Editor’s Note: I’ve known Lorenzo Lamas since we featured his Knucklehead Chopper in Easyriders way back when, then he threatened to make one of my books into a movie. Recently Chad Greulach and Lorenzo reached out to Bikernet and we discussed a series of articles written by Lorenzo. Ya see, he’s not just a celebrity. Actually, as you will see, he’s always been a biker, even when it pissed off his movie star dad. But you’ll read it all here as we cover the life and times of Lorenzo Lamas.–Bandit
As a pre-teen kid, I was a Hot Wheels fanatic. Those ’60s Muscle Cars were my thing and my buddies and I would race our toy Chargers against our Chevelles for hours and hours on end. Then in spring of 1969, what started as a love of Hot Wheels turned into a true passion that’s lasted all these years.
Billy Hildreth, Jay Johnston and I were all 11 years old and we ran as our own pack of prepubescent renegades in the Santa Monica Mountains, just west of Los Angeles. Each of us had our own rigid frame minibike with a Briggs & Stratton lawn-mower powerplant and just enough juice to get the wind blowing in our faces. Back then, at least in our neighborhood, our scoots were considered pretty state-of-the-art and we rode them hard.
But everything changed in 4th Grade.
The first true object of my affection was the new Honda CT-70. For anyone my age at the time, this was the only bike to have. I got my hands on a brochure that I took to school with me and studied all day, every day, for weeks on end.
A 5th grader named Patrick was the first to get his for Christmas. His was gold. Somehow Patrick always got the cool stuff first and he kicked off a neighborhood challenge to prove who’d be cool enough to get theirs next.
There was no way I’d be able save enough cash making $10 a weekend mowing lawns and washing cars. For the next year, I was my mother’s shadow. If I knew she was cooking, the brochure was next to the kitchen sink. If she was heading to the garage, the brochure was on her front seat. I absolutely wore her out. I had no choice.
Billy was the next of our pack to score. His was blue.
My mother had been dating a television producer named Skip and somehow Skip had gotten the message. Just as it seemed all pre-pubescent hope was lost, Skip’s white Mercedes 4-door sedan rolled to a stop in front of the house. In its trunk, it held cargo that would change my life forever. In the back of that Mercedes was a brand new Honda CT-70 Mini-Trail. Mine was red. Even cooler than the brochure.
At that point in my life, there had been no bigger moment. It didn’t take long though, after pulling my new machine from Skip’s trunk, for us to run into our first snag. No battery. No problem.
Proud as an 11-year old kid could be, I rolled my shiny steed into my bedroom and shut the door. I tightened the knobs on the collapsible handlebars and I stared at the bike for an hour. I read every part of the engine case and I even took time to absorb whatever was written on the chainguard (though I didn’t read Japanese). I inhaled the sight of my bike for a full hour.
I couldn’t help myself. I pushed my new ride up the street to Billy’s house and, when he answered the door, he shared in my excitement. We both felt the rush of adventure our first real bikes represented.
In the two weeks it took for Skip to track down a backordered Yuasa battery for my bike, I got to know it damn well, rolling it uphill and coasting downhill. When the battery did arrive, there was no stopping me, Billy and Jay.
We experienced our wonder years together on those bikes, spinning adventures, dreaming of endless rides together and outrunning more than a few park rangers on the fire trails of the Santa Monica Mountains.
Lorenzo Lamas built his first chopper in 1979, long before his starring role on the international hit television series, Renegade. He’s been a passionate rider and motorcycle enthusiast for more than 30 years.
In 2007, Lorenzo and television producer, Chad Greulach, met on a set in Nashville and shared their love of the ride back home in Los Angeles. By August of 2009, Lorenzo and Chad had recruited world-class builder, Eddie Trotta and set out to deliver a singular riding experience and sense of expression that would exceed all others in the industry.
By November 2010, Lorenzo Cycles had enlisted Ralph Randolph as its 2nd master builder and within its first 2 years, Lorenzo Cycles had established strategic relationships across multiple categories and expanded its brand into Europe, Latin America, India & Asia.
