{"id":8945,"date":"2021-07-27T13:37:16","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T18:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denniskirk.com\/?p=8945"},"modified":"2022-05-27T12:55:35","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T17:55:35","slug":"ray-llanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.denniskirk.com\/blog\/2021\/07\/27\/ray-llanes\/","title":{"rendered":"Unsung ~ DK Garage Builder: Ray Llanes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum, when Fidel Castro took over Cuba in 1959, it didn\u2019t 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\u2019s 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\u2014sixty to be exact. Ray\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cGarage Builder\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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