The topic of the month continues to be welding. Adrian at Anarchy Motorcycle Company not only builds custom bikes like this “Devil” one but also writes a Blog with a few welding tips. Check it out at Anarchy Motorcycle Blog. (BTW, the “Devil” is an in house built 300mm super drop seat and single sided […]
Archive for the 'Customs' Category
Harley Owners Competing with Harley Factory
Published by April 21st, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Editorial.I heard it several times before and it made me think a lot. “Why would I buy a brand new Harley when there are so many used ones available with low miles, a long remaining factory warranty and sold at such a big discount?” And this remark was not coming from individuals hunting for a […]
Kenny Price To Be Inducted Into Sturgis Hall Of Fame
Published by April 21st, 2008 in Customs, Editorial and Exhaust.From his teenager years when he was trying to tweak more power out of his Vespa to his today’s Samson Motorcycle Exhausts empire, Kenny Price never stopped designing and manufacturing innovative motorcycle exhausts. As a matter of fact he is the owner of many patents of high performance exhaust systems. He has already a large […]
Rolling Thunder Custom Motorcycle Frames
Published by April 20th, 2008 in Chassis, Customs, Editorial and Frames.During these last weeks you commented a lot about frame welding and integrity. When talking about quality frames, you even mentioned Rolling Thunder Manufacturing as an example of a company producing strong and reliable frames. They use CMM which stands for “Coordinate Measuring Machine” , to verify that all of their products are accurate within […]
Motorcycle Hall OF Fame Adds to Celebrity Exhibit
Published by April 19th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Events.MotoStars: Celebrities + Motorcycles” is the latest in a series of award-winning exhibits at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. The Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, the country’s premier showcase of motorcycling heritage and history, has revealed the names of more than 25 significant personalities and groups to be featured in this upcoming exhibition. It […]
Want to take a sneak peek at Billy Lane Diaries? I am sure you want. Billy informed me that he just finished his Diaries, at least for now because there is always another page to fill and another bike to build to chronicle our daily lives. Diaries are a place where each of us has […]
World’s Largest Biker Pool At Sturgis Broken Spoke Campground
Published by April 17th, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Events.Sturgis Bike Week is in 105 days. Do you know where you are going to sleep? And swim after a long day riding the Black Hills, the Badlands, checking the bikes in bike shows and the girls at the Broken Spoke Saloon? The Broken Spoke Campground at Sturgis County line is back for the 2008 […]
Perimeter Brake Systems Brake Hard And Look Very Cool.
Published by April 17th, 2008 in Brakes, Customs, Editorial and Wheels.Custom builders use them more and more. And they were inspired by sport bikes using this system for performance braking. Perimeter brakes physic is quite simple. If you would try to stop a very fast spinning wheel with your hands (don’t try it), would it be easier if you squeeze the tire or the wheel […]
Hand tooling leather is an old technique craft. With the return of the retro looking bikes, hand tooled seats are in popular demand. But not all upholstery shops are able to do them correctly. One of the best is Duane Ballard who, since many years, is a master at the art of stamping, lacing and […]
The Horse Backstreet Choppers Announces Sturgis Bike Show
Published by April 16th, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Events.The Horse Backstreet Chopper Magazine organizes bike shows looking like no others. The reason is that their objective is to encourage, recognize, support and reward the average Joes working day jobs and then burning the midnight oil building bikes in their garages. A lot of creativity without spending a ton of money. It will be […]
A Buell Kit To Make It A Custom Hit
Published by April 16th, 2008 in Builders, Chassis, Customs and Editorial.Don’t want to be caught riding a stock Buell? ITSABLAST is a very appealing kit designed and produced by Redneck Enginuity where can keep the performance of a Buell Blast but turn it in a very pretty custom bike. The arched back bone frame kit uses the engine as a stressed member and allows to […]
You Can Own Leroy-Thompson “La Chicana”
Published by April 14th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Events.Leroy-Thompson is raffling off their Horse Smoke-Out VII entry: “La Chicana” with the proceeds to beneficiate Ohio S.W.A.T Team. As you probably know, S.W.A.T Teams are composed of specialty police officers trained to respond to high-risk situations ranging from hostage negotiations to serving high-risk warrants to terrorist incident. Odds of winning are just 1 in […]
The beauty of this neo-retro air cleaner is not only its distinctive scallop design and grill, but the fact that you can make it yours by changing the finition of the grill – polish, chrome-brass- and painting its body to match your bike paint job. The Rapide air cleaner fits both S&S Super E or […]
Custom Chrome Europe 2008 Dealer Show.
Published by April 13th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Events.With a powerful and extraordinary Bikes Show, Dealer Show and European Championship of Custom Bike-Building, the 2008 edition of the CUSTOM CHROME EUROPE DEALER SHOW in Germany topped last year’s record results in terms of attending dealers, visitors and number of show competitors. The quality of the motorcycles exhibited blew everybody’s mind as 100 never […]
True Bolt On 240 mm Wide Tire Kit For Harley-Davidson Bagger
Published by April 13th, 2008 in Builders, Chassis, Customs, Editorial and Wheels.Michael Long at Zeel Design has always been at the forefront of the rear wide tire conversion. And he is an expert at it. Not only on his outrageous customs, but also by installing true bolt-on wide tire kits on many Harley-Davidson models. Like this one letting you bolt on a 240 wide tire on […]
I didn’t know very much about builder Ludovic Lazareth except that he was building outrageous one-off motorcycles and cars for the advertising and movie industry. Then, “Sarco”, daily reader and frequent commentator of this Blog, sent me this picture of an amazing bike that Ludovic built using a Buell as canvas. Although he kept the […]
A Few Thoughts About The State Of The Custom Motorcycle Industry
Published by April 10th, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Editorial.There are few consumer purchases more discretionary than a Harley-Davidson and of course than a full-blown custom motorcycle built from the ground up. Harley US retail sales have hit the skids and fell 14%. So, can I say that sales of motorcycles or the lack of it is a good barometer of our economy. Yes, […]
Performance Machine Sexy Heathen Wheel
Published by April 10th, 2008 in Customs, Editorial and Wheels.Always an innovator, Performance Machine is credited with bringing the Contrast Cut style of black & raw aluminum wheel to the custom motorcycle market. Since its initial launch a few years back, they’ve continued to refine the process and take it to a whole new level. ThisHeathen wheel design […]
New S&S Engine/Horse Magazine Chopper Show.
Published by April 9th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Events.Up to 200 bikes will compete in this new bike show on June 28 in the middle o the S&S 50th Anniversary Celebration held at the Oktoberfest Grounds in La Crosse, Wisconsin June 27-29. The show will be held at the La Crosse Speedway and unusually, but logically in this case, there will be no […]
Artistry In Iron Master Builders Championship
Published by April 9th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Events.One of the highlights of Las Vegas Bike Fest (October 2-5th), is a bike show called “Artistry In Iron”. This show is not like the other shows you know because it’s one of the very few competitions in the world where 25 “Master Builders” are selected and invited to show only one custom bike, then […]
Like all Custom Builders (and Bloggers), I receive a ton of emails from all over the world. Some are quite long and unusual like this one from Kenya that I received this morning and that I publish as is. "Dear Cyril Huze. I couldn’t let the opportunity pass without sending you this e-mail. You see […]
Hip-Hop Rap Artist Will.I.Am. Custom Trike
Published by April 8th, 2008 in Builders, Customs and Editorial.There is a band that I like very much called “The Black Eyed Peas”. I you don’t know yet (how come?) listen to “where Is The Love”, “Don’t Phunk with My Heart”, “Shut Up”, etc. The front man and producer behind the multi-platinum group is Will.I.Am (you saw his “Yes I Can” video to support […]
Hot-Rodding Or Street-Rodding Your Bike?
Published by April 8th, 2008 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Suspension.This post is not to explain to you the difference between hot-rodding and street-rodding a car or motorcycle because you are supposed to know (Google Hot-Rod or go to Wikipedia). Anyway, whatever your mood and school of thought, this new front end from MeanStreet has the Hot-Rod look and the Street-Rod requirement. Hope you follow me… It […]
Turn Signals Relocator For Baggers And Bobbers
Published by April 7th, 2008 in Customs, Editorial and Electrical.Hardstreet just introduced a new chrome license plate/turn-signal mounting bracket. It allows riders to move their turn signals to their license plate and allow room for saddlebags, or additional turn signal locations for quick detach bags. These brackets work great for Bobber projects, too. Bracket has a chrome finish with license mount holes 5 ½ […]
New 2008 Metric Cruiser Parts Catalog By J&P Cycles.
Published by April 7th, 2008 in Customs and Editorial.J&P Cycles spent months searching the market to find the very best Metric Motorcycle products available from the hottest manufacturers in the industry. The company has filled each section with a great selection of the newest and best parts on the market by top industry names such as Avon, Baron Custom Cycle, Cobra, Jardine, Kuryakyn, […]
Wimmer Machine Satin Black Sucker Intake
Published by April 6th, 2008 in Customs, Editorial and Engines.Since 10 years Wimmer Custom Cycle specializes in engine intakes built around a modular design with many interchangeable components like elbows, stacks and filters to create your own design. The latest introduction to the line of quality intakes from Wimmer is the SBS, also known as the “Satin Black Sucker”. This intake features an all […]
