(gentle oldschool music)
- [Man] Low-riding means the world to me.
When you build a custom car
you build it from within what you vision from your heart
from your mind, from your creativity.
It doesn't have to be $100, $1000 or $10,000.
It's to your ability.
(upbeat music)
I have a 2016 Harley-Davidson Street Glide.
It's full customized from front to back.
The bike has full custom air-ride suspension
custom 21-inch wheel with phat spoke with white wall.
It's a Harley-Davidson vivid black.
Pin striping around the rim.
Silver leafing on the fenders.
All the way throughout, follow the body lines.
It also has a LED light system
attached to the bottom side of the bike.
The custom seat, built by Bad Dad back East
and also the customer rear fenders and bags.
My style is, simple, clean.
I wanted to portray that in my bike
to fit the low rider style
with the striping, the paint
and the lowered look
and the white wall with the wires.
I think the favorite part of my bike
is that back phat fender
that drops all the way down at the ground
and the big side bags.
This is actually my third bike.
My first two were street bikes
this is my first Harley-Davidson.
I've had plenty cars over the years
starting with my mini truck in the early '80s
and then it jumped into some of the Impalas and Cadillacs.
I had a 82' Caddy Coupe
that was fully candy painted
undercarriage back in '90s.
And then it led into some of the Impalas.
My '62 Chevy and various hoppers along the way.
(gentle oldschool music)
We try to ride the bike as much as possible
at least two, three times a month.
Taking the bike out on the open road.
Having that freedom
and the wind just blown in your face
and just being out there.
You zone in, on that road ahead of ya.
That open welcome feeling of the road.
I do enjoy riding the bike
but I love it even more so
because I get to enjoy with my fiance.
Not only does she ride a Harley
but she rides her own Harley.
And as a couple, it makes that outing or that cruise
just so much more fun
because it's, you're not just by yourself
there's two of us.
One of our favorite rides together as a couple
is we try to explore Route 66.
We wanna drive the whole route eventually
but as far as we've gotten right now
it's up to Kingman, Arizona.
And it's just, one of the best feelings when your
your lover your life or your
fiance is just right there next to you
and you look over, she's on her bike
and as we pull up to the destinations
or our spots or our stops.
It's cool that she's there with me
and you're not by yourself.
Low-riding means the world to me.
I did not grow up into it, I learned it as I went.
I would just look at it and have that vision
I can do that, make it better or make it look cool
and then it just kind of led into
to the bigger stuff like
my buddy's truck or my truck or stuff like that.
As a kid I grew up military.
We moved a lot.
I was actually born in Kingston, New York
and my dad was transferred several times.
We ended up in a city called Lemoore, California
and then he was transferred in to March Air Force Base.
He wasn't mechanically inclined or a mechanic.
He was actually
Lieutenant Colonel Air Force Anesthesiologist.
My mom was a stay-at-home mom
till we got to be teenagers.
Then she went to go work for the credit union on the base.
I do have a brother and a sister.
So I had a good upbringing, but my dad was always on call.
So he's always working.
So we actually had two houses when I was a kid.
So my parents, really, they were there
but they were always at the other house.
I would always tinker with something.
Taking apart my little Hot Wheel cars
and changing the wheels
and trying to make different bodies fit
and it wouldn't fit so I would cut them.
I did get an allowance.
Doing yard work and all that good stuff.
So as I got into cars, I take that allowance
and I would fix up my truck, my mini truck
to the best of my ability
within my financial means at that time.
It just kind of evolved into something
I did as a hobby in my mom's garage.
So knowing that I wanted more
to actually fix up my truck.
I would start to do side jobs.
It wasn't for business back then, it was actually for
just a friend of a friend.
And we would just do things
to help each other fix up our mini trucks.
Word spread that I could do this and do that.
I would do it for $20, $30.
Lower my truck, lower his truck
being able to do what they wanted me to do
came very easy and natural to me.
And it kind of just led from there.
Your parents always have the best
thought in mind for you
looking out for you, for your future.
My parents always thought that
it wasn't always the best choice for me
to become a mechanic and open my own business.
Better yet, they wanted me
to follow my dad's footsteps and join the military.
Which is a great thing for someone who's into that
but to me working on cars
and working with my hands
and being a mechanic and tinkering.
I felt more comfortable doing that
more than, actually going to work for somebody.
And that's how it all started.
It led from, trading for little jobs
to charging for little jobs till
opening my own shop in 1989.
(upbeat music)
Hoppo's is located in Southern California.
This is our 30th year anniversary.
We are known for our creative
hydraulic and air suspension setups and product
that we do sell all over the world.
We ship daily to Mexico, Saudi Arabia
to Canada, to Japan.
And we are the biggest, in the United States.
The early days of Hoppo's was honestly, was was just me.
I had a 1000 square-foot shop, no employees.
I had to do everything just with hand tools.
We came up with Hoppo's because of the cars.
The hopping and all that kind of good stuff
that comes along with low riding.
To set your name in the low rider market
you gotta show that you could be an hopper
and produce cars that do hop.
Which I have done that and then some.
So Hoppo's stuck to us because of the cars
and making the cars hop.
We have worked on several cars
that have graced the pages of the magazine
that have taken Lowrider car of the Year.
Double Trouble the current Lowrider car of the Year
also La Reyna, the 3-time Truck of the Year.
And also El Rey three-time Car of the Year.
On Double Trouble, we were fortunate enough
to be able to design, build and create
this one-of-a-kind, one-off hydraulic setup
and also all the full frame chassis customizing
was done by us here at the shop.
On El Rey, we were able to do his setup.
He was one of our first custom cars
in that caliber of class.
The setup that we designed for him
was a two-pump gravity-fed system
that fit that cars creativity and style.
Low-riding in general, sometimes, carries a bad rap.
I'm a business owner, a self-taught entrepreneur
deep in the lowrider industry
and I am not by far a troublemaker.
And neither are our customers.
Building a car takes a lot of time
a lot of blood, sweat and tears
and also a lot of money.
You don't have time to be out there
running amok, being a troublemaker.
Lowriders themselves that have the cars
are too busy fixing up cars
to even be messing with something like that.
Lowriders come from every walk of life.
You could be a blue-collar worker, a CEO of a company.
You could be from a different part of the world
or here in the United States.
Doesn't matter the color of your skin
or your ethnic background.
I myself, am not Hispanic I'm Filipino.
It's a grown, to hit all of the world itself.
I mean there's customers in Alaska asking for product.
The cars themselves and product and the culture
is what brings everybody together.
If you do what you love, it doesn't feel like work.
For me, coming to work every day, I love it.
The shop has evolved from my mom's garage till today
and it's just a great feeling knowing
that we're still in this industry.
My oldest son's only 29
he can take it and run it for another 30 years.
Don't be afraid to go out there and grab that dream
even though it's not what people suggest
and think that you should do for a living.
Don't be afraid to try something.
You need to go with what you feel inside your passion.
If being your own boss is something
you would wanna do and open your own company or shop.
Go for it. You can do it.
Just put your mind to it.
My name is Art Tuason.
I'm the owner of Hoppo's Custom Suspension Works
and I'm a low rider role model.