About Us

Back in 1977 I bought this new Honda CB750F1. It was yellow with a blue pinstripe on the tank. I fitted a black Rickman full fairing and handlebars and thought the bike looked great. I knew nothing about spraypainting then.

One not-so-fine day I came off and had to figure out how to fix my bike. So that’s how I started spraypainting.
It was a hobby at first and I worked from my dad’s garage at home. He was a commercial artist in airbrushing and helped me a lot with colours and ideas. I did a custom painting course with Ian Groat of Colour Creations in Jo’burg and worked for him for 3 months in 1980 where I did pinstriping and nothing else. That’s where I learned to tape and stripe!

I had a spraybooth built, called my business King Kustom and rented premises in Goud Street in Johannesburg during 1983. By 1985 I decided to move to the new Sanlam Industrial Park in Selby. I leased a new big SAICO booth, had it installed at unit C2 , modified the name to King Custom, bought new furniture and equipment and went at it big time.

My partner, Mike Irschick, decided to resign in 1986 and I invited Ralph Kruger of Kaleidoscope to join me at unit C2. The shop is still there 18 years later, is very well known in biking circles and is still being operated by Ralph.

In 1990 I resigned as a partner in Kaleidoscope and moved to Cape Town in 1991. It was a lot harder than in Jo’burg. After working from home with the family in Noordhoek, I eventually moved to the city centre in 1998, sharing premises at 50 Waterkant Street with Krog’s Motorcycle Services and renaming the business Pure Art with my new airbrushing partner, Steve Mohacsy. Steve went to the UK in 2001 and in April 2002 we all moved to our current location at 45 Waterkant Street.

Compared to my previous workshops during the 80’s, this is a very small operation. I do all the main work while Mustapha does repairs, polishing and the finer airbrushing. If the bike market continues to grow, maybe we’ll create another bigger, better Pure Art shop in the future.