'Pinstripers' hand-paint motorcycles at Harley-Davidson Museum



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Many of the Harley-Davidson motorcycles seen on the roads have a very specific paint job that helps showcase the riders personality. Artists known as "pinstripers" were hand-painting bikes at the Harley-Davidson Museum over the Anniversary weekend.

"They want to individualize their bikes. They came in, 'hey I want to talk to an artist, I want to put theses flames on, I want to match this, i want to make it just a little different than what came off the factory floor,'" explained artist David Jeffrey.

Jeffrey is the leader of the Pinstriping Legends, artists who hand-paint the flames, lines and graphics on Harley-Davidsons. Jeffrey has been customizing bikes for almost 30 years, and painted close to 50 bikes over the Anniversary weekend.

"You just don't go to your local retail store and get a sticker and put it on. It's auto art, vehicle art, what we call custom culture art," said Jeffrey.

Out-of-town visitors say they're taking advantage of the great work offered at the 110th Anniversary celebration.

"Nobody else has done it. It matches the paint scheme on my bike," said Parnell Ellington from Bridgeway, Iowa. "When he hand drew it, it was really neat."

If you didn't have a chance to get your bike painted this weekend, the Pinstriping Legends will be back in Milwaukee for the World of Wheels in February, 2014. All proceeds from that event will benefit Children's Hospital.