Happy New Year, my friends. Well, we made it through another holiday season. It seems every year it comes and goes so fast that by the time I realize it, I can smell the fireworks in the air and just like that it's gone.

When it's all said and done, I'm very grateful to have the opportunity to see another year in front of me. I'm looking forward to all of the possibilities that lay ahead, to the excitement as well as the touch of fear that surrounds the unknown. The New Year gives me another chance to shape up the etch-a-sketch and start drawing another picture...

I really didn't know what to write about this time till I saw a post from someone in this industry that I highly respect. He said, in not so many words, that "In a world of over design and hyper detail a classic look is satisfying." Now, before you go getting your feathers ruffled, let's get a little deeper: everything we see today is based on one thing and one thing only...ready...an opinion. If we can see it then we automatically have an opinion about it. My dad used to say, "Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one, and no two are alike." Even as you read this, you're formulating an opinion about this column. The beautiful thing about an opinion is that it's just that. It's simply the way you see it and it may not be a fact at all. I like to think about it this way; you can have a 100 people in a room, and you talk about your favorite band, there might by 99 who totally agree with you, but there will always be the one person thinks your favorite band sucks...and that's ok!

That's the best part about being a creative person, you think like no one else. Therefore, you don't create your work like them. BE YOURSELF BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE IS TAKEN. I believe that if you create from the heart through whatever capacity you have you're true to yourself, you can't go wrong. After all, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Speaking of beauty, I recently picked up a Harley Davidson Softail project that some would look at and say "What a POS". And once again, I will say, you see that now, and I see something that, in the end, will be totally different and beautiful. Yes, it will take a lot of time and patience but it's there; I can see it. That's what I love about the creative part of building custom motorcycles. My producer used to say to me all the time to trust in the process. And when it comes to bikes, I try to remind myself of that as much as possible. I'm so excited about the coming year. There's a lot happening with Sons of Speed: there will be two more races added in Tallahassee and Virginia and Velocity will be airing its first two episodes that are now available on motortrendondemand.com. So keep your eyes peeled for that. And who knows what I may come up with during 2019. 

Well my friends until next time, be kind to one another.

God Bless,

X

Original article appears in the March 2019 issue of Cycle Source