![Vette on the Vette Frame Bike](images/DailyArticles/December2009/Vette-Archuleta-Bike-Designz/Vette-on-the-Vette-Frame-Bike-LeadT.jpg)
Vette Archuleta of Bike Designz
Story by Wendy Manning, Photos courtesy of Bike Designz
With so many women entering the world of motorcycles, it was only a matter of time before Vette Archuletta, owner of Bike Designz in Morgan City, Louisiana, would take her line of aftermarket wheels, Swarovski-inlayed foot pegs, heart-shaped oil caps, and way cool motorcycle jewelry to the next level and offer a Vette Bike Frame. The team of women who make up Bike Designz includes founder Vette, a motorhead since childhood who went on to study mechanical engineering; her mom, Mercedes Ortiz; and creative design consultant Kenisha Hawthorne. Since 2006 this talented trio has been making the rounds at rallies and bike shows, garnering attention for the “custom bike couture of women riders and all the empowerment that goes with it.”
But Vette is above all a rider, and in the late ‘90s she started looking for her perfect motorcycle, one that would suit her, yet not be saddled with the dreaded moniker of a girl’s bike. “I wanted to do something different because there isn’t a lot out there for the girls,” she said. Enter the Vette Frame, inspired by her petite stature and brought to fruition with the help of her husband of two months, Scott Tudury, formerly the owner of Flathead Power. “The Vette Frame is for everybody, anybody who is short,” says Vette, who is 5’2”. “I started out making parts that were cool, parts that me and my friends would put on our vehicles or motorcycles. And there wasn’t a lot out there. I’m not a flowery type of girl, so I don’t buy a lot of stuff with flowers. I just thought there was a missing cool factor, whether it be male or female, it really didn’t matter to me, I didn’t want to be gender specific. But of course I love the Swarovski crystals because I’m kind of blingy.”
In searching for a bike, Vette’s biggest discovery was that for people who are not considered tall, there wasn’t a lot of choice in motorcycles. “There was nothing; whether it be regular stock production bikes or full blown customs or something you want to build, and I found that out the hard way, by going to all the dealerships. I wasn’t set on a particular brand…I’d rode dirt bikes that I’d altered the suspension on so I could touch the ground, and then when I wanted to get a street bike I went everywhere and couldn’t find anything. So I bought a Honda 750 that someone had customized for their wife who was about my build, and she hated it. It worked okay for me. Not that I could be completely flat-footed with a bent knee, but I could at least hold the bike up and take off and drive in traffic.”
So Vette settled. But after a couple of years she grew tired making do. “I wanted a bike that was mine, that when you look at it going down the road it stands out in the crowd as a cool little custom,” she said. “I went to all the rallies and sat on all the bikes and there just wasn’t anything out there that hit me as being just right.” It was then that Vette met Scott. “I met him at Biketoberfest, and because he used to own Flathead Power and he’d built the sixth bike in the AMD World Championship and had all this experience, he said, ‘Let’s just design you something.’ “
Vette hadn’t seriously thought of that option, but Scott pulled her in. “We just started taking measurements off of me and looking at what was out there while we decided what to do.” Scott came up with a frame manufacturer that he’d had experience with before, and they were receptive to the idea. “Fortunately they also saw the niche and agreed it was a project that would work for us. It turned into a new product, which by no means was the direction I’d set out to go in. I was happy where I was, doing the accessories stuff. We have fifty new products that are going into production starting in January and February, but then this came up and it had a snowball effect.”
Just last weekend the Vette Frame bike came into being. “It’s not painted or anything yet, it’s still in the mock up stage,” said Vette, “but once we put some time on it and make sure everything’s good then I’m gonna tear it down and get it painted and all that and put it back together. It’s been a real cool experience for me because I have a lot of mechanic experience in the automotive industry building low riders, hydraulic hopping cars, and so I already had wrench experience but not in the motorcycle world per se. I tore down the build completely by myself, and it was much easier than I thought it would be.”
To check out progress on the Vette Frame and get a good look at the Bike Designz way cool line of parts and accessories, visit http://bikedesignz.com/joomla/ or give them a call at 941-815-6862.