Amazing Renovation
When we started riding our ’99 Road Glide in late 1998, we instantly fell in love with it sort of. The only problem with the bike was its color. Due to the all-purple paint scheme, it received the nickname, Purple Rain (from the Prince movie). And whoever rode it that day took all the abuse the rest of the staff could muster. On the list of projects we had planned for the bike was a custom paintjob, but it somehow always got put on the back burner.
Then it happened: A Big Boar wide-tire kit showed up at the office. To install the kit, the new fender needed to be painted, so we seized the opportunity to tear the rest of the bike apart and upgrade the look. While the guys at V-Twin City in Pomona, California, did the mechanical stuff, we rushed the sheetmetal over to Heavy Cycle Customs in Capistrano Beach, California.
Mike Maldonado, owner of HCC, looked at our bagger parts and shook his head. Since Maldo specializes in custom bikes and choppers, we brought him an amount of bodywork that equals about three custom bikes. He explained the procedure he uses to paint a bike and sent us out the door, promising to call when the work was done.