Today we’d like to introduce you to Krystal Hess.
Hi Krystal, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am a pediatric and surgical nurse who found motorcycles while suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after escaping domestic violence in my marriage and witnessing a loved one’s suicide attempt. I turned my tragedy into triumph through motorcycling, founding Motorcycle Missions in 2015. Motorcycle Missions’ Build Mentorship Program and learn-to-ride motocross program develop skills, create community, and provide positive outlets for veterans and first responders with PTSD. I also own a powder-coating business and customization business, Ricochet Customs, and occasionally work as a nurse while pursuing my bachelor’s degree.
THE LONGER STORY, as written by a friend.
If anyone understands the challenges of starting over, it’s Krystal Hess.
In 2011, Krystal left an abusive marriage. She dreamed of reinventing herself by moving from Canada to the sunny southwestern United States and learning to ride motorcycles.
“I didn’t even have bikes on my radar until I got divorced in Canada,” she said. “It was going to be my way of starting over, doing something cool.”
Krystal met a guy who built custom motorcycles and moved to Austin, Texas to be with him. Within a year of her move, however, her new boyfriend attempted suicide, involving Krystal in a traumatic way.
Once again, Krystal found herself picking up the pieces of her life — and the pieces of a motorcycle they had planned to rebuild together.
“I had this big problem on my hands,” she said. “I had a motorcycle that I owned that was in a million pieces.”
Rebuilding that motorcycle changed her life, and made her a true believer in the transformative power of two-wheeled machines.
“I compare it to [the healing process] all the time,” said Krystal.
Every part I put on the bike, I put back together a part of myself.”
Since then, Krystal has rebuilt several motorcycles, started a successful powder coating business, and founded Motorcycle Missions, a nonprofit dedicated to helping veterans with PTSD heal through motorcycles.
“It was a passion of mine” Krystal’s enthusiasm for custom vehicles goes back to her teenage years. Her first car was an iridescent purple-and-blue Ford Probe, which she still has a soft spot for.
“It just had those beautiful curves and the lights flipped up,” she said. “I was in heaven.”
Krystal wanted to learn more about cars, so she went to her two local auto stores and asked if she could work there for free. Unfortunately, neither of the shops took her up on the offer.
“I volunteered to do it for free so I could learn,” she said. “Everybody thought I was crazy, but it was a passion of mine.”
Years later, her passion resurfaced when she started dating a custom motorcycle builder in Texas. Together, they started their own project bike — a bright orange Hayabusa.
Working on the project, Krystal learned how to powder coat. They powder coated the rims, frame, and airbox, trading the orange plastics for a cool candy blue with chrome accents.
They got as far as reassembling the frame, engine and wheels when her boyfriend’s bipolar disorder struck. During a traumatic suicide attempt, he dismantled their project.
Krystal found herself with a storage unit packed with expensive parts and tools she owned, most of which she didn’t know how to use, and her project motorcycle in pieces. And she still didn’t know how to ride.
“I was just so messed up over everything that I didn’t know what I wanted,” said Krystal.
Learning to heal, one step at a time because Krystal had sunk a good deal of her own money into the project, she found herself in a financial bind, on top of her emotional trauma.
She began to try to recoup her losses, selling everything she had for whatever she could get. “I was losing money left, right, and center,” Krystal said.
One of the items she sold was a tire machine. The mechanic who bought it asked about her Hayabusa project, which was also for sale, and she ended up telling him the entire story.
He was like, ‘Well, what if you brought it here and I taught you how to put it back together, and then we could sell it, split the difference?’”
“That wasn’t really on my radar,” said Krystal. “I kind of wanted to sell it and get the fuck out of Texas.” But she needed to get her money back, and she was running out of options. So she agreed.
Krystal spent a summer rebuilding the Hayabusa at the mechanic’s dealership, where she started learning the process of rebuilding a motorcycle.
“I just wanted to jump in and put a whole bunch of shit on, but there’s things you have to do first,” she said. “You can’t just slap the plastics on and the seat on before you’ve done the wheels and the spacers.”
Krystal was ready to be done with the bike, but she also found that following the build process was changing her. It was helping her heal.
It was very tough to do, but I noticed that as time went by and the bike was getting put together, I was very much putting myself back together.”
By the time Krystal got the Hayabusa back to where it had been before her boyfriend’s suicide attempt, she realized she was starting to feel better.
“When the bike was put on a lift, and the wheels were put on, and it had the blue wheels and the blue frame with the motor… I was like, that’s a motorcycle,” she said. “Getting to that point was just a sigh of relief.”
Eventually, Krystal finished the motorcycle and sold it, and nearly made her money back. She had learned to ride by then, but she didn’t really care to ride the Hayabusa.
“I didn’t have any desire [to ride it], and honestly I don’t know that I would now either,” she said.
But she definitely wanted to build more motorcycles.
Finding a new path
Krystal got a desk job at the dealership, and they gave her some shop space to work on her own projects. She did six bikes her first year there, primarily Ryca kit bikes, and learned fabrication and powder coating.
From that job, she launched her powder coating business and became involved with the Austin motorcycle community. And she kept building bikes — like her award-winning Indian build, “The Girl Scout.”
However, while Krystal enjoyed her powder coating business, she knew she didn’t want to do it forever. At bike nights, she made friends with veterans who were struggling with PTSD, and she realized she had an opportunity to help them.
“I’m a nurse first,” she said. “My job is to heal people… I just thought motorcycles helped me so much, it would be really cool if we could do a bike project together.”
From that idea, Motorcycle Missions was born. The nonprofit revealed their first team build at the 2017 Republic of Texas rally, and it immediately grabbed the motorcycle community’s attention.
“It just took off, and then we were doing another build and then another… I didn’t think we’d be doing this many builds so soon,” said Krystal. “The first build was an experiment and it worked.”
The healing power of motorcycles
Now, Motorcycle Missions is on their ninth team build, with dozens of alumni, and Krystal has seen, time and time again, the power of motorcycles to transform lives.
“It’s a reward to hear that they’re doing well, and that they’re loving life more and that they’re coping better… that’s what it’s all about for me,” she said.
According to Krystal, motorcycles are a good tool for healing because they’re a unique combination of many things. Building or even riding motorcycles is a goal-oriented task that requires focus and responsibility, there’s a “cool factor” that makes riding and building an aspirational goal, and there’s a strong feeling of community.
Especially for veterans, the goal-directed component is key to healing after coming home.
“On the battlefield, they’re taught to move, shoot, and communicate,” said Krystal. “When they come home they don’t have that focus, they don’t have that mission anymore.”
Working on build teams and riding motorcycles helps veterans recapture that focus, camaraderie, and achievement. And once the builds are done, “they get the same feelings and emotions I did,” said Krystal. “They get a sense of pride and accomplishment.”
They’ve accomplished a mission, and they’ve done it with brothers and sisters, just like on the battlefield.”
Learning to heal by facing fears
Krystal isn’t one to shy away from talking about her fears. When I asked her about how she learned to ride, she was quick to tell me how afraid she was when she first started out.
“[Learning to ride] took seat time and practice and facing my fears… because it was a fear of mine,” she said.
It wasn’t something that I was super excited to do, it was more like facing a challenge, getting out of my comfort zone — a ‘learning something new today’-type feeling.”
Yet, Krystal’s story is one of tenacity and resilience. One of her most striking qualities is an unapologetic courageousness, apparent in everything from Motorcycle Missions to her hot pink Suzuki Savage.
Reflecting on my conversation with Krystal, I’m reminded of a famous quote, which has many versions, but my favorite is from Mark Twain:
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear.”
Krystal’s story shows that conquering challenges and making a difference in the world isn’t always about being fearless. It’s about having the strength to follow your dreams, despite your fear.
Motorcycle Missions is an entire donation – and volunteer-based 501c3 nonprofit. To support their mission, learn more about their events, or seek help, head over to their website, motorcyclemissions.org.
You can also follow Krystal’s adventures on her Instagram, @krystal.hess.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Motorcycle Missions is a 501c3 Non-Profit Corporation helping Veterans and First Responders with PTS(D) find hope and healing through motorcycle therapy. Since 2015, we have served over 350 patriots and aim to double that impact over the next two years.
Our organization is run by Veterans and First Responders who have overcome trauma through motorcycles, using this same passion to help others. Our program is supported by a dedicated board of directors and experienced volunteers who specialize in motorcycle mechanics, welding, and fabrication experts.
Motorcycle Mission’s home base is in Austin, Texas, where we have a 5000 sq. foot facility that serves as our educational headquarters. Our Throttle Therapy Program occurs at over 5 different race tracks across Texas, including Dallas, Houston, Austin, Red Rock, and San Antonio. Our Build Mentorship Program on the other hand is Nationwide, taking place in shops in California, Colorado, Ohio, Maryland, and Arizona. Our central location puts us directly in the center of Texas’ most premiere military bases, allowing us to serve its active-duty soldiers, veterans, and their families. Fort Hood is the Army’s premier installation to train and deploy heavy forces and is a short 38 miles away. Also within driving distance is Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Airforce San Antonio, and Laughlin Air Force Del Rio.
Motorcycle Missions does not charge its participants to participate, allowing the Vet or First Responder an outlet to meet new people, learn new skills, and do so free of charge. With every build of a bike, our main objective is to provide Veterans and First Responders a safe place to learn to weld, fabricate, and learn how to build a custom bike as a team. The build process ultimately renews their sense of pride and their sense of purpose, both of which are often lost in the PTS(D) paradigm. Participants start the build as Veterans, but in the end, they’re a family.
Motorcycle Missions is a 12-time award-winning program, winning motorcycle shows all across the country, our most memorable being the J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Championship in 2018. We took home 1st place.
Motorcycle Missions’ throttle therapy builds community, physical movement, and mission focus through 2 primary service offerings that we wish to expand on:
Motorcycle Build Mentorship Program: This program is aimed at getting our Veterans and First Responders connected with the motorcycle community, working with their hands, and subsequently renewing their sense of passion and purpose for life. A dedicated group of 8 to 10 Veterans and First Responders spend an average of 4 to 6 months building a custom motorcycle together, meeting together once a week until completion. Seeing the completed motorcycle roll up onto a display at a motorcycle show instills pride and a sense of ownership and completion. Participants have the opportunity to ride or show off the bike for 6 months before it is sold or auctioned off to raise money for future projects. Within the Mentorship Program are individual welding and fabrication classes that can be enjoyed.
Throttle Therapy: Our Throttle Therapy Program helps Patriots work through frustrations, fears, and aggression on a closed course track. Research on PTSD has indicated that camaraderie, shared mission, and the intense release of adrenaline all help to mitigate symptoms. Motorcycle riding requires speed and focus, and it gets hearts and minds racing. We accomplish this through dirt bike riding, land speed racing, adventure bike riding, and road racing.
Past Year’s or Recent Accomplishments
2016 Accomplishments
received our 501c3 status
hosted our first motocross class
had our first fundraising event raising over $7,000
2017 Accomplishments
Bike Build 1: 1992 HD Softail Springer
The donor bike was donated by Jerry Bragg of ROT Rally and was built by 8 US Veterans over the course of 5 months. The bike was given away on stage to an unsuspecting veteran at the Republic of Texas Rally, 2017. Featured in HOT BIKE MAGAZINE, and AMERICAN IRON SALUTE MAGAZINE in 2017.
Bike Build 2: 1972 HD Shovelhead
Donated by injured veteran Austin Vermillion. 8 US Veterans handmade everything on this bike (with the exception of the wheels and the engine) and participated in the teardown of the donor bike, the build of the new one, and everything in between. This bike won the J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Championship in Chicago, winning us $10,000 cash and $10,000 in parts. Featured in MOTORCYCLIST MAGAZINE, AMERICAN IRON, CYCLE SOURCE MAGAZINE, AMD MAGAZINE.
Number of Motocross classes hosted: 6
2018 Accomplishments
Bike Build 3: Harley Davidson Softail
The trike belongs to veteran SSgt Mark Graunke who was severely injured in service to our country. We took his old trike and made it new again, outfitting it with special devices to fit his prosthetics and make his ride better. 4 US Veterans were involved in this build and it was revealed at the J&P Cycles builders party at Rick Fairless’s Strokers Dallas. Featured in AMERICAN IRON MAGAZINE.
Bike Build 4: 2010 TRIUMPH SCRAMBLER
The donor bike and build costs were donated by Lincoln Electric and the bike was revealed and showcased at the Handbuilt Show in Austin, TX in April 2018. The bike won People’s Choice Award at the Kustom Kulture Show at the Republic of Texas Bike Rally in June 2018, the K&N Filter Garage Builder Award at the Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show at the International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, CA November 2018, and 2nd Place People’s Choice at Easyrider Bike Show in Austin, TX January 2019. Lincoln Electric made a documentary of the Veterans and the build, available for viewing on Motorcycle Missions YouTube. Featured in Le ARC MAGAZINE and CAFE RACER MAGAZINE.
Bike Build 5: 2016 DUCATI SCRAMBLER
The donor bike and build costs were donated by J&P Cycles and the bike debuted at the Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show at the International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, CA in November 2018. 5 US Veterans were involved in this build. The bike won “Runner Up” in the Custom Street Class at the Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show at the International Motorcycle Show, Dallas, TX January 2019 and advanced to the finals in Chicago, IL.
Number of Motocross classes hosted: 9
Motorcycle Missions was able to purchase its very first motorcycle trailer with the winnings from Build 2
2019 Accomplishments
Bike Build 6 & 7: 2016 INDIAN CHIEF DARK HORSE x2
Two 2016 Indian Chief Dark Horses were built during a friendly rivalry between two groups of Texas Veterans, Team Austin vs: Team Dallas. Both teams received their own Indian Chief Dark Horse, and what they were going to do with it was up to each team. Team Austin decided to go with a cafe racer-style build, and the Dark Horse Racer was born. The guys did many things on the bike from tear down, to tire install, to custom fabrication and welding, to installing custom machined triple trees and FZ01 forks, to rebuilding their brake calipers and making their own brake lines, and then building the bike back together before tackling the electrical. These guys did a fantastic job, and it won them the competition against team Dallas on an online poll via Indian Motorcycle.
TEAM DALLAS featured nine Veterans and 1 FireFighter, and TEAM AUSTIN featured six Veterans and three Police Officers. These bikes were revealed April 12th and will go to online auction in May 2019. Team Austin won the build off by just 200 votes in an online poll on Indian Motorcycle’s social media pages. Both bikes will be featured in AMERICAN IRON MAGAZINE in 2019.
Bike Build 8: 2003 Triumph Speedmaster
The bike was donated by the DIY motorcycle maker shop Skidmark Garage in Cleveland, OH, and was built by a group of local Veterans and First Responders. The build took place from February 2019 to July 2019 where it was revealed by the key build sponsor, Lowbrow Customs annual motorcycle show, Fuel Cleveland. The bike is a ground-up build, with a custom-built frame. It was a challenging build, but the guys did an incredible job, winning themselves 2nd place in the Freestyle class at J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show at the International Motorcycle Show in January 2020. This advanced them to the Championship round in Chicago in February 2020.
Bike Build 9: 1974 Honda CL 350
Donated by Jenell Vollmer of Austin, TX, this bike was built by 6 US female Veterans. The bike took 7 months to build and won People’s Choice at the International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach and won People’s Choice at the Women’s Motorcycle Show in downtown Los Angeles.
Bike Build 10: 2007 Suzuki Hayabusa
Donated by the Rainey family who lost their son to suicide in 2019, 8 US Veterans and First Responders got to make the family’s wish come true and rebuild Cliff’s bike and race it at The Texas Mile, as Cliff enjoyed doing. The bike took 5 months to complete and reached 203.4mph on its first weekend at the Texas Mile in October 2019. The bike will continue to attend Texas Mile events in hopes of breaking a record, piloted by build sponsor and World Record holder, Joey Willhite. The bike and crew were featured in EASYRIDERS MAGAZINE, winter 2020.
Bike Build 11: 2012 Harley Davidson Road King
Donated by the Haas Motorcycle Museum, this bike with sidecar was built by 8 US Veterans. The bike took 6 months to build and won Runner-Up at the International Motorcycle Show for the Custom Street Class, advancing it to the finals in Chicago in February 2020. The bike will stay with Motorcycle Missions and be used as a therapy bike for our Veterans and First Responders who would not otherwise be able to experience the wind in their face.
Number of Motocross classes hosted: 11
2020 Accomplishments: COVID
Motorcycle Missions purchases its very first truck and another trailer
2021 Accomplishments
Bike Build 12: 2012 Harley Davidson Road King
This bike build should be called the COVID CRUISER, but we hate Covid and don’t need the reminder of how this bike struggled thru the pandemic. In partnership with Lawtigers, we began this bike build with the hopes of revealing it at Arizona Bike week and then selling raffle tickets for it for one year. However, the pandemic canceled Arizona Bike Week two years in a row. Finally, April 2022 saw the reveal of this bike, appropriately called the Road Runner
Number of Motocross classes hosted: 6
2022 Accomplishments
Bike Build 13: 2010 Harley Davidson Custom Chopper
This was built in collaboration with State Farm Insurance in Denver Colorado. Hosted by Roy and Niki MArtin of Roys Toys Customs, this build saw 7 Law Enforcement Officers and Veterans learning the ins and outs of building a custom chopper. The bike is set to be revealed in June of 2022 in Las Vegas, NV.
Bike Build 14: 2019 Indian FTR Custom
This bike is currently in the planning stages and is a top-secret build requiring dozens of partners. An NDA has been signed and so no details about this build are available to the public until it is finished.
The number of Motocross classes hosted: 8 to date
In March, Motorcycle Missions gets the keys to its own 5000sq ft shop in Austin, TX
Motorcycle Missions to launch Mini Moto GP and Track Days within its Throttle Therapy Program. A second truck, 6 new motorcycles and a new trailer have been acquired to meet this objective
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is one life saved, a family reunited, an addiction cured.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.motorcyclemissions.org
- Instagram: motorcyclemissions
- Facebook: motorcyclemissions
- Twitter: motomissions
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp4kzrHWVFu1ODpB__0oGPg
Image Credits
@bendalltherules @brandon_lajoie @motorcyclemissions @motorcyclemissions @republicoftexasmotorcyclerally @motorcyclemissions @schultzphotography @schultzphotography @michaellichterphotography @g_stanleyphotography @rolandsandsdesign @motolady @2ndaryhwy @caffeineandgasoline.x @hotbikemagazine @motorcyclemissions
