This bike was built for himself by Austin Weiss of Streamline Designs and is being displayed during the 17 shows of the Centerfold Easyriders show tour. Ok, I know that the model is hot, but you are more interested by the tech sheet of this sleek ride. Right? The motor is a 120 CI dual […]
Archive for the 'Builders' Category
Harley-Davidson just took a loss on $486M Loan Securitization and is getting a new $300 million credit line. Harley-Davidson Inc. states that its financial services division has securitized $486 million in retail motorcycle loans for an estimated loss of between $4.1 million and $5.4 million, according to a regulatory filing. Out of a total transaction […]
Custom Voxan By Genius Philippe Starck
Published by February 23rd, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Editorial.Faithful reader Mike Greenwald just reminded me that I should not forget my roots and should talk a little bit about Voxan, the only French brand of tourism motorcycles. Yep, you don’t see a lot here, and in their native country they are limited by national law to a revolting 100 horsepower limit! But give […]
Come To Party With Famous Builders At The Daytona Seminole Hard Rock Roadhouse.
Published by February 22nd, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Events.The Seminole Hard Rock Roadhouse is one of the places where to party during Daytona Bike . Rock ‘n roll, tattoo contests, motorcycle art photography by Michael Lichter, charity events and you will meet for sure some famous builders. Daytona Roadhouse will feature 4 premier motorcycle builders: Billy Lane, Paul Cox, Russell Mitchell and the […]
Spy Picture Of A Crazy Over 8 Foot Long Front End
Published by February 22nd, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Suspension.Almost all part manufacturers will accept to make a custom part for you. Maybe not if it’s too crazy. Surely not if you don’t want to pay the price of a one-off. But Russ at Precious Metal Customs had a client who wanted a Springer fork over 8 foot long. The client knew what to […]
Custom Built For One Of Our Special Ops Soldiers In Iraq.
Published by February 21st, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Editorial.Ash Spurlin is a Special Ops Squad Leader with the US Army fighting in Iraq and when one of his mission is completed, he debriefs his superiors, eats and logs onto his Yahoo account with the intent of finding from friends in the industry who they would recommend […]
Leroy-Thompson Pro Charged Trendkill Custom Bike
Published by February 20th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Engines.More and more custom builders collaborate with parts manufacturers and vice versa. The result? Usually a very cool bike featuring top of the line new parts. As an example, Scott Webster of Leroy-Thompson Choppers and ProCharger collaborated on a brand new bike named "Trendkill" which was recently unveiled to a packed house at the V-Twin […]
Cycle Source Magazine Daytona Bike Show For And With Generation X And Y
Published by February 20th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Events.Chris Callen (he is generation X), publisher of Cycle Source Magazine proved me wrong. There is something to do specifically designed for Generation X and Y during Daytona Bike Week. Baby boomers like me (sometimes I feel like an X or even a Y) will also stop by and enjoy the event. Below is his […]
Attracting New Bikers By Word Of Mouse
Published by February 19th, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Editorial.It is conventional wisdom that the motorcycle industry is worried about the demographic shift of the oldest baby boomers (born in 1946) hitting the United States legal retirement age of 65. As boomers or boomies retire, their older children called Generation X (born 1965 to 1980) and younger ones called Generation Y (born 1980 to […]
Half Harley. Half Hayabusa. It’s A Barley.
Published by February 18th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Suspension.I admire people trying “crazy” new stuff, like fusing together the framework of a Harley-Davidson with the world-renowned styling of a Suzuki Hayabusa. The concept of this bike was to develop a motorcycle that was Harley Evo motor based but with the functionality and style of a Suzuki Hayabusa. Never thought about this one. And […]
Can a highly artful motorcycle perform as well or even better than a factory motorcycle? My answer is yes. Can a limited edition custom motorcycle be as reliable and comfortable than the same factory motorcycle? Again, my answer is yes. It’s the challenge we face and must win when building custom machines. Resolving the apparent […]
Revolution. The First Canadian Magazine For Custom Bikes.
Published by February 17th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Events.We are in a market downturn, and new custom shops are opened, new manufacturers create exciting parts, new production custom bikes are launched and new print and online magazines are created to report on our industry. And it’s great because I am pretty sure that the men behind these new […]
Indianapolis Dealers Expo 2008
Published by February 17th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Driveline, Editorial, Events and Wheels.Since I was close to Indianapolis, between 2 planes, I had to pay a very fast visit to the Dealers Expo, the ultimate extravaganza for the powersports industry. Thanks to Dennis Johnson from Dealers News I got a press pass in less time than it […]
OCC’s 2 New Limited Production Bikes
Published by February 15th, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Editorial.Before the V-twin Expo, I told you that OCC would unveil during the show 2 new productions bikes. Here they are, the way I saw them in Cincinnati. A bagger called the OCC SR Cruiser and a Softail type bike named the OCC Sweet Amber. The OCC SR Cruiser […]
Daytona March 4th. Iron Works Magazine Ride-In-Bike Show
Published by February 15th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Events.Carl Speed Shop is a cool place to hang around during Daytona Bike Week (a lot of parking place and the opportunity to say hello to the Carl Morrow family, holder of not less than 166 national and world speed records). It will even be more exciting March 4th, from 12 to 4 PM when […]
Wiring Harness. Avoid The Madness.
Published by February 15th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Electrical.Each custom builder has his forte and his weaknesses. And me, I have no patience to do electrical work. And I know that many among you, pro or not, feel the same. Anything that can help save time and mistakes is welcome. Like this wiring harness conceived to satisfy all your needs even if you […]
A New Custom Shop Of Love And Hate
Published by February 14th, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Editorial.A new custom shop? Cool. By beginners? Not really. Love Hate Choppers (LHC) is the association of renowned tattoo artist Ami James (Miami Ink TV show) with master custom builder Marlowe B. They opened shop on Washington Avenue in South Beach Miami (of course), are wrenching their first bikes with hard core styling and finesse […]
New Monster Exhaust Pipes by Russell Mitchell
Published by February 11th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Exhaust.Russell likes bikes with an industrial look and made his mark building them this way with his own style. Huge exhaust pipes have always been a signature component on every Exile bikes for over a decade. The same style of pipes is now finally available for your 1986 – 2008 Harley-Davidson Softails. Two models are […]
Roland Sands Hypermotard Ducati
Published by February 10th, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Editorial.You already know that Roland Sands has a racing background and enjoy working and customizing all kinds of bikes. Here an example of his work on a Ducati platform. The result is called “Hypermotard” and just looking at this picture you can see that not much has been left untouched. I don’t have yet much […]
Like Phil Korte of “Create A Custom Cycle”, I love bicycles from the 50’s and 60’s. And one of my favorites is this 1957 JC Higgins Flightliner Bicycle. And it just happened that it was Phil’s inspiration to build this white and red custom bike that he qualifies as a Board Track Racer, and me […]
Roland Sands Design (RSD) just released their new design “Diesel” wheel. The Diesel wheel is available in RSD’s exclusive Contrast Cut™ finish and for the first time, a brilliant chrome finish. The rolled rim lip is new for 2008 and features CNC-machined speed dots along the rim, a look unique to RSD. The seven spokes […]
If you want to know what’s going to happen in the economy, business and investment markets, look at population trends or demographics. If we can’t see the very long term coming, at least we can observe how people are changing their way to spend money. The biggest years for births in the baby-boom generation were […]
While strolling the 3rd floor of the V-Twin expo, I had a chance to spend some time checking out the bikes from Zero Engineering. Designed in Okazaki City, Japan and built in Las Vegas, Nevada, their choppers are the foremost bikes of the custom motorcycle industry in the land of the rising sun. And it’s […]
Exclusive. American IronHorse Motorcycle Closing Its Doors?
Published by February 4th, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Editorial.Sad news at a time where we are in Cincinnati celebrating our love for the V-Twin industry. American IronHorse was the main competitor of Big Dog Motorcycles in the market segment of "production custom motorcycles". Follow the confirmation I received from one of their employees. " American IronHorse closed its doors officially this past week. Laying […]
First Meeting With Vinnie & Cody
Published by February 4th, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Editorial.Vinnie DiMartino and Cody Connelly, founders of V-Force Customs, made their 1st public appearance in Cincinnati since leaving the popular television series “American Chopper” with OCC. Hey, I am flattered: they wanted a picture with me and told me that they read my Blog. When they appear at Daytona Bike week February 29, 2008. DiMartino […]
Mike Corbin Unveils New Bagger Setups
Published by February 2nd, 2008 in Builders, Chassis, Customs and Editorial.The V-Twin Expo just got started. And when you go through the huge entrance doors you immediately bump into the huge and always gorgeous display of Corbin Inc. And there, Mike Corbin is showing off his new proprietary bagger setups for several brands and bike models. For example one for the Rolling Thunder chassis, both […]
