Daniel Sanchez is a Motorcycle Builder, Automotive, Residential and Commercial Fabricator with more than 20 years experience in his field.
Voted as the Best Motorcycle Shop in Houston three times, Cut Throat Customs has become a mainstay in motorcycling in the region. Daniel has been a winner in various classes in the AMD Championship of Bike Building, Ultimate Builder Bike Show and is invited to compete and exhibit often in many invitation-only events across the nation.
One of his proudest accomplishments was representing Native Artists in a motorcycle history exhibit at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis. At this five month exhibit called Steel Ponies, some of the most famous motorcycles in history (even from the Smithsonian) were on display along with wellknown Native Artists’s work like Jim Yellowhawk which depicted images of many of the bikes on display. Daniel was invited as a speaker at one of the events during the exhibit, as well as being a judge for one of the local bike shows.
Inspiration for his work comes from a family history of metal workers, including his Great Grandfather who was an Apache Metal Artisan. The style and originality showcased in his motorcycles is indicative of his diverse heritage stemming from Mexican and Apache Indian roots.
In a recent interview with Daniel, he commented, A lot of people ask how we came up with the name of our company, Cut Throat Customs. It’s a pretty simple answer.
For many years, I did a lot of fab work for other shops. Most of that award winning work either went uncredited, or someone took deliberate credit for my work in magazines and at shows. I decided I was tired of people cutting my throat. I ventured out on my own, started my own business and it was inspired by all the cut throat people out there.
After 14 years, I’m still here in the same shop, not because we cut throats, but because we ‘do right’ by our customers.
I used to ride BMX bicycles when I was younger. I always wanted the top of the line performance bikes to do stunts on. I wanted to create the perfect bike even then. I started out in industrial fabrication over 20 years ago and quickly became interested in the custom truck scene. For years I built trucks with custom suspension and metal work that ended up in magazines and winning trophies at shows.
Once we got the first motorcycle jig, I quickly realized I wasn’t going to just build frames. After only a year of building full custom bikes, that side of the business pretty much took over.
Our philosophy is “Hecho a Mano” , which in Spanish means: Made by hand/handmade.
We try to use as many parts as possible that we make in-house and when we can’t, we add our flavor to it. We like to show off our metalwork, choosing often to build bikes with bare metal showing or with parts that show the skill of our metalworking.
I’m not building for fads. My work don’t really fit into a category. The most common denominator is that my frames are all unique and we build them in-house. It gives the bike a unique profile, and our bikes are usually recognizable for our frames. I fit the bikes to our customers’ height, for what they want to use it for and at times with design elements that they collaborate with us on. I want my customers to love their bike because it is a part of them, not because it fits a style I’m expected to build by a current trend.
We are a family run business. My Father, Tony Sanchez is a retired Shell Executive and works in the front as the Office Manager and my Mother, Carmen, comes by the shop as often as possible to cheer me on (She’s my biggest fan). My long-time girlfriend, Heather Wright, not only does all of our marketing, graphic/web design and PR work through her company Red Phoenix Marketing & Design, she works in the shop wiring bikes and doing some other prep and assembly work on occasion. We also employ several other talented fabricators and artists ready to help build the perfect bikes and vehicles for our customers.
I like to work with vendors and employees who complement the drive in me. People with passion and heart. That’s who I enjoy working with.
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