Author: Phillip Gonzalez

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Today we’d like to introduce you to Phillip Gonzalez.

Hi Phillip, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always been fascinated by motorcycles. I do have a lot of respect for them as they are very dangerous. I feel bringing the motorcycles back to their original form is a work of art. Since I was a teenager, I began tinkering with scooters and taught myself by disassembling the motorcycles and assembling them. It’s a passion of mine. I have never been afraid of a challenge. I love to study, diagnose, and fix any motorcycle that I come in contact with. I especially love to bring them back to their original style and learn their individual story. I have been blessed to have a worldwide following in several blogs which allows me to learn even more the history of the majority of the motorcycles that have come to me for restoration. I especially love my 1975 Ducati Desmo 900ss.[/vc_column_text][porto_buttons btn_title=”Read Article” btn_link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fvoyagemia.com%2Finterview%2Fmeet-phillip-gonzalez-of-miami%2F|target:_blank” btn_align=”porto-btn-center” btn_size=”porto-btn-large”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We had the good fortune of connecting with Phillip Gonzalez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Phillip, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I have always had a passion for vintage motorcycles. I love to restore them to their original form and glory. Living in South Florida, I saw a need for a good, reputable vintage motorcycle restoration business. I used to do my restorations in my home and during the pandemic I decided to expand the business. I wanted to incorporate services which in the past I had to outsource. One of these services is vapor blasting which restores old original parts and engines to a better than original finish. I could not find anyone else in South Florida that provided vapor blasting services and the cost of shipping the heavy motorcycle parts to get them vapor blasted was astronomical. Now I found this niche and ran with it, providing vapor blasting services to the automotive, boating and motorcycle industries.[/vc_column_text][porto_buttons btn_title=”Read Article” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fshoutoutmiami.com%2Fmeet-phillip-gonzalez-president-chief-vintage-motorcycle-restorer%2F|target:_blank” btn_align=”porto-btn-center” btn_size=”porto-btn-large”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Budget your restoration before you begin – Real expectations with a real budget will help in the long run

The end goal is to take something that hasn’t been new in 30-50  years and make it new again. A lot of the parts involved won’t have aged  well and will need replacing. Before you get started you should add up  the costs of all of the parts you may need to replace. You want to make sure you have realistic expectations and a budget to match!

 Take pictures of everything – Putting everything back together easier

Remember, before you un-clip a connector, before you turn a wrench, before you do anything, take a picture of the before so that you can remember how  to get to the after! We know this sounds simple, but this simple tip could save you a big headache later!

Sometimes you expect to spend the next two hours working on a job,  only to get called out for an emergency, it’s three days until you can  get back into the garage, and now you have no idea how to put what you  were working on back together again. Take pictures of everything so that  you don’t have to guess.

Go Japanese

Sure, BMW or Harley-Davidson are great picks, however we strongly recommend going with a Japanese motorcycle for a first motorcycle  restoration for a few key reasons: Simplicity, cost, availability, and  online community.

Japanese motorcycles are pretty simple compared to European  motorcycles, they’re more cost-efficient than American motorcycles,  they’re easy to find parts for (as long as you get a model that was in  production for more than just a couple years), and there’s a huge online  community and websites dedicated to restoring them.