2007 Hardlife Custom - Hardlife in Hawaii

With all of this going on, Nui didn't really have any free time to finish up the welding on my bike and since I can't weld, I was kind of stuck. That's when my other two friends, Clifford and Rodney Medeiros stepped in to help. Cliff works with me at Aloha Petroleum and is one of my best friends, and his brother Rodney is a welder for a local cement company. So I gathered everything up from Nui's shop and brought the parts over to Rodney's house. Once there, we finished the fabrication around the neck and front of the gas tank. Rodney then welded in the Matt Hotch pop-up gas cap and kickstand. I then trimmed and mounted the Fat Katz front fender. To give the bike a cleaner look up front, I decided not to run a front brake. I also took off the rotor side hub of the front rim and machined it down to match the other side. The pipes and handlebars are straight from Matt Hotch. Once everything was done, I took it all apart and brought the frame and sheetmetal over to my friend Scott Kamalii, of Preczion Autoworx, and he did the extensive bodywork and laid down the two-tone candy blue paintjob with graphics and drop shadows popping under the candy. We called in Colin of Stripes and Things to do the pinstriping. While the painting was taking place, I sent out a bunch of pieces for chrome.

When I finally got everything back from paint and chrome, I got started on the final assembly. With the help of my friends, Garrett, Gilbert, and Keith, we put the bike together in the downstairs family room of my new house. Scott from Preczion came over and made the fiberglass seatpan for me, which was then sent to Rich, over at Bitchin Seat Company to get covered in exotic hide.

With the bike together, all I had left to do was wire it and add the fluids. Keith drew up the wiring plan for me to follow. At this time, Garrett had some pictures of the bike that he showed to his friend Raymond. I guess the pictures must have really made an impression on Raymond because after seeing them, he told Garrett to ask me if I wanted to sell it. With my new mortgage I was paying, Raymond kind of asked at the right time. I told Raymond that if the price was right, I would let it go. Raymond made me an offer I couldn't turn down. I sold him the bike as is with Garrett finishing up the wiring. Raymond later told me that when he first saw the bike, he knew he had to have it. It really made me feel good to hear that. Raymond even let me ride the bike a couple of times when it was finished, which was awesome. Even though it was hard for me to let go of the bike, I'm glad that Raymond has it; he's a good guy. It worked out well for both of us. I was able to pay some bills, do some renovations to my house, and I even had enough money left over to buy a really nice second-hand Deluxe.

So that's the story of my "Hardlife In Hawaii." I'm really happy with how the bike turned out. I think it does look like a Matt Hotch bike, and I hope I did him proud. I really want to thank all of my friends who helped me; if it wasn't for them I would never have been able to build this bike. Thank you so much Nui, Rodney, Gilbert, Keith, Scott, and my wife, Nell. HB