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Trick Bikes Keep A Low Profile

Tribune photo by GREG FIGHT

Alen Perez, 14, sits on a low rider bike that belongs to his friend Mariano Vasquez.

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By RICH SHOPES

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 26, 2008

Updated: 07/26/2008 12:14 am

TAMPA - In a dusty workshop littered with car parts in northeast Hillsborough County, Alen Perez, 14, tries to attach a pair of twisted, chrome forks to the front of his metallic-green lowrider bicycle.

He inherited the bike from an older brother and isn't sure about the manufacturer or year it was made. It doesn't really matter - by the time he's finished customizing it in a year or two, the bike won't look anything like the original.

"With these, you can't really do much but chrome it out. I have my fenders, but I can't set 'em in. I've got everything. I just haven't gotten it done yet," he says, twisting a nut onto the front axle. "I just like how it looks. I like when people ride them."

Lowrider cars and motorcycles have shown up at custom vehicle shows for decades. The loud, colorful, bouncy cars had their start in Southern California and the trend trickled down to bikes and adult-sized tricycles.

Though the popularity of lowrider bikes has ebbed and flowed during the years - they have never attracted a mainstream audience the way mountain bikes and BMX did - the practice of tricking-out bikes has never died out, particularly in the Hispanic community.

Go to a Mexican-American festival or, better yet, the yearly Tampa Lowrider Show at the Florida State Fairgrounds, and a few of the bikes likely will be on display.

They're easy to spot, covered in chrome and layers of air-brushed, metallic paint. Many come with a banana seat, sissy bar, fenders and oversized "ape-hanger" handlebars.

From there, the bikes can vary widely depending on their owners' penchant for accessories, from CD players and under-chassis lighting to round, chrome steering wheels and shiny, gold-colored sprockets and chains.

"You see a lot of people who grew up in the '60s and '70s riding Schwinn Stingrays and they're into the bikes now or their kids are into them," said Morgan Steele, a floor manager for supplier Bike Parts USA in Oakland Park, Broward County.

About 5 percent of the company's sales are parts for lowrider bikes, he said.

Many of the cycles start as stripped-down Schwinn frames. They mix in 1970s styling - sissy bars and banana seats - with modern-era bling, such as twisted chrome forks and chains.

Now, says Steele, the trend is toward stretched-out chopper-style bikes with skinny front tires and fat rear treads. The reality TV show "American Chopper" is partly responsible. "I think TV's had a lot to do with it," Steele said.

Perez got started about a year ago and has about $350 in parts invested, including a modified, custom-painted gold-and-green frame, chrome forks, a custom, green leather-stitched banana seat and white-walled tires. He got the parts online and from a friend and an uncle.

The bike sits so low the pedals barely clear the ground. That's the way Perez wants it. The bike is for show, not riding to school, he says.

"We'll take them to shows and ride them out there, but to take them out, I don't really trust taking them out. Somebody will take them," he said.

Perez's goal is to win a trophy at the annual Tampa Lowrider Show, which recognizes bikes as well as cars. The last show was March 31. One requirement for the bikes: No matter how much over-the-top styling, it must still be able to be ridden like a bike.

"I wish this could win that one," he said. "I'll get there, but it will take quite a while."

In his car upholstery shop in East Tampa, Perez's uncle, David "Diamond Dave" Talamantez, 42, has two adult-sized tricycles he picked up at a church flea market in Sun City Center.

In his off time, when he isn't replacing upholstery on a vintage car or pickup - a 1930 Ford pickup and a '57 Chevrolet Bel Aire are among the vehicles in his shop - he's tinkering with the trikes.

One is forest green, the other jet black. The black one will have a gladiator theme "with a lot of skulls and chrome," he says. It already has three curved spikes, like shark fins, protruding from the frame. "It'll have lights and maybe a stereo."

He's still figuring out the green trike. His 7-year-old son David will have input on the design. "This one will be his," Talamantez says.

Although he's not certain how far he'll go with the accessories, Talamantez figures he'll sink $500 to $600 into each trike. That isn't excessive compared to some bikes that can have a couple of thousand dollars worth of parts.

"You have all kinds of crazy things. I've seen dragon hands, skulls, wings, claws," he said. "You just weld them on there.

"I've seen CD players. I once saw a television built in here," he said, pointing to a spot between the steering column and seat.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.

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