ONTARIO, CANADA
The Webster’s dictionary defines destiny as, “a predetermined course of events.” Brothers, John and Dave Connery, may have had a predetermined destiny from the moment Dave twisted the throttle of his first motorcycle. “Dave was into motorcycles since he could first drive and soon graduated to bigger and faster bikes.” John says, “Drag racing bikes soon followed and he still pilots a turbo alcohol funny bike.”
Right out of high school, Dave had paint flowing through his veins. A job as a sign painter gave him the skills to experiment with painting his own bikes. As his skills improved, friends and local racers, including greats like Lang Hindle and Art Robbins, soon came to him to get that custom look on their own bikes. What started as a sideline soon evolved into a successful motorcycle painting business. “Dave would farm out the basic paint work,” John explains, “and do the custom artwork himself.” At that time pinstriping and lettering were the bread and butter of Dave’s blossoming career.
John’s future was no less sealed; when his position of managing a restaurant turned to unemployment, the need for some quick cash saw John take up the paint gun and begin to learn the skills to do the basic paintwork. It wasn’t long until the doors opened at Connery’s Custom Paint for Motorcycles. “Being a hot-rodder at heart, I was soon doing custom jobs using kandy paints and pearls which, at the time, was pretty exotic.”
As business grew, Vic Lefebvre joined the brothers doing the bodywork. The combination of Vic’s bodywork, Dave’s artwork and John’s custom painting soon caught the attention of the judges at the bike shows and the awards started to roll in. “At the time there were a lot of good artists around that couldn’t really paint and lot of really good painters who couldn’t do artwork,” John says, “We seemed to have hit that magic combo.”
John’s very first custom paint job won Best Paint in Show at the International World Of Motorcycles (now the International Motorcycle SuperShow) and Connery’s Custom Paint managed to win that award every year for the next ten years. “By the late eighties we had won just about everything in the province we could, and some big national events to the south.”
Unfortunately, the work was very seasonal. When things got slow Dave was able to keep busy painting signs and custom lettering on tow trucks. With bike sales on the decline, John was having a rough go finding enough work to keep the bills paid. A job offer as a paint rep was an opportunity he could not pass up. But fate would once again step in, as one door closed on John, another soon opened.
“When corporate restructuring in the paint industry left me once again out of work, I started importing and selling House Of Kolor, the brand of custom paint I started with.” It wasn’t long until old customers started to reappear, “I was shocked to see how many of our old paint jobs were still around.”
John and Dave were once again in the business of painting motorcycles and it wasn’t long before Vic re-joined the brothers doing the bodywork.
With a new shop and website (connerycustompaint.com), the business continues to grow. “It seemed just as the custom motorcycle scene was returning and growing in leaps and bounds, I too had gone full circle.”
Now, when work on motorcycles gets slow, a custom car job is usually in the works. A recent project is an old skool blown ‘41 Willys in giant metal flake under kandy tangerine and purple flake flames. It will debut at the Performance World car show this March. “We also end up doing some killer show bikes in the fall, but my bread and butter is still street bikes, and we specialize in Harleys, cruisers and choppers which really lend themselves to custom work.”
Presently, Connery’s Custom Paint has two small shops in Scarborough, Ontario. One where John does the prep and paint, and around the corner, Dave does the artwork. John has a custom-built motorcycle spray booth where a solid foundation for Dave’s artwork is put down. Dave then handles any airbrushing, hand lettering, graphics, pinstriping etc. that’s required. Then the bike is returned to John’s shop where clear (“lots of clear”) seals everything up, guaranteeing a lasting finish. Sibling rivalry may make two shops an easier working relationship, John explains. “Years ago we shared the same shop, but being brothers and because of the ensuing conflicts from trying to prep at the same time as Dave was doing artwork, it’s better this way for us, and much safer too.”
With John being a technical rep for House of Kolor paint and Dave also teaching an airbrushing course at Centennial College, both men keep busy and they’re continually honing their techniques. Connery’s Custom Paint is here to stay and the future is as bright as the many custom paint jobs the brothers have worked together on.
“We both thrive on coming up with new colours, techniques and designs that puts a bike ahead, way ahead of the crowd, the one that stands out but looks “right” and makes you feel alive.” John says, “That is what custom motorcycles are all about.”
Connery’s Custom Paint
74 Dynamic Drive, Unit 12
Scarborough, ON M1V 3X6
416-285-7376
1-800-305-1797
www.connerycustompaint.com
