipped mid ‘70s Shovelheads, which weren’t popular stateside, every 90 days for years, until ’97,” Lee explained. “Harley-Davidson recognized the market and pushed dealer sales in the late ‘90s and you could buy a new H-D in Europe for less than here.” Like many cyclical marketing endeavors the dollar value shifted, markets fluctuated and ultimately dried up.

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