My New Paint

As many of you know, I’m a firm believer is utilizing social media such as Twitter and Facebook. When these tools are used right, they open the door to incredible connections with people from around the world. At least, that’s been my experience.

Last Fall, I headed out on the road for 25 days. During that time, I put over 13,000 kms on my 94 Dyna WideGlide. The bike now has over 200,000 kms (engine was rebuilt around 110,000 kms). It’s a phenomenal bike that has served me well during the few years that I’ve owned her.

A few months before I left on my trip, I met this very interesting biker chick on Twitter. Kelly (@FieryPinkGirl) seemed to be into everything. She talked about her graphic design work, working on her (very cool) Buell, and even dabbling into tattooing. Early into chatting with her, I connected with her fiance, Jason (@HellcatCustoms), owner of Hellcat Customs. He was equally interesting and seemed to be the kind of brother that I would love to find out more about.

As I planned out the trip, the three of us, along with three or four other twitter friends, decided to hook up at the Vegas Bike Show. While I spent most of my time with another twitter bro (@SmoothBiker), I did get to hang out a bit with Jason & Kelly. And, it was a blast. I felt part of “the family” with all of them.

Within a few weeks of arriving home, Jase got in touch with me and asked if he could paint my bike. He had always wanted to do a “religious themed” paint job, and now had the chance. I was floored at the invitation, because I had seen his work on Vegas and knew that this was one of the best custom bike builders I had ever met. To say that I was excited would be an understatement.

But then, a fire destroyed Jase’s shop. My attention turned from getting a paint job to helping a brother in need. Through the generosity of bikers from around the world, we were able to raise some cash to help Jase keep going while insurance was all sorted out. I had decided not to bring up the paint job again, because I figured he would be far too busy focusing on getting Hellcat Customs off the ground again. But, he didn’t forget. He’s not that kind of guy. He had made a commitment, and asked me when I was going to send down my tins. They were in the mail a week later.

I want to share some of Jason’s words about the paint job. I’ll interject some of my own thoughts as well as a few pictures to help illustrate. These are the first pictures and there will be much better ones taken in the near future.

Here’s some of Jase’s thoughts on the overall job:

Well I just got back from the UPS Store. Shipped my first custom paint job since the rebuild to Canada … I did things very different. I made myself very uncomfortable doing it, but for a reason. Normally I’d pull the paint completely off and start fresh, not this time. The parts had some digs, rock chips, and scratches it had received during its many miles this man has traveled on it. I fixed one dent in the tank and chose to leave some of the other imperfections on purpose… yeah I know, big no no for a custom painter. I chose to do it because this bike isn’t a trailer queen… its a real rider. Its been across two countries that I know of under its own power. The imperfections it came to me with are scars and badges of honor in my eyes. I painted it all here at my house in the kitchen, like I did my first few paint projects for myself years ago. I used a cheap paint gun and a cheap airbrush here at the kitchen table. I colorsanded it by hand with no block in the bath tub. it got polished with a polish pad and a drill… I went completely back to the beginning of my start to do it. I figured since this man did what he could to help out to start over that I needed to start completely over and do things the way I did back then and not the way we do them for show bikes and cars. The idea in this job was to produce something beautiful and different while I was restarting the company. I did. I did it different than I did months before…got to step back to my roots and remember how hard it used to be to produce a diamond out of nothing with no fancy equipment or tricks. I wanted to reconnect with myself and my skills, I did, much deeper than I woulda thought.
Rob Dale, he’s the owner… I really hope he is happy and proud to own this piece. Not because its a show piece, not because of the subject matter, just because its the only one…was done for him as a brother in older methods… I hope he sees things the way I do on how it turned out. This wasn’t a hired show bike build, this was a from the heart meaningful gift…one I hope has as much meaning to him as it does me. There were times during the job things this man has said to me really hit hard and caused a somewhat watery response. I honestly have only been able to talk to him in person for a few hours over the course of a weekend…yet somehow he feels to be blood. Our ideas about life and many of our life experiences are so closely aligned you would swear we lived next door to one another. He is def family.

Again, anyone who says social media is a waste of time, simply hasn’t made the types of connections that I have made. You don’t become family through something that is a “waste of time.” My feelings about Jase and Kells are mutual. They are family. Heather hasn’t met them yet, and still she feels the same way about them. She can’t wait to meet them face to face.
Jase then begins to explain the three parts of the paint job. I’ll use his words and include pictures.

The first piece in this 3 part job is the front fender… I used a video of one of Your speeches to get the image, it represents Faith.

If you watch any of the Bikers’ Church videos, you’ll see this cross behind me when I’m speaking.

What Jase doesn’t know is that this cross was made by a welder who is also a biker and attends the church. Mike designed this cross specifically for the church. He made the simple cross, the put the vines and thorns on it to represent some of the challenges we face on the spiritual journey. If you look closely, you’ll see a motorcycle riding up the cross, representing all the bikers who take this journey.

This picture doesn’t really do the paint justice. When you look at it in the daylight, it almost has a three dimensional look to it. It’s simply amazing.

Jase continues …

The second piece is the tank. The image on it represents Forgiveness and humble men.

Jason got this image from a image hanging in the church he attended as a child. It’s from the 1800’s, and it is something he has never forgotten. In fact, he was even in contact with his grandmother for inspiration.

I think this picture captures the idea of Jesus that I have always appreciated. I’ve never seen Jesus as week or “americanized.” Rather, I’ve seen his as a carpenter’s son. A man who worked with his hands. A face weathered by the climate of his day.

But also the Son of God. A man on a mission to set people free to experience the journey with him. Jason captured that image better than I could have imagined.

The third image really blew me away. This was all I had from him before I got the pieces:

The third is the rear fender. The image represents Love, Peace, and Hope … The Rear really was tough, the subject matter alone was hard enough with the low quality photo I had from the internet … but when you get really really personal with artwork it really scares me to do it, but I did anyways. Enjoy Brother … With that fender on there you will always have an angel watching your back and faith up front to guide your way.

Of course, this is a picture of my daughter, K.D. He took the image from this post that I wrote in January. He had some help, though. He spoke with both my daughter (@brisni), Heather (@pipesdale) and a brother from the church (@donbleecker) as he worked on it.

And yes, he captured her beautifully. It was completely unexpected. I was speechless as I opened the box and looked at it for the first time. Both Heather and Brit knew what was coming, and so they both stood and watched as I pulled the fender out of its protective covering.

I have gone out and looked at that image more times than I can count since putting the bike back together.

So, there you have it. A paint job that is so personal and tells much of my story like no other paint job could do. It’s simply amazing.

I realize that I have readers from all over the world that tune in to this blog. Still, if you are looking to get work done — not just painting, but any kind of customization — and you want someone who clearly puts his heart into everything he does, then you have to check out www.hellcatcustoms.com. He truly is a biker who understand. He’s truly a good friend.