When building a bike, most people seem to focus on the one thing that drives them or motivates them to get the project done. For some people, it’s simply the thrill of the ride, for others, it’s getting recognized for building it. For me, it’s the rush I get from designing and custom making items for the bike. It doesn’t mean that I do it all myself. I definitely get loads of help from vendors, people I meet on the good old internet, and of course my dedicated network of friends. Rather, it’s a rush of raw thoughts that materialize into this beautiful working machine.

I have had the thought of this bike rolling around in my head for a while and I have been lucky enough to see it come together the way it has. The fact that it’s done ceases to amaze me.

This bike gave me a chance to work with one gentleman in particular. He goes by the name of “Tigman” from World Class Welding. I was first introduced to his talent through a biker forum on the Internet. He was showcasing some of his work and it caught my eye. Maybe one day we’ll be able to have a conversation in person, to bounce ideas off of each other. But until the day that some bike show or rally allows that, we’ll just have to work through e-mails.

This project also allowed me to work with a new painter named Hannibal Willams from Cycadelic Paint. And being the small world that it is, Hannibal and I happened to go to the same high school together. We were able to catch up on old times and get a fantastic project done.

Not to be overlooked was my partner in crime Roger Kuwahara. Roger seems to bring in a whole new level of perfection in everything he gets involved with. Luckily for me, he was into my build and was willing to give me his full support. Nori, who is here from Japan as an intern, is the latest addition to the shop and also helped out. He may not speak much English but he definitely brings a lot to the table.

This bike build has been much different from the rest. In the past, building bikes was like, “covert missions.” Building was handled behind closed doors. Test rides were performed in the middle of the night. It was a daily cloak and dagger, hiding the bike from customers eyes, under tarps, like a 007 mission just to get the bike done. But with this bike, everything was out there in the open.

Just to think that the interest and acceptance is so widespread that most of the build communication was handle over the Internet is sometimes mind-boggling. It just goes to show that times are changing. I could go on and on and drag this story out, like I really know what I’m doing, but I’m going to make this “Lean & Mean” like the bike we built. Following are some descriptive words from our painter, Hannibal.

--Darren

Darren,

Here are some pictures of your parts right after I sprayed them with PPG DP50 white epoxy primer. It's the best for corrosion resistance over sandblasted and metal treated parts. The body filler and primer surface coats adhere to this epoxy primer by chemical adhesion, instead of traditional sanding to make it stick. It creates the strongest bond between welds, frame tubes, joints or seams, often where the sander or sand paper just can't reach. I've used this system for 20 plus years without any problems.

Once the parts are loaded into the spray booth, I begin by removing dust and debris by blowing down the frame and sheet metal with compressed air then wiping with a Tack Cloth to insure the clingy ones come off too.

For the color I use PPG DBC Base Coat Argent Gray reduced 1-to-1 with DT 885 Medium Temperature Reducer. I apply 3 wet coats with a 15 minute flash time between each coat making sure that I acheive total color coverage.

I then allow the parts to dry 20 minutes before shooting 3 coats of PPG DCU 2002 Hi Solids Urethane Clearcoat Catalyzed with PPG DCX 61 Hardner and DT885 Reducer. I apply the clear coat so that I have a solid base to apply the Gold Leaf and pinstriping color over. The clear coat is allowed to dry overnight before proceeding to the next phase.

After the clear coat was allowed to dry overnight, I proceeded to wet sand the frame and metal with 500 grit wet paper and water. After allowing the parts to dry for about an hour I began the process of applying the gold leaf numbers, lettering and pin striping. I then outlined them using House of Kolor Black lettering urethane thinned with RU00 stripping reducer.

Then everything was loaded back into the spray booth for the final coats of clear. Once again I use PPG DCU2002 High Solids Urethane Clear, DCX61 Hardner, reduced with DT 885 Med temp reducer. Mixed to a 4:1:1 ratio. This clear offers excellent color hold out, maximum UV protection and a killer gloss.

Paint job complete protected by high security.

I apply a total number of 10 coats of clear allowing 15 minutes of flash time between coats. It's a lot of clear but I'm going for maxium film build to cover the graphics once it is sanded and buffed out. I guarantee all my work for life or as long as you own the bike. Not too many painters can offer that kind of guarantee. And there you have it another stellar custom paint job handled by Cycledelic Custom Paint and Graphics.

Mahalos, Hannibal

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