As a toddler, Romero Marshall was already dismantling and
customizing his Hot Wheels cars. Now he exercises his talents as
part of the family team at South County Performance Cycles at 640
McCray St. in Hollister.
As a toddler, Romero Marshall was already dismantling and customizing his Hot Wheels cars. Now he exercises his talents as part of the family team at South County Performance Cycles at 640 McCray St. in Hollister.
Romero’s parents Debbie and Harold Fulk started South County Performance Cycles out of their home about four years ago and have been in the McCray Street location since 2002. It’s definitely a family affair, with the youngest son, James, helping with cleanup and yard work, and Romero’s girlfriend Stephanie taking over on the grinder.
Despite the name “Performance Cycles,” their work is evenly divided between cars and motorcycles. And that work is divided between mechanical repair and modification, and body work, mainly customization.
Harold had been involved in bikes since he was 17. He and the family moved to Hollister from Mountain View 14 years ago, and still appreciate Hollister’s small-town character.
They participate in community shows such as “Hot Rods and Harleys” at the corner of Fourth and San Benito every Wednesday evening during the summer, and the car show during July’s Independence Rally. They also support Bulldog Boxing, helping send young boxers to matches all over the country.
At the moment, a lot of their business is from people starting to ready their customized cars for summer car shows. This can include “chopping'” or reducing the height of the car’s passenger compartment, lowering the body on its frame, adding custom headlights, or even engine swapping.
One of the vehicles in the yard serves as a rolling catalog of the services available: a “chop top” ’54 Ford, it has ’53 Buick headlights, a DeSoto grill, a Pontiac rear bumper, electric doors and a small block Chevy 3 engine. Romero characterizes himself as an “old school” fabricator, bending, welding and hammering the sheet metal by hand rather than using high-tech machinery.
The work on motorcycles can be equally extensive. A customer brought in a heavy, ponderous looking Harley with extensive saddle-bags, a large gas tank and a built-up upholstered seat. “‘It’s just not me’ the customer told us” according to Debbie. In fact, he was going through a divorce and wanted a lighter, more streamlined bike to go with his new-found freedom.
The result looked like a completely different bike. The saddlebags and heavy upholstery were replaced by a low-slung single seat, and a sleek, flame-painted teardrop tank replaced the previous bulk.
“Everybody has their own taste, and we try to accommodate each customer and their own originality,” Romero said.
Both he and Romero worked in research and development at Indian Motorcycle in Gilroy. Harold left two years before Indian closed to start South County Performance Cycles, and Romero followed once Indian shut its doors.
Now they have customers from as far away as Palo Alto and Los Gatos, and during the Hollister Independence Rally, from all over the United States.
Even though they close during the rally to go downtown and share in the fun, they’re available for customers and friends who need “just one thing” fixed, from brakes to other mechanical work.
