Unsung ~ DK Garage Builder: Ray Llanes

Regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum, when Fidel Castro took over Cuba in 1959, it didn’t take long for many Cubans to flee the country rather than live under the new communist regime. From a humanitarian standpoint, it is hard to fault someone for leaving that little island. When Ray Llanes father was a young man, Ray’s grandfather (a tobacco farmer that immigrated to Cuba from the Canary Islands early in the last century) decided that his son should seek refuge in the United States. So, he sent him there with little else other than a handful of dollars—sixty to be exact. Ray’s father did not speak English and had no family to lean on when he landed in New York City to cut his path before finally settling in the Miami area with his family.

Ray has been a recognizable face on the national custom motorcycle scene for a long time. While he has owned and built some fantastic custom choppers, Ray has never envisioned himself in a professional capacity. That may change one day, but for now, Ray still considers himself a Garage Builder and with good reason. To Llanes, as with many of us, the term “Garage Builder” is a badge of honor held by men and women alike, who raise families, have careers, hold positions in the community and use any spare time left to do what they love in their garage.

A Garage Builder can be anyone, a doctor, a lawyer, a banker, or just any one of a number of the variety of chopper gypsies that you’ll find at any motorcycling event in the country. Some have the best tools money can buy, while others have the best tools for the job. Some do it for the relaxation it can provide or maybe the much-needed break from the monotony that is their vocation. I like to think that all garage builders are about the same once they’re in their natural habitat. A guy or girl that can fix damn near anything with damn little to fix it with. Ingenuity trumps engineering because, like Billy Lane says: “If it looks straight…it is straight!” I’ve lived by that mantra since I heard it the first time…most garage builders do too, even if they didn’t hear someone else say it. 

Ray spent 23 years in law enforcement in Miami and retired in good standing. Once he retired from the big city, he decided to move his brood north to Ormond Beach, Florida, a nice little town in the Daytona area near the coast. A place where you can taste the salt in the air. A place where there almost always seems to be a steady breeze and sunny weather. Not being ready to hit the greens and live a life of leisure, he joined the department in Ormond Beach.

Ray’s shop is humble,10×14 to be exact, yet well equipped. Although small, it has an amazing feel to it. Various awards, accolades, and other important items of character line the walls. There is a small lathe and drill press. Everything is well within reach, almost as if the singularity of the current project at hand only lends itself to just enough space to be at one with the motorcycle. To feel its soul and to leave just a modicum of your own blood, sweat, and tears in each project’s DNA. A perfect shop isn’t the biggest. It isn’t the fanciest. The perfect shop has enough room to fit the project at hand and leave enough room to effectively use every tool in the shop and still make enough room for a buddy or two and a good beer-drinking session.  

To listen to Ray speak on his upbringing and his love for motorcycles, it becomes evident that something special organically connects Ray to his work. His skill set is right where it should be, and his “eye” is trained to convey his passion for the working model of each component he selects to compliment his style of craftsmanship. When you look deep into his builds, you’ll notice that parts from all eras and styles of custom motorcycles are used splendidly throughout the motorcycle. He has a knack for making things that wouldn’t naturally fit next to each other work perfectly and look right at home. You can see this same continuity in his friendships too. A garage builder almost always keeps company with a few men (or women) from many walks of life. As a police officer, you would think that Ray would not be at home in certain “biker” circles, but in truth, that couldn’t be further from reality. Ray prides himself in having a wide berth of friends. I know this because he and I are friends, and while we grew up a thousand miles apart and nearly a decade of years separated, I feel at home when I am with Ray. I guess that is why I focused so much on the differences you see in Ray’s work. Just like the bevy of different parts that all seem to fit together so well on his hand-crafted garage-built machines, no matter the occasion, his friends are like the parts on his motorcycles; all a little different, none are perfect but all perfectly positioned around the dinner table and pleasantly poised exactly where we should be!

Article from the September 2021 issue of Cycle Source Magazine
Article By: Jason Hallman / Photos By: Chris Callen ~ Cycle Source Magazine­