11 minute read
Xavier Muriel High Seas Bike Builder
Builds the Custom Giveaway Bike for the High Seas Rally!
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“To say that being part of a multi-platinum, international touring rock band was a dream come true would be a vast understatement. No kid ever says to himself, ‘When I graduate I’m gonna move to Hollywood and become a Rock Star’ and thinks that it can come true. Well, truth be told, it didn’t for me,” Xavier Muriel tells us. “I was 34 and on my third trip back to the west coast before it actually happened.”
Xavier is famous for being the rock ‘n’ roll drummer for the band Buckcherry. “As I look back on it, I would have never been prepared physically or mentally for what it actually took to get to platinum status, so there was a lot of learning to do before success came to pass. I had the pleasure of playing the biggest stages all over the world as well as touring with the greatest bands in rock ‘n’ roll history and becoming friends with them. I mean, getting to play the same stage every night with Motley Crue and having Tommy Lee stand behind me cheering me on was one of many highlights in my career.” An avid biker and custom motorcycle builder, we asked Xavier what led him to have such a love for bikes. “I’ve always been into motorcycles. My father bought be my first bike, a Honda MR, when I was just six-years-old. He brought that bike home one spring day along with his Harley-Davidson SX250 Enduro and my older brother’s Honda CR-125. I’ve been hooked ever since. Bikes have always been in my blood. Before I moved back to Los Angeles in 2004, I was working at a Custom Shop in Austin and had already built two bikes. So I was actually into Harleys way before I became the drummer in the band.”
While with the band, Xavier played many motorcycle rallies and bike shows. “That’s how I met the likes of Billy Lane, Paul Cox, Jeff Cochran and Chris Callen of Cycle Source magazine. After various run-ins with Chris, he asked me to start writing a column called, ‘Killing Time on Tour with X’’ which led me to meeting so many folks in the motorcycle industry. I was asked by Chris to build a bike for
the In Motion bike show during the Lone Star Rally in Galveston, Texas, back in 2017. Having just left Buckcherry after 18 years, I was very excited to be a part of something fresh and fun.”
Xavier tells us that was when he got onboard the custom bike building train. “Famed motorcycle photographer Michael Lichter asked me to be a part of his Sturgis Buffalo Chip Motorcycle Exhibit called ‘Passion Built,’ which was all about invited builders who had other careers, not building bikes as their main bread and butter. I built a sweet little bike that I named ‘Grace’ for Michael’s show and she went on to win Bike of the Year at the Easyriders Bike Show Tour in 2019. It also earned the Cycle Source 2020 Bike of the Year, and I won the 2020 Readers’ Poll Builder of the Year. That bike also took top honors at the Rat’s Hole show in Daytona and many more. So after long deliberation, I decided to make the jump to a legit biz by starting Providence Cycle Worx in Austin, Texas.”
When asked about the first bike he ever customized, Xavier tells us, “The first bike I ever customized was a 1982 FLH, stripped down to the frame and re-painted, powdercoated and I chromed everything that was possible. The paint was done by a thenunknown painter and builder named Joe Martin who used to work out of his garage.”
Born to Ride asked Xavier to name the biggest honors he has achieved in his life so far. “Winning the Easyriders Bike of the Year in 2019 was definitely up there with all the accolades of being in Buckcherry. Being on the cover of Modern Drummer, which is the holy grail of drumming magazines as well as the gold and platinum records. Easyriders is the Holy Grail of chopper magazines. I’m Honored that my bike was the last bike to be Bike of the Year before the mag went away.”
We asked Xavier how he got involved in building a giveaway bike for the biker cruise of the Caribbean known as the High Seas Rally. “I was turned onto the High Seas Rally from a former employee of the band whose husband works for the cruise company. Plus, another person I had toured with years back was the production manager for High Seas Rally. So after an initial phone call and then a visit to my shop, we all agreed on a vision to take it to the next level.”
Xavier soon learned that his giveaway chopper would also go to help raise money for a good cause. “To date, the High Seas Rally giveaway bike is my biggest endeavor. When I found out about the Dialysis Fund and what it was all about, my heart was totally in. As a person who has a family member on Dialysis, I know first-hand what they go through. So, needless to say, I threw the kitchen sink at this project, not so much as money being spent to buy the parts, but more in the labor-intensive parts I handmade for it. This bike features the best of both worlds, combining the looks of an old school chopper with the
technology found in some of the latest models.” When asked to tell us more about the bike that some lucky biker on the cruise will win, Xavier says, “It was built on a custom one-off frame by myself and Rick Bray of RKB customs and houses an S&S 80-inch Evo motor. There’s a Harley 6-speed transmission, a BDL two-inch open belt drive with custom belt guards, 60 spoke Black Bike wheels, a narrow glide front end, and a Paul Cox air ride. It has a one-off fuel tank, oil bag, bars, mid-controls, foot pegs, fender struts, and many more custom parts. All of the electrics are handled by a Bluetooth M-unit which allows you to sync up the system to your phone, giving you access to readouts of miles per hour, RPMs and other features not found on traditional choppers. The killer paint was done by Jace at Fast Life Garage. She’s a looker, and more important, this girl is a rider!”
Some lucky person will be handed the keys to Xavier’s magnificent moto masterpiece. Visit www.highseasrally.com to find out more about the cruise and how you can win!
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BE THE CHANGE AND THINK MOTORCYCLE!
I had a nice happy little article all written up for this month, laced with my usual sarcastic banter. But as of the writing, I had to partake in yet another memorial for a young man who senselessly lost his life to a cage driver who was too busy with whatever it was he or she was doing to not pay attention to their surroundings. I can’t imagine anything being more important while behind the wheel than paying attention to the task of driving. Whatever activity it was that motorist was doing instead of watching the road, watching their fellow motorists or just flat-out looking around or texting, cost a young man his life. Dakota Grimes was only 24 years old. He hadn’t even lived a full life yet and it was senselessly taken by a fellow motorist on the road.
This was someone’s loved one and someone who was loved and respected by many. Now gone off of this earth because of an absolutely avoidable incident. Over and over we preach about watching out for motorcycles, watch for bikers, etc. and it never seems to do any good. The majority of everything we see on billboards and advertisements pertaining to motorcycles are people’s willingness to represent them after something happens. What about trying to put things out there to help prevent them from happening in the first place. Not as profitable, I know, but it would definitely be the right thing to do.
We have organizations out there that say they want to represent bikers rights, watch out for motorcycles and share the road and all of that, but what are they really doing to make a difference? Things need to be stepped up to help prevent these unnecessary tragedies. Before anyone says anything, I realize many of us have lost a loved one; a brother or a sister to these meaningless acts. I don’t know what the statistics say, but it seems to me that these incidents are on the rise.
So I put this challenge out there to anyone that cares enough about their fellow human being to promote motorcycle awareness and awareness to other motorists in general. If you’re a company owner that owns a fleet of vehicles, put a ‘watch out’ sticker on your cars and trucks. If you’re a law firm that’s in the accident-related business, put up billboards that inform people to be aware that motorcycles are also allowed to use the road. Dealerships and storefronts and mail order that deal with a customer base that rides should put the word out. This is a serious thing people. They’re killing us out there and it appears no one cares. Well, I care. I’m tired of losing my friends and loved ones. I’m saddened every time I hear about how another person has been senselessly taken from us for no other reason than someone else’s careless and uncaring behavior. I’m sorry, but the, “I didn’t see him” excuse isn’t good enough anymore. Something needs to be done and soon. I know a lot of people feel that what they say will fall on deaf ears and it’s not important to speak up. But everybody’s voice can make a difference. Everybody’s actions can be felt by others. After all, it’s somebody else’s actions that kill us every day. Now it’s time. Be the voice, be the person who speaks up, be the person who puts the sign in their yard or the sticker on their car. Help make this change. Even if as a collective we save one life, it will be well worth it. I’m fed up with organizations that say they promote motorcycle safety and motorcycle awareness and do nothing to make a change. They mouth the words, they take your donations and what do you get in return? Bikers are probably the most caring and giving group on the face of this earth. There are more charity rides and fundraisers attended by bikers that you could ever imagine. But who stands for them? Well, I can tell you this. I do. And so do others but we need more. Give this some thought and think, ‘how can I help other people from suffering the loss that many families have?’ After all, the next person subjected to the carelessness of another motorist could be you. Ride in a manner that will allow you to ride another day. Hope to see you out there and take care.
—Nefarious James
Hey James, challenge accepted! Born To Ride has teamed up with the might of Rubenstein Law to create a new awareness and education campaign called “Think Motorcycle.” It’s about everything you just mentioned. It trains people in cages to Think Motorcycles when they are on the road. It reminds bikers to Think Motorcycle while we are out there exposed and rollin’ down the roads of America. We are vulnerable and need to always have our guard up and look out for Number One. Plus, it is a platform to get new riders into the biker family by showing them why we do what we do. Think Motorcycle covers all the bases and we’ll be releasing more information on this new awareness campaign in the weeks and months to come. Look for it right here in Born To Ride and remember to “Think Motorcycle!”
