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Showing posts with label Dago's Speed Shop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dago's Speed Shop. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Rene Astengo - Dago's Speed Shop
One of the coolest builders around. Rene Astengo builds some bad ass bikes. Check him out.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Happy Belated Birthday Rene
Happy Birthday Rene. Hope you had a great surprise birthday party on Saturday. I would've posted something that day but I didn't want to blow the surprise!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Dago's Speed Shop-Part 3
A little bit about Rene Astengo
Rene grew up around motorcycles and hot rods. His Dad and Uncles were into motorcycles and Rene was 19 years old when he got his first 59' Panhead. He bought it off an old biker in Torrance. He started out tickering around with VW’s doing mostly all the mechanical stuff on them. From the VW’s he then evolved into working on motorcycles. Several years later he started Dago’s Speed Shop out of his garage in Whittier. This was about the time his son Diego was born and Rene named the shop after him. “Growing up around bikers they would never say “San Diego.” So the shop name evolved from my son’s nickname Dago.” Even before he started Dago’s Speed Shop Rene had some sort of project going on. “I’ve always had the side gig thing going with the cars and motorcycles. My friends and I always kind of blur the line between lowrider and custom. I do most of the suspension stuff. That’s my thing, fabricating. It is just my hobby and I love it.”
Rene grew up around motorcycles and hot rods. His Dad and Uncles were into motorcycles and Rene was 19 years old when he got his first 59' Panhead. He bought it off an old biker in Torrance. He started out tickering around with VW’s doing mostly all the mechanical stuff on them. From the VW’s he then evolved into working on motorcycles. Several years later he started Dago’s Speed Shop out of his garage in Whittier. This was about the time his son Diego was born and Rene named the shop after him. “Growing up around bikers they would never say “San Diego.” So the shop name evolved from my son’s nickname Dago.” Even before he started Dago’s Speed Shop Rene had some sort of project going on. “I’ve always had the side gig thing going with the cars and motorcycles. My friends and I always kind of blur the line between lowrider and custom. I do most of the suspension stuff. That’s my thing, fabricating. It is just my hobby and I love it.”
Rene and his 59 Panhead when he was 19. Photo Courtesy: Rene Astengo
Thank you for tuning in. I am working on another story to post soon. Scott Di Lalla and his Triumph.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Dago's Speed Shop-Part 2
The second bike I shot was his 68' Sportster XLCH he had built along with his nephew. This was a build that allowed Rene to work along side his nephew and paved the way for his nephew to a new career. “I ended up with the motor from another deal that I had. The motor, the frame and the chrome swing arm were also other parts I had. I bought a bolt on hardtail and when I bolted it on it just looked terrible, it just didn’t flow at all. So I said “fuck it” and stuck it in the corner and worked on other projects. Then one day I was looking on eBay and came across this Sportster frame. It’s actually a 70’s Corbin frame and it’s kind of rare. I was like “Dude! Look at that frame.” Rene had just found his frame for the bike and he had to have it. “Once I got the frame I just had to build it up. It all came from the frame. That whole thing happened because of that frame and everything just evolved from there.”
Some of the parts Rene fabricated were the sissy bar, handle bars and the oil tank. “The story behind the oil tank is I made a round oil tank out of some mini scuba tanks. I just cut the ends off them and I spent so much time in getting them together. After I got it all together and put it up there on the bike it just didn’t flow with that tank and the angles of the bike.” So Rene put that oil tank aside and worked on another one that fit the look of the bike. “I had already built the pipes so I had to modify that oil tank to fit and I liked the way it looked.” The cap on the oil tank was also modified to match the cap on the gas tank.” The front rim is a Hap Jones WM1, side mount Bates headlight, Morris Fairbanks magneto, the rear fender is a stock narrow glide where Rene cut the center out. The seat is hand made out of leather. “Scott Craig did the paint and Danny D did the hand lettering on the tank.” Rene had originally had the tank painted and put the factory stickers on it. “It didn’t look right so I had it redone. We stripped it down and Danny hand painted the lettering on it. He staggered it to match both sides.”
The bike took about 6 months to build and is currently featured in DICE magazine. It also took first place at the Grand National Roadster Show. “I was just happy it was there and was surprised it won.”
Rene wanted the Sportster to get recognition not only for himself but for his nephew. Building the bike together was a great bonding experience between the two. Rene wanted his nephew to know that good things can come out of a bad situation. After the bike was done Rene had talked to his friend Eric over at Advanced Design Fabrication about his nephew. He told Eric that his nephew did good work and he has now worked with Eric for about a year. “Everything works out for a reason.”
Final part tomorrow.
Some of the parts Rene fabricated were the sissy bar, handle bars and the oil tank. “The story behind the oil tank is I made a round oil tank out of some mini scuba tanks. I just cut the ends off them and I spent so much time in getting them together. After I got it all together and put it up there on the bike it just didn’t flow with that tank and the angles of the bike.” So Rene put that oil tank aside and worked on another one that fit the look of the bike. “I had already built the pipes so I had to modify that oil tank to fit and I liked the way it looked.” The cap on the oil tank was also modified to match the cap on the gas tank.” The front rim is a Hap Jones WM1, side mount Bates headlight, Morris Fairbanks magneto, the rear fender is a stock narrow glide where Rene cut the center out. The seat is hand made out of leather. “Scott Craig did the paint and Danny D did the hand lettering on the tank.” Rene had originally had the tank painted and put the factory stickers on it. “It didn’t look right so I had it redone. We stripped it down and Danny hand painted the lettering on it. He staggered it to match both sides.”
The bike took about 6 months to build and is currently featured in DICE magazine. It also took first place at the Grand National Roadster Show. “I was just happy it was there and was surprised it won.”
Rene wanted the Sportster to get recognition not only for himself but for his nephew. Building the bike together was a great bonding experience between the two. Rene wanted his nephew to know that good things can come out of a bad situation. After the bike was done Rene had talked to his friend Eric over at Advanced Design Fabrication about his nephew. He told Eric that his nephew did good work and he has now worked with Eric for about a year. “Everything works out for a reason.”
Final part tomorrow.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Dago's Speed Shop-Part 1
A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to drive to Whittier and meet up with Rene Astengo of Dago’s Speed Shop. I wanted to shoot his 78' Shovelhead that he had built and the 68' Sportster XLCH that was a project that he and his nephew built together. I arrived late in the day and Rene was getting cleaned up from a hard days work of laying a brick foundation for his new addition he is doing to his home. He showed me the progress he has made to the addition and said a lot of it is help of friends and trading hours of work with each other. He builds them bitchin bikes and they help him get his dream house together. Not bad because he is saving a boat load of money doing the add on himself.
The Shovelhead is a 78' FXE. “I bought it only because it had a good motor in it, everything else was so funky on it. It had a King Sporty tank in bare metal, the forks were about 12” over, the rear wheel on it now was the actually the front wheel and it had a 16” in the back. So you can just imagine how funky of a look it had with a wide front wheel with a 12 over glide.” So Rene went to work and put his own touches into the bike. The bike had a full fender which Rene has since removed and modified to fit another bike he has got going in his shop. “The front wheel I ended up putting in the rear.
That’s the only reason it’s on there, because I would never have gone with a 18” aluminum wide wheel like that. That’s just not my style. But it kind of just worked out that way and it works. Everything on that bike is just stuff I have laying around the garage and swap meet finds.” Other modifications include the rear fender which is actually a Vulcan front fender. The stock strut is cut and reformed. “A lot of people are tripping out on that.
This is something I’ve always done. This is kind of the formula that I always go by.” There is full travel in the shocks as Rene has used a 12” shock. “They look so much lower because the way the fender sits on the tire. You create that illusion, that’s what it’s all about. Normally everything I build is super low. My thing is to get them as low as you can possibly get them.” The Bates front light is also another swap meet find. “ My thing is to try not to buy stuff out of the big catalogs for parts. I rather get a Harley part and modify it.”
The Shovelhead is a 78' FXE. “I bought it only because it had a good motor in it, everything else was so funky on it. It had a King Sporty tank in bare metal, the forks were about 12” over, the rear wheel on it now was the actually the front wheel and it had a 16” in the back. So you can just imagine how funky of a look it had with a wide front wheel with a 12 over glide.” So Rene went to work and put his own touches into the bike. The bike had a full fender which Rene has since removed and modified to fit another bike he has got going in his shop. “The front wheel I ended up putting in the rear.
That’s the only reason it’s on there, because I would never have gone with a 18” aluminum wide wheel like that. That’s just not my style. But it kind of just worked out that way and it works. Everything on that bike is just stuff I have laying around the garage and swap meet finds.” Other modifications include the rear fender which is actually a Vulcan front fender. The stock strut is cut and reformed. “A lot of people are tripping out on that.
This is something I’ve always done. This is kind of the formula that I always go by.” There is full travel in the shocks as Rene has used a 12” shock. “They look so much lower because the way the fender sits on the tire. You create that illusion, that’s what it’s all about. Normally everything I build is super low. My thing is to get them as low as you can possibly get them.” The Bates front light is also another swap meet find. “ My thing is to try not to buy stuff out of the big catalogs for parts. I rather get a Harley part and modify it.”
The second part of the story will continue with the 68 Sportster.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Dago's Speed Shop
Had the pleasure to meet Rene Astengo of Dago's Speed Shop in Whittier today. He was kind enough to let me shoot his 78' Shovelhead and the Badass Sporty that he and his nephew had built together. I will be posting pics of both bikes and a little interview I did with Rene. Stay tuned.
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