2007 Hardlife Custom - Hardlife in Hawaii

My name is Shad Bolosan, and I live in the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. I work as a truck driver for Aloha Petroleum, delivering gasoline to our Aloha stations. I have always been a really big fan of Matt Hotch. I admire his bikes and daydream of one day owning one. But unfortunately, I'm like most people in that I would never be able to afford one. So in July of 2005, I decided to sell my Harley Softail and try to build a custom that looked like a Matt Hotch bike. The motorcycle I sold was a nice '98 FXSTC that was completely customized by my good friend, Nui Kauhane, of Grumpy's Customs here in Hawaii. When I told Nui I wanted to start this new project, he made me an offer. Nui said if I would come in and help him on my days off, he would teach me about building bikes and help me with my own build. It was an incredible opportunity for me to be able to learn from one of the best builders on the island. Needless to say, I took him up on his offer.

Matt's bikes always have that long, low, and elegant look, which he achieves from building the frame one bend at a time. I didn't have that kind of skill, so I purchased an '05 Independent Cycles Legend Hardlife frame. The first thing I did was cut out the center post for a more open look in the motor/trans area. After that I set the motor, trans, and primary in the frame. For the drivetrain I used a 96ci TP motor, a Prowler RSD six-speed transmission, and an Independent primary with a Primo-Rivera clutch. I then made the top motormount myself. For the wheels I got a pair of Renegade Monterey wheels, a 21-inch front and an 18x10 1/2 rear with a Metzeler 280. With the drivetrain in place, I then cut and trimmed a Fat Katz rear fender to my liking, then Nui welded in the struts and welded the fender to the frame. I wanted to put a long frontend on the bike but still have it sit low, so I had Nui rake the neck out to 46 degrees, then we put a 12-inch-over Patrick Kennedy frontend on with 7-degree Billet Concepts triple-trees. Next, I cut out about 3 inches off the back of the Independent gas tank and made my own end-cap piece, which Nui welded on for me. We then positioned the tank onto the frame and welded the tank tabs in place and I started fabricating some sheetmetal to cover up the area behind the primary/trans. I made everything by hand, using only a band saw, shot bag, hammer, a vice, and other basic handtools. I did all of the metal fabrication on the bike myself and Nui and my other friend did all the welding.

After all the sheetmetal fabrication between the tank and rear fender was done, I started to fabricate the sheetmetal pieces to fill in the space between the neck, backbone, and downtubes.

All this work was going on very slowly. We would come in early before the shop opened and work on my bike for a couple of hours, then we'd start on the customers' bikes and projects. This went on for about 1 1/2 years when a few things happened that kind of changed the course of the rest of the build. My wife and I bought our first home and because of this I wanted to get the bike done as soon as possible, since I knew my free time and funds would become very limited. Right about that same time, Nui was starting his new company, The Honolulu Motorcycle Company. Also, Nui's wife had just given birth to their first child, Kaea.