Chica Fever!

This weekend is the 3rd annual Fort Lauderdale Bike Show. Of course Mrs. Harley Howie and I will be attending. I remember I went to a bike show in West Palm Beach, FL a few years ago and saw one of my favorite bike builders: Chica. The reason I like his bikes so much is because since I considered my self as an “Old School” kind of guy, I particular enjoyed his designs of late 60’s and 70’s bikes.

Chica has a shop located in Huntington Beach, California. He has been seen on TV shows such as Bikers Build-Off on the Discovery Channel. The bikes Chica builds have a very unique styling: clean, mean and hard core (most of the bikes he builds are rigids). He is considered one of the top bike builders in the West Coast.

Chica was originally from Japan. He used to work for Honda in Japan as a mechanic but has a real passion for Harleys. After worked for Honda for a couple of years, he took a shot toward his dream by opening Chica Motorcycle Service with a couple of his friends. In the beginning, they did mostly service works and not much custom works. When the opportunity came to work in his friends shop in U.S., he moved his family from Japan to Diamond Bar, California. He worked there for a couple of years and realized that he can build the bikes by himself where he can incorporate his ideas and designs. And, that’s how Chica Custom Cycles in Huntington Beach, California got started.

It’s no surprise when I found out Chica will be at the bike show this year in For Lauderdale, I planned on meeting him again. I can’t wait to see what other bikes he has created since the last time I saw him. I am looking forward to take plenty of pictures. Also, it’d be interesting to see other bikes at the show. I’ve been thinking of trading my Sportster up for a Softtail. In addition, Mrs. Harley Howie and I are in the market for a couple bike accessories such as saddle bags. I’ll be posting a few more pictures when we get back!