The Knuckle Dragger

knuckledragger1knuckledragger2knuckledragger2bisWas it the most rad bagger in Sturgis? Judges of the “Baddest Bagger” bike show thought so. Love it or like it, at least you must acknowledge that this creation from Canadian Azzkikr Custom Cycles has the merit of originality among a sea of custom tourers with most featuring over molded bodywork, over loaded audio systems and blinding flashy neon paint jobs.

knuckledragger3No added power. no high end/multi speakers stereo. Just a (nickel plated) custom made frame, a brand new 93″ Knucklehead style engine from S&S Cycle, a lot of old parts found on eBay resurrected via sandlasting and polishing, and some old school seat and bags leather work. Big concession to the bagger tall wheel fashion statement, the crew opted for the 30″ tall donut, whose addition looks even spectacular when the bike frame is lowered to the ground via an air system (frame down tubes and back bone are used as air tanks), a stance in the weeds sure to please a crowd in all bike shows.

knuckledragger4knuckledragger4bisknuckledragger5Among the restored pieces saved from the trash bin and now adorning the Knuckle Dragger: a 1940’s Buick taillight, a 1920’s headlight, “brass fists” from an old english hotel formally used as cupboards handles and turned into NPT fittings for the tank gauge. (photography courtesy of Cam Hutchin for Cyril Huze) Azzkikr Custom Cycles.

Knuckle Dragger Features.

– Mad wheels “Eh model” 30″. True spoke model A type replica wheel with faux white wall and vintage drum style hub
– 93″ S&S Cycle Knucklehead
– Baker 4 into 6 hydraulic clutch, Kick, electric.
– Baker primary
– Kustom Tech vintage hand controls.
– Kustom tech Super Freni calipers
– 1924 Cadillac headlight
– Old brass Buick taillight
– Azzkikr hand fabricated frame, springer front end, foot controls, exhaust, handlebars, gas tank, oil tank, air cleaner, engine mounts,
– Down tubes and back bone are air tanks.
– Hoffman design modified  rear subframe and swingarm
– All nickel and brass plating
– Paint by Azzkikr candy blue metal flake ,gold leaf and tan paint , additional pinstripe by MYK ROK
– Seat ,foot board and bag coverings by Rafino Custom Seats
– Front air shocks by tricky air
– Monroe rear shocks
– Accuair digitally controlled air system
– Drilled fishtail exhaust tips
– Top shop rear fender and modified bags
– Monza style gas cap
– Fat Katz front fender
– Custom made air cleaner

46 Responses to “The Knuckle Dragger”


  1. 1 Will Sep 9th, 2013 at 8:29 am

    Some really great detail touches there – a well deserved win for Azzkikr

  2. 2 KD Sep 9th, 2013 at 8:46 am

    Ya know, I like looking at custom stuff just as much as the next guy but I just don’t get the HUGE front wheels on motorcycles. This bike would look much better IMO with a standard sized front wheel. Kind of like the 30+” rims on a Chevy Caprice. WTF?? If you want something jacked up, get a 4-wheel drive.

  3. 3 Jay Horton's Private Shop Sep 9th, 2013 at 9:01 am

    Wow! Super Sweet! Nice job all the way around. Later Jay

  4. 4 hk Sep 9th, 2013 at 9:05 am

    thank you very much from all of us at Azzkikr ,we are always honored to make it onto your blog .We want to definitely thank all of our vendors ,friends and anyone who threw hands on the project and busted their butts to get the bike completed in time for sturgis for us.Special thanks to Doug at MAdwheels for personally flying down with the one of a kind rim for us from california .We couldnt have done it without everyones help .

  5. 5 Tricky Air & Billet Sep 9th, 2013 at 9:31 am

    The bike and front air-ride came out great! Can’t wait to see your next project. Enjoy the recognition!

  6. 6 Mike Sep 9th, 2013 at 9:56 am

    Love this bike. Azzkikr have really raised the bar with this build.

  7. 7 BC Sep 9th, 2013 at 10:14 am

    Ya can’t ring everyone’s bell. Lot of beautiful work to make a knuckle big wheel bagger garbage wagon. Love Knuckles, just not for flavor of the month baggers. Sorry 🙁

  8. 8 Guy Sep 9th, 2013 at 10:16 am

    Puke. That is horrible, what is it with huge front wheels and panniers. No more baggers please, lets have some real customs.

  9. 9 BobS Sep 9th, 2013 at 10:40 am

    Love the leather, not the wheel. Congrats on the win!

  10. 10 hk Sep 9th, 2013 at 10:55 am

    I agree its not foi get that its not for everyone but “not a custom” ? Seriously? The bike is front to back customized

  11. 11 Kroeter Sep 9th, 2013 at 11:00 am

    Not a fan of the oversized front wheel. I can tell I’m getting conditioned though, a standard size wheel on a bagger now almost looks too small. Is this what it was like when everybody started extending forks on choppers?

  12. 12 Hoag Sep 9th, 2013 at 11:02 am

    Love the Hater’s!!
    Go home and play with your Plastic Barbie’s or blow up’s !!

  13. 13 hk Sep 9th, 2013 at 11:03 am

    We appreciate the positive and negative feedback.its all good ,lots of styles of bikes out there with great builders all over the place making their mark.we like building bikes of all kinds ,different strokes for different folks.

  14. 14 Chris W Sep 9th, 2013 at 11:34 am

    Looks great! Love the way it brings modern and classic tech together

  15. 15 sue Sep 9th, 2013 at 12:56 pm

    Azzkikr, you are true artists.

  16. 16 James just another crazy Kiwi Sep 9th, 2013 at 1:35 pm

    Not me, but really well done,
    Thoses bags are all class,serious thought and work has gone into this bike

  17. 17 Boss Hawg Sep 9th, 2013 at 1:54 pm

    Love it or hate it, but it is a one hell of a beautiful machine.

    Boss Hawg

  18. 18 ron Sep 9th, 2013 at 3:13 pm

    Like it, not sure about the 30″ front wheel, not my thing but nicely done, great win.

  19. 19 Bernie Carter Sep 9th, 2013 at 3:57 pm

    Great work by these Canadians. Thanks Cyril for showing it to us.

  20. 20 mryoung Sep 9th, 2013 at 4:21 pm

    I love Knucks, but I can not stand that bike. WTF? It looks like a cartoon drawing.

  21. 21 Bill Sep 9th, 2013 at 5:13 pm

    Badass! Well deserved as baddest bagger.

  22. 22 SIGFREED Sep 9th, 2013 at 5:19 pm

    Hoag – if you bike looks like this one, I shudder to think what you play with, at home…

    All credit to the craftsmanship – I am however not one of the Vaudevillian Velocipede contraptions types.

  23. 23 Slow Sep 9th, 2013 at 5:21 pm

    That is the perfect definition of a custom bike right there. Good job and keep up the badass work. Only two things I would change. Springer seat and put an actual drum on the front.

  24. 24 Blue Mountain Customs Sep 9th, 2013 at 5:45 pm

    awesome one of fab skills, this is art on wheels, too all the haterz, lets see what you made bitichs

  25. 25 Zipper Sep 9th, 2013 at 6:30 pm

    ? ..Z

  26. 26 Seymour Sep 9th, 2013 at 7:02 pm

    I know there is a lot of craftmanship in there, but..

  27. 27 roadkingajb Sep 9th, 2013 at 7:34 pm

    i am now more madder than ever that i didn’t make Sturgis this year i would have loved to see it live.

  28. 28 Colin Sep 9th, 2013 at 8:38 pm

    So I used to have a beloved 05 Springer softail which I fitted with shovelhead hardbags, stripped a whole lot of stuff off and made it look real clean. I entered such motorcyle in the “bagger” category at a local show. All I overheard was “how is that a bagger”. Man I was so ahead of my time.

  29. 29 Sharrack Sep 9th, 2013 at 11:00 pm

    Reminds me of a Matt Hotch bike from a few years back. Pretty cool…….

  30. 30 nicker Sep 10th, 2013 at 12:02 am

    No my style
    But an interesting mix of stuff.

    -nicker-

  31. 31 nicker Sep 10th, 2013 at 12:06 am

    I guess the thing that makes it interesting is the suggestion of Art Deco Streamliner era.
    Looking at it some more, Yes, it is certainly interesting.

    -nicker-

  32. 32 Tim Sep 10th, 2013 at 3:38 am

    Best looking creation I have ever seen .

  33. 33 Fausto Simoes Sep 10th, 2013 at 4:44 am

    It’s great to see someone take a trend that’s getting old quickly and make it fresh again, great work guys!

  34. 34 Rick Lossner Sep 10th, 2013 at 6:11 am

    Doesn’t make sense…. in fact, I’m getting tired of these ridiculous oversize front tire baggers….

    BUT… damned this bike has some beautiful details!!

  35. 35 Iron Horse Sep 10th, 2013 at 6:17 am

    I love some of the details and really don’t care for others, but these guys really put together a “custom” bike in every sense of the word.

  36. 36 Wilhelm Sep 10th, 2013 at 6:57 am

    Just how desperate can you get? Who’d want to be seen on a contraption like this? Sorry for the Knuckle engine, though.

  37. 37 hk Sep 10th, 2013 at 8:00 am

    thanks from team azzkikr for the compliments we sincerely appreciate it

    And for the negatives,its all in good fun but I think some of you are missing the point of the build ,it was meant to be over the top but in the retro style we like ,if we had built a period correct 37 knuckle with bags it would have sat in the corner all but ignored immaculate or not just so someone with no sleeves on his jean jacket could think its rad, hip ,or real bro etc.

    if you like we will build a hillclimbing-dirtbike-motogp-trials-bobber-drag-trike-airplanetraincycle …..but it will probably be the wrong color so I expect there is no pleasing the exclusive club of everyone .lol

    cheers to all

    **Just to add our fabricator built that entire springer by hand ,check out our build pics on our facebook page to see how he did it ,its pretty cool from a fabricators standpoint.

  38. 38 Shaz Sep 10th, 2013 at 8:05 am

    I love how “I don’t like that” equals “that sucks”.
    It’s like saying “I don’t like trucks, they all suck”.
    Killer creativity, killer lines, incredible detail and craftsmanship and innovation.
    And to the haters of big wheel bikes, I’m sorry you only had a radio flyer wagon and didn’t get a big wheel for Christmas when you were a kid.
    -recognize the talent and craftsmanship.. Well done boys!!

  39. 39 Gabe Sep 10th, 2013 at 9:48 am

    Great job on the build guys. Followed the whole transformation

    One of my favorite bikes I have ever laid eyes on. This build raises the bar, mixing in old school cues with modern technology and styling. The hating on this build goes to show, you just can’t make everyone happy, if a custom frame bagger with a knucklehead motor and a custom air ride springer front end won’t get positive comments from the traditional guys then nothing will.

    Keep up the good work over there on the other side of the pond!

  40. 40 Wilhelm Sep 10th, 2013 at 10:04 am

    All those great details don’t help you none, if the basic concept is, ahem, questionable. Like the Panama canal ending in Mexico City 🙂 🙂

  41. 41 Martin Twofeather Sep 10th, 2013 at 3:09 pm

    To say it is awe stricking is not to say enough,I to would have picked it for a first place,excellent work azzkikr………..

  42. 42 burnout Sep 10th, 2013 at 5:36 pm

    This is a cool bike! peace

  43. 43 Doug Sep 11th, 2013 at 9:54 am

    @Gabe -“if a custom frame bagger with a knucklehead motor and a custom air ride springer front end won’t get positive comments from the traditional guys then nothing will. ”

    No, the exact opposite would have happened if they chose a cool front wheel.

    Those front wheels (and proportionate front fenders) are not only disfunctional but it makes the motor look ridiculously small, which is unexpected in the v-twin custom category where the motor’s presence is very important. Look at the profile picture.

    This fad is getting to be as bad as punks wearing their pants below their ass

  44. 44 RUB Sep 11th, 2013 at 11:15 am

    a big wheel bagger ?!? wow , I’m speachless !

    Most follow the trend , who will set the next .

    Nice workmanship , but lets move on people .

  45. 45 Blackmax Sep 11th, 2013 at 5:04 pm

    Not a fan of the big wheel thing
    But this is very, very nice !!!!

  46. 46 John Oct 22nd, 2013 at 1:14 pm

    Gorgeous! I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my +66 years! Lots of water boiling over the front wheel…bogus. Leave it as is – the wheel generates an impression of “more powerful than a locomotive” – which, from where I sit, is the power image I see when viewing the results of your efforts. I love the paint colors and leatherwork – supreme on all counts, in my opinion. A whole new definition of the words, “Eye Candy” and worth every accolade, award, and recognition it can garner! Keep it up! Ignore the naysayers…they’re simply jealous they didn’t come up with the ideas before you did!!!!

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Cyril Huze