Some time last week I posted a sneak preview on bikerMetric and on bikerMetric on Facebook. It was of a real nice V-Twin, a custom seat, and some other teaser pics. The full build and the photo shoot are done. Here it is. Dead Man’s Hand, a 2002 Yamaha V-Star 650 by Tico-Designs Custom Cycles.
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bM: What’s your name, what’s your story?
Mauricio: The name is…. Mauricio Mora…
Been around motorcycles all my life.. a while back I decided to star doing custom painting for motorcycles mostly because I wanted my ride to look cool. I started Tico-Designs Custom Cycles mostly dedicated to motorcycle painting.
bM: What’s the bike?
Mauricio: 2002 V-Star Custom 650… I like the style of that bike mainly because gives you a good canvas for all sorts of modifications. This one in particular I got from a guy who pretty much screwed me by selling me a bike with an “electrical problem” – what I got was a bike with a busted engine.
bM: Scumbag! What’d you do?
Mauricio: I said screw it and got a 2008 engine from eBay with only 6K miles on it… Once I got the engine and pulled out of the cradle, I kept thinking of the diamond-cut heads they do on the Harley-Davidsons. So, I got my dremel out and went to town with it.. I guess you could call what I did Slash-Cut heads.
bM: Where did the Dead Man’s Hand theme come from?
Mauricio: I was visiting my good friend T.M and talking about motorcycles and all the possibilities for potential paint jobs ie: Skulls, Flames etc and he said how about the Dead Man’s Hand? Not being a poker dude, I wasn’t familiar with it but once I did some research and read about it, I felt I had to go with it. Plus I thought it was a great name for a Bike.
bM: Agreed, like naming a dog Killer, some names just work. What’d you do with Dead Man’s Hand? Tell us about the bike and the mods.
Mauricio: I guess the main thing to bring up here is that my goal with this build was that I would do absolutely everything my self…. Welding and Fab.. Floorboards… even the Tooled leather seat. Funny thing about the seat is that I figured out I needed a piece of leather that was about 14”x18” when I asked for that at the leather store the guy just laughed and said; “yes, dude you don’t know **** about leather do you?” so I came out of the store with a whole cow’s hide and straight to watch YouTube vids to get ideas.
bM: I’ve picked up a few animal print clad women in stores myself. They mostly bottom out my suspension and I have to ask them to shower before they’re allowed in the bed. Speaking of suspension, any other mods?
Mauricio: Well, there is a lot I did to it, some things I don’t even remember LOL.. But in a summary….. *Lowered down about 4 inches
*The newer engine with the Slash-cut heads
*Mounted the flat fender at only a 9/16 of an inch from the tire
*Eliminated all the controls from the handlebars…Ohh yes Meat-Hooks Bars
*Tooled leather seat
* Modified the pipes
*Coated the wheels and pin-striped them
*Ghosted all lights (turn signals behind the fender struts, tail lights camouflaged into the frame, brake-lights under the seat and fender) 98% of folks cant figure out where the lights are until I turn them on!
bM: How ’bout the paint?
Mauricio: The Paint job… ohh but that’s is more a Master-Piece J than a simple paint-job…. All the color accents throughout the bike make this bobber a head-turner and a topic of conversation.
bM: Is she your first, your last, your everything?
Mauricio: This is only my second build, the first one was a virago that didn’t come out that good but I guess it sold more for the great paint job than the mods… The Dead Man’s Hand it’s a different thing. I’m really happy with the results and truly enjoyed the hours I spent with it over the last ten weeks. I’m thinking something bigger and meaner for the next project!
Photo appreciation and high-five to Oscar-Campos.
UPDATE: Dead Man’s Hand is for sale, if interested get in touch with Mauricio through the Tico-Designs site!
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