Riverside CA May 1st 2016: Last year I bought the bike I had been dreaming about since it made its debut in the Harley line-up in 2007. It’s a two-tone Pacific blue and black 2008 Softail Custom; FXSTC. I’ve included the alphabet soup nomenclature for those who are entertained by Harley model-acronyms.
No matter how I try I can’t find an unattractive viewing angle on the thing. If it were a fashion model it would be considered “camera-proof.” Then one day, as I ogled my two-wheeled prize, I started thinking, how cool it would be if the stylized feathers, outlined on the tank, could be filled in with swirled copper leaf. Though I’m acquainted with several custom painters, whom I’ve met over the years in my capacity as a V-Twin moto-scribe for the top magazines in the industry, I decided to check-in with the parts guys at Riverside H-D, my home dealership, to see if they had a recommendation for a local custom painter.
Each guy I talked to had good things to say about Doug Starbuck of Starside Design, which happened to be located right here in Riverside, CA. I found it difficult to believe that there could be a high-quality custom painter in SoCal that was a complete stranger to me. So when I discovered that Mr. Starbuck (that’s his real name) is primarily renowned for his work on cars and trucks I didn’t feel so ignorant.
Within a few minutes after showing up at Doug’s facility at 1737 Production Circle R-side, Ca 92509, I found myself engaged in a thoughtful conversation with the renowned custom painter. After a bit, I began my interview by asking him a boilerplate-type question: “How did you get started in the custom painting business?”
Doug replied, “I was the kid who threw out the sticker graphics that came with models and painted my own designs on them. Then in junior high and high school I studied graphic design. So when a local custom painter advertised for an apprentice I applied for the job. Instead of an interview the guy asked each of the five applicants to take a roll of masking tape and make a straight line the length of a car. Apparently mine was the straightest, and at the tender age of 14, I was in the custom painting industry.”
“So,” I continued, “Where did your career take you next?” Doug told me that he had been involved in the van conversion business in the ‘70s before he got into custom painting mini trucks in the ‘80s. In 1987 he opened his first business and within a few years his paint jobs began to appear in industry publications on a regular basis.
He figures that his art has graced the covers of over 65 magazines and he has also been responsible for 30-plus tech articles in those specialty publications. He became such an industry stalwart that he was recently inducted into the Mini Truckin’ Hall of Fame.
Mr. Starbuck began painting bikes in the mid ‘90s. From 2003 through 2007 he turned out paint jobs at the rate of 50 to 60 bikes per month when he worked for Hell Bound Steel, a custom chopper manufacturer. His creations have been featured in Easyriders Magazine, Hot Bike Magazine, Bagger Magazine and numerous other V-twin-specific print publications.
The first day I visited his shop to drop off my tins, Doug pointed out a set of gold-painted tins from a highly modified Road King, which he was working on for custom builder Speed by Design (go to www.speedbydesign.net and check it out). It turns out that very bike won the “Baddest Bagger” award at Arizona Bike Week a few days later. I gotta believe Doug’s bright-work had more than a little to do with the bike’s appeal to the judges.
Over the course of about a half-an-hour we covered a number of industry-related topics and then we began to focus on the design of the project I was proposing for my Softail. Doug told me he would sand the clear coat on my sheet metal and prepare them for the copper leaf and white pinstriping. Then he said that he would deliver my tins to a pin stripper he uses as a sub-contractor on a regular basis.
It turns out the sub contractor he was referring to was Mike Lamberson of Draggin’ Lines Pin Stripping, on Woodcrest Rd. in Riverside, CA. When I googled him I found a you tube-style video of Mike applying gold leaf on a car. The process mesmerized me.
As soon as Doug, at Starside Design, had finished preparing my tins I drove over to his place and picked them up so I could deliver them to Mike Lamberson in person. I had to meet the guy whose work had intrigued me so much on that video. I interviewed Mike because I thought my Bikernet readers would like to know what got him started in the business and a bit about his history as a craftsman/artist.
In high school our guy displayed artistic talent. When he saw a pinstriper at work and asked some questions regarding compensation. He realized that, as a pinstriper, he could make a living doing something he loved. He caught on with a car dealership and for the next 20 years he was able to make a comfortable living pinstriping new cars. When a guy who was building a low-rider asked Mike to work his magic on the man’s car, Mike accepted the challenge. His work was so highly regarded at the low-rider show, where the car’s owner displayed the machine, that Mike and his company, Draggin’ Lines became extremely popular with the members of the low-rider community.
Since then his work has graced the cover and the pages of countless editions of Low-Rider Magazine. When I asked him what he feels stands out the most about his work Mike showed me a low rider he was in the process of pinstriping. He told me, “It’s my lines. I take pride in them. The truth is, I actually enjoy painting straight lines.”
I watched him run a straight line the length and then the width of the hood of the car he was working on. His hand never wavered and the lines came out as straight as a razor!
While I was describing the design, which Doug and I had worked out, the master produced the thinnest role of masking tape I’ve ever seen. It was one eighth of an inch wide. Then, with what seemed to be little more than a couple of flicks of his wrist he outlined the design I described to him, almost as if he was telepathic. I guess when you’ve been doing a creative craft for so long and with such success, you develop a certain facility with the medium.
As I left his shop Mike gave me an idea as to about how soon he would be able to complete my project. Bata-bing, it was done right on time. I’ve used the analogy of the “kid on Christmas day” ad nauseam to express otherwise indescribable joy, but what can I say? When I saw the copper leaf work and the intricate pinstriping, I was blown away, like that wide-eyed 7-year-old kid who finds that special present under the tree.
Next, I got in touch with Doug at Starside Design to let him know I’d be dropping off my tins so he could apply the clear coat. Apparently I’ve become spoiled by Mr. Starbuck’s efficiency. The very next day they were finished. I’m convinced, Doug’s clear-coat job makes the Pacific blue paint “pop” even more than it did with the factory clear-coat. Plus his clear-coat over the copper leaf and the pinstriping… man it’s pure candy for these old eyes!
I discovered a problem with sporting a great looking paint job, when I get some saddle-time. Two things: I’m aware I’ve backed-off my typically, aggressive approach to roaring through canyons. But now, I couldn’t bear it if I crashed my Softail and destroyed my classic paint touches.
