MANUEL “MANNY” ESQUINA

My name is Manuel Esquina. I’m a 37-year-old amputee originally from the Bronx with a Dominican heritage. I am the founder and owner of Luna Performance. I lost my leg on my 29th birthday while living in my current state of North Carolina. At the time I was young and reckless with my health. The struggles of having to pay my bills came before taking care of me. Needless to say, one thing led to another and ended up getting an infection in my bones of both of my legs from uncared wounds that invoked the amputation of one leg and toes on the other. riding career. When I fi rst learned how to ride it was on an old Honda cruiser with an automatic transmission. I fell in love with riding after that fi rst turn, I made on it. It lit an empty part of my soul and it never went away or died down. Riding opened my heart and made me feel free. It made me feel carefree and unbothered. The wind, the freedom, the speed, and the adrenaline completed me.

Unfortunately, with me losing my leg right at just a few months of learning how to ride the hopelessness of not being able to ride again started dawning on me. After I lost my leg, I had retreated back into the countryside in Mount Olive, NC and stayed with my mother until I could recover and receive a prosthetic to start learning how to walk again. In the midst of my recovery, I went through a lot of mental struggles and diffi cult battles. As you can see to this day, I conquered them even if it was by barely nothing. I had an old Honda CBR F4 that I started riding and learning on in the sports bike class. After I lost my leg, I didn’t see it for months and I felt empty.

It was fi nally brought to me and with my walker every morning I would get up and slowly go down the stairs and

spend hours fi xing something or painting it. My passion was back. I wasn’t riding but I felt like a piece of me has come back. Needless to say, the complications of how to ride were never a problem. Shifting was the fi nal hurdle for me to ride again.

After several methods and tests I fi nally learned how to shift without any additional devices on this motorcycle. As I learned how to ride and try other mechanisms, I had learned about the air shifter in my days of drag racing. That soon became a must for my motorcycles and helped me make trip of over 6-7 hours without any fatigue on my leg.

In the process of learning how to work on my motorcycle I decided to open Luna Performance in 2018 once I had the right facilities and tools. Luna is my families last name and something I will forever carry on. In opening the shop my intentions were to do mechanical work and powder coating but also to teach so that they can save money in the future. We all don’t have vast resources like that, so that’s my way of contributing back to the riding community. They always have good support from me and also those who have helped me reach where I am today.

As a sport bike rider I know that we receive a lot of criticism from the riding community for being reckless and a menace. That does not apply to all of us. Some of enjoy the speed and power but were also responsible and courteous to other riders and people on the road. Don’t let a few people with diff erent riding styles determine one rider. We’re all diff erent but we all have one thing in common; We love riding and it’s our passion. For all those who have a dream follow it. It will take blood, sweat, tears, and determination but the end result and the lasting eff ects will be so fulfi lling.