The word "prophecy" means a forewarning or a prediction of things to come as told by supernatural means. Sounds scary, doesn't it? Well, unless you're competing directly with Mr. Isidro Juarez II from San Antonio, Texas, on the lowrider bike show circuit, you have nothing to fear. However, if you want to happily admire Isidro's radical class '71 Schwinn that was built over 10 months and ranging in the neighborhood of $7,000, it's right here for you to do so.
Isidro got into the bike scene as a neon lighting specialist and decided to build a sleek lowrider bike for his boy Isidro III. The first bike was named "2 Pac." It was cool but they needed more modifications to compete at a higher level. Next came the bike "Prophecy I" built at George Castano's "Wild Thing 2000" shop (San Antonio), but still the other top bikes had advantages so Isidro, George and other bike engineers Fernando Reyna and Jerry Vader continued to make the dream that you see before your eyes.
The wild bodywork of the future-teller is remarkable and comes in the form of a sheet metal skin. The entire body has been molded together, but with a secret trick in mind. Isidro naturally fashioned a hinge out of the pedal crank housing so that the bike splits apart while powered by a motorcycle battery. At its widest point, the bike separates just below where the molded seat ends and the diamond tank begins. Only a prophet like Isidro and his son Isidro III could think of such a far-reaching idea that gets them lots of show points.
When the body was ready, Isidro had Hi-Tech (San Antonio) paint the bike with House of Kolor candy apple red, and on top of that, airbrush artist Ronnie Espinosa at Ronnie's Custom Airbrush (San Antonio) predicted that the murals of horse-riding warriors and beautiful vixens would capture the lowrider culture's vivid imagination. An extra bit of fine pinstriping which can be seen on the tank and seat sides was carefully applied by Joe Carrisales, a man of many skills and talents. Among the several people and shops who worked on the bike were the metalsmiths at Eureka Metal (San Antonio). Mr. Marco (Austin, Texas) engraved the horns on the forks which come in the appearance of a dragon's body with outcropping wings. But the engraving didn't stop there; more details and designs can be found on the skull handlebars, pedals and crank arms, hydraulics setup and rear sissy bar. Who would have thought that the curiosity of the future could be this radical?
In order to keep up with the competition, Isidro enlisted the help of Ernesto Tarango at Cali Stylez (Corpus Christi, Texas) to get the bike a hoppin'. The bike features 2 to 3-inch air shock suspension from AP Air (Indianapolis, Indiana); one mounted on the spring bracket and the another above the banana seat. The single battery operated "Pro 2001" pump also works with an aluminum block, an aircraft-approved Apex dump, Porky's solenoid, steel-braided metal hoses and two switches.
All of these modifications pretty much told Isidro that he would be up against the best in the lowrider bike business. So just what helped him get to the top? Let's try Domingo Morales of Domingo Plating (Dallas, Texas), who changed the drab sheet metal from gray to gold, and upholstery specialist George Campos at A&G Upholstery (San Antonio), who designed his fabulous red biscuit and purple button velour with expertly cut glass thrown into the mix.
It was up to Isidro to seek out the very best lowrider bike suppliers and one of those guys is Mr. Warren Wong, who laced up a pair of 144-spoke Phoenix wheels. But wait a minute, these rims look like no others before them with engraved flat spokes and a twisted real spoke in the middle. The entire bike brakes with a Tekra disc brake system.
You know the saying, "knowledge is everything." Well, in this case the future was being told when Isidro worked with some of the best custom names in Texas. Specifically, George Castano, David Gonzales, Ray Pineda, Fernando Reyna and Jerry Vader. Thanks to everyone involved, little Isidro III has one futuristic bike. We predict that he'll be happily scrapin' for some time to come.