Tequila Gold | 1994 Harley Davidson Springer Softail

Editor's Note: You know the old saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks"? Well that might be true if that old dog isn't interested in what you're trying to teach him. But teach him something he can use or benefit from (say in the form of extra treats or belly rubs) and he'll learn as much as you're willing to teach him. While Art Martinez from Southern California got a late start in the Harley game-he didn't pick up his first H-D until he was around 44 years old-he didn't let that hold him back from going back to school and learning a couple tricks that helped him turn a tired Softail into his dream bike.

I have more than 35 years experience working as a sheetmetal journeyman at McDonnell-Douglas Aeronautics, Whittier Steel, and Los Angeles' largest transit system, L.A.C. Metro (the Metro). I've been at the Metro since 1980, and many of the people I've met there have been influences on my interest in motorcycles. I bought my first motorcycle around 1998, a few years after my brother Rick got his. My bike was a '92 Electra Glide and it was a great riding motorcycle. I rode that bike all over Southern California. I was very lucky that my first Harley never had any problems. I kept this bike for about four years, and then I sold it.

It pays to have friends who know how to lay down some slick pinstripes.

I have always had an interest in the classic look of a Springer frontend. So one day in 2002, I bought a '94 Softail Springer. The next five years of riding that bike wasn't too good. I had many mechanical and electrical problems. Lucky for me a good friend, Roy, asked if I was interested in going back to school with him and signing up for a motorcycle mechanic course for the next four semesters at Los Angeles Trade Tech College. Well, it didn't end there; we also took two semesters learning how to weld and two semesters in auto body repair and paint. It came in handy because I was able to work on my own bike.

After having five years of problems with my motorcycle I parked my bike in the garage and contemplated either selling it or tearing it apart and rebuilding it. It took several months before I came to the conclusion that I was going to make one of my dream's come true. I was going to build my idea of a '70s chopper out of this bike. So one day I started to strip the bike down to where the only items left were the frame, engine, transmission, and frontend.

Art modified the dash bolts so that he could run these knockoffs instead of the standard acorn nuts.

Art modified the dash bolts so that he could run these knockoffs instead of the standard a

One of the first things I had to do was to repair the electrical harness. It was a mess, and you could tell that some inexperienced person had worked on it. It was so bad that the electrical schematics from the service manual and the electrical harness on the bike didn't match. The worse thing I noticed was when they replaced many of the wires, they used the same color of wire everywhere. Anyway it took a lot of time and patience to rework the harness, but I ended up creating a new wiring schematic blueprint so that I could include it in the service manual. My next step was to start buying parts. I knew this was going to take some time. I wanted to avoid catalogs and dealerships because they can be very expensive. I had to save money and be a smart shopper to get the very best deal on new and used parts to build my bike. I surfed the net (Ebay, Craigslist), visited motorcycle swap meets in California and Arizona, and I spoke to friends and acquaintances that were involved in the motorcycle world.

Ebay was a little tricky but I was able to get some great deals like the Ness fender struts and the gas caps. The swap meets were OK but a lot of the parts weren't in great shape, but I did find a few items, like the aftermarket brake rotors, which were brand new in the box for only $25. My best deals were through some of the people I knew. Someone always seemed to know somebody that had what I was looking for, and it saved me a whole lot of money because the parts were just sitting in people's garages. The LA Choppers 16-inch Ape Hangers and the Paughco Upsweep Fishtails brand new in a box were purchased from a friend's brother for only $300. The guy decided that he didn't want them and just stored them in his garage. I can go on and on about the rims, covers, etc, but you get the idea.

Once I had the majority of parts together, I started the rebuild by lowering the bike 2 inches in the front and rear. I had picked up a Ness Taildragger rear fender and modified it by cutting the pointed tip and flared lip off. I scored a stretched Springer front fender that bolted right on. I also had a stretched Fat Bob tank that fit perfectly with a stretched dash I had come across. While the Paughco exhaust was an upsweep system, you couldn't see the fishtail tips from the primary side so I cut the pipes just after the upsweep, added about 4 inches to each pipe, then welded them back together.

One of my biggest issues was finding the right person to paint my parts. I spoke to many people and found someone at work: Jason, aka "Strange," who works as a painter at the Metro painting buses. I spoke to Jason about my bike and he pulled out his portfolio and showed me his work. I was satisfied that he was the best person for the job. Jason and I discussed my plans and I briefed him on how I wanted the bike to look. I explained to him that I wanted Pagan Gold and orange paint mixed with metalflake, and to blend the orange on the edges. He agreed that he could do it and took all the parts. A few months later I went to his house and was amazed by how awesome the paint looked. It even surpassed my expectations once I saw the color. Right on the spot, I thought of the name for my bike, "Tequila Gold." I had some out-of-town friends at my house who were pinstripers: Atomik Matt, from Arizona, and Brian Papa, from Alabama. I had them do the silver leaf and pinstripe the outline on the name "Tequila Gold." After Matt and Brian left, I realized my bike needed more pinstriping. I met a guy, Paulie, aka "Stroker," at the motorcycle swap meet that was doing pinstriping, and asked if he would finish the rest of the bike. Paulie did a great job and I was very pleased.

The build was tough at times, especially reworking the electrical harness. I should have just bought a new one, but again, I was trying to save money. Over the years I have collected a lot of tools and equipment which helped me do everything in my own garage, and going back to school to learn about motorcycles helped me make sure I did it right. I added everything up from all the receipts, and the total came out to about $5,000. Imagine if I purchased all my parts from catalogs and/or dealerships! The price would have been double, maybe even triple, the amount. One other issue I should mention is the labor cost that it took to build this bike. Can you imagine the parts and labor cost combined? Boy did I save a lot of money. Tequila Gold was completed in early 2009, and it came out exactly as planned. The only thing that bothers me is that I wish my friend, Mike, was still alive to see my bike; he was one of my biggest inspirations. Back in the '70s, he built a chopper at home and it was featured in a motorcycle magazine. He would have been so proud. It was a great idea for me to build this bike in my garage. I had my critics at home with my family all giving their advice in this huge project. Thanks to everyone for their help and support.