Why your past doesn't define your future with Billy Lane

Billy Lane was the rock star of the custom chopper world: Biker Build-Off, magazine covers, bikes worth $150,000. Then in September 2006 he caused a drunk-driving crash that killed a man, and he went to prison for it. This is the conversation about everything after.Billy is one of Gail's oldest friends, and it shows. He talks about growing up in Miami with parents who banned motorcycles, secretly building a 1950 Panhead in college behind their backs, and launching choppersinc.com in 1995 when nobody in the industry had even heard of the internet. He talks about Arlen Ness taking him under his wing, the Sturgis years when fans waited an hour for an autograph, and the drinking he kept telling himself he'd get under control.Then he talks about the night he didn't. Billy makes no excuses on this one. His words: it was his fault, he was responsible, and he expected to pay a heavy price. What he shares is what came next. Prison as "dying but living," watching people treat you like you're already gone. Learning who shows up and who disappears. And the slow, deliberate work of reverse-engineering his own failure so it could never happen again.Today Billy is rebuilding on his own terms: Sons of Speed vintage racing, a new shop, a racetrack, five kids, and a YouTube channel pulling over a million views a month, more reach than Discovery Channel ever gave him. His message is the reason this episode exists. Nobody can sabotage you like you can. And nobody can rebuild you like you can, either.In this episode:01:26 – How Gail met Billy Lane in Daytona 08:33 – The secret Panhead his parents never knew about 11:51 – choppersinc.com in 1995: online before the industry 20:32 – September 2006: the crash, in Billy's own words 26:57 – "Dying but living": who showed up and who didn't 41:51 – The YouTube pivot: 56 million views and counting 48:25 – Billy's message: nobody can sabotage you like you canAbout Billy: Billy Lane is the founder of Choppers Inc., one of the most recognized custom motorcycle builders of the Biker Build-Off era, and the creator of Sons of Speed vintage motorcycle racing, now in its tenth season. He is the author of Chop Fiction and builds and rides vintage motorcycles from his shop in Florida.Connect with Billy: Billy Lane on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/billylanechoppers Billy Lane / Choppers Inc. shop: https://billylane.net Sons of Speed: https://billylane.net/pages/sons-of-speed Chop Fiction (book): https://www.amazon.com/Billy-Lane/dp/076032011X Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/choppers.inc/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChoppersInc/Connect with Relentless Restart: Watch the full video episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsxCQ2uCCWs Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RelentlessRestart?sub_confirmation=1 Nominate a guest: https://forms.gle/jr8Lx72ioztH4tKR7If this episode found you at the right time, follow the show. New conversations with people who lost everything and started again, every week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.