Hey, I you’ll see below, I was inspired to write this Chica story. I ran into the man at a show and told him he had to buy me lunch so I could interview him. I haven’t been able to reach him since. I’ve sent e-mails and left phone messages. I wish I was delivering more direct info on this build, but shit happens. If you want to see Chica bikes with Livia (above) you’ll need to watch for Biker Beauties. It’s published in three states, including Virginia, back east. Enjoy–Bandit
It was Saturday night and I had the barroom blues. The ATF closed my favorite watering hole and the next choice, the Foc’sle, a has-been longshoreman dive in the worst part of this ghetto, was my only escape from angry women and bad checks. I was into my second Jack on the rocks when my cell phoned rattled across the bar, “It was just my imagination, runnin’ away with me,” it sang from an old R&B tune.
“Bandit,” the voice, like a warm butter patty atop steaming hot cakes, made me lick my lips. “It’s Livia, from Biker Beauties magazine. I need a favor.” My mind raced with images shot by Sam Dixon of Livia making love to every hot chopper across the eastern seaboard. I remembered her sultry smile and the shape of her… Suddenly my night glistened.
“Anything, baby,” I snapped.
“Could you cover Chica for my next issue?” Livia smoldered over the phone. “My writer is out of touch, but the next time I’m in LA I’d sure like to touch…” The connection crashed as if a sexual grenade was dropped on the line. “I need it Monday morning,” the link returned.
“I’m all over you, I mean it,” I said and the line went dead. I had 24 hours on a Sunday morning with a hangover, and Chica’s shop was closed. I reached into my past and our Bikernet.com archives and went to work.
Chica is one of the first Japanese, All-American builders. He’s not an overnight television success. He’s built custom Harley-Davidsons for some 25-30 years. He owns a humble Huntington Beach shop, in a light industrial strip area and is a family man. Until recently he spoke limited English, but has always had an extreme work ethic, which often ran off talented shop help.
He started building bikes in Southern Japan, Kyoto, after being trained as a Honda mechanic and doing a service-work tenure. He finally broke away and refurbished old Harleys, imported from the states, and made them run and look sweet for his customer base. For nearly a decade there was Harley business shift recognized by few builders. H-Ds weren’t selling well in the states but the custom fervor spread across the Pacific and the Atlantic.
Rick Krost, president of U.S. Choppers, snagged old bikes and basket cases, around the country, or from Mexico, cleaned ‘em up or piled ‘em in steel containers and off they went to Germany, Sweden and Japan. “Between ’89 and ’94 I could sell bikes to Chica in Japan for double the U.S. market price,” Rick said. “Then the yen shifted and the Harley market in the U.S. surpassed overseas sales.” A sad vocation, but it kept many a scooter tramp and struggling shop alive.
Lee Clemens, the owner of Departure Bike Works in Richmond, Virginia, sold 20-foot container loads to Germany in the mid ‘80s. “We shipped mid ‘70s Shovelheads, which weren’t popular stateside, every 90 days for years, until ’97,” Lee explained. “Harley-Davidson recognized the market and pushed dealer sales in the late ‘90s and you could buy a new H-D in Europe for less than here.” Like many cyclical marketing endeavors the dollar value shifted, markets fluctuated and ultimately dried up.
Chica, a man devoted to his craft, watched the dollar change, and knew the vast custom market continued to expand in the United States. He mustered the cash, the fortitude and the balls to make the leap from his homeland to the fast-paced, wild Southern California lifestyle. It’s one thing to move from state to state, in your own country, but to step across the vast Pacific and make a go of life with his own hands was a considerable risk. Traditional Japanese have a business code, the code of the orient, the Asian mantra or the Samurai’s rule. It’s one that we should all respect. It involves honor, quality and building relationships. They also have an earthbound code. Even the slightest element, a rivet in a brake drum, is handled with respect, as if there’s a fleeting supply and each one is precious.
Relationships are paramount over the immediate deal. Quality is a mantra. If it can’t be built to endure, then don’t bother. And finally the honor of honesty and long-term business must always supercede immediacy and the quick buck.
That’s an element outwardly portrayed in every Chica build. He rarely builds the same style bike twice, but each machine demonstrates traditional chopper characteristics from two decades ago. The details are abundant, the fit and finish precise and the style unique.
When he moved to the states he took up residence in Diamond Bar, California and went to work for a local shop. After 1.5 years he was confident enough to step out on his own and build individual bikes for customers. He met Don Milhouse, who worked for a company exporting American parts to Japan. Don worked out of his home and Chica out of his garage in a growing partnership.
Over his flourishing years in the business, Chica built traditional long front end stretched choppers, bobbers, antique looking Sportster racers, street fighter rigids, classics, and wicked narrow, light Frisco styled customs. He goes after each component with a penchant. He’s a workaholic who strives for perfection, even if it takes making the same part several times. “Complex, as the man himself, nothing leave’s Chica's hands until it is perfect in his eyes,” said Tbear, a Bikernet.com reporter.
Tbear described Chica’s abilities with aplomb in another Bikernet.com article, “Chica represents the culture that gave birth to the Samurai traditions and the men that meticulously forged steel blades, which were an integral part of their every day lives. Gaining perfection in fabrication and strict attention to detail is engrained in Chica's DNA.”
These two bikes are terrific examples of Chica’s style range, sense of humor and craftsmanship. One bike is nearly all black and very reminiscent of Brough Superior or Vincent styling from the archives of motorcycling history. It’s clean, all black, tight, and detailed with special one-off tanks, copper lines and antique lights.
The other is Chica’s notion of a Captain Japan (America) chopper, all wild angles, extreme bars, stretch, rake, front-end length, sissybar and flash. One speaks of times and styling of old and the other hits dead center in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s hippy era. They are a helluva demonstration of Chica’s artistic eye and building versatility.
I always look forward to his bikes. They have verve, persnickety detail and originality. But that’s all you’re gonna get outta me. I’m headed to the airport in hopes that Livia will step off the next flight and into my arms. I’ll take her for a ride she’ll never forget.
–Bandithttp://www.chicacustomcycles.com
