Cyril Huze Blog – World's Number One Source For Custom Motorcycle News

 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 Cam Hemi head hopped up to 174 HP and 184 TQ .The primary is a Barnett Lockup and the front end is a cool Meanstreet Products Avalon front end. Wheels are Renegade Streamline 23″ front and 20rear both dressed with Avon Cobra tires. As you can see Killin’ Time is a single sided on the right side. What you can’t see is the oil system inside the downtube and front spoiler.  Streamline Designs.

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 one to designer Philippe Starck  and you get the result above, for me a very desirable bike.  And if you never heard of Philippe Stark (how could you not?), he is not a custom builder but one of the most famous and wanted designer in the world. He designed boats, toothbrushes, electronics, ash-trays, lamps, door handles, cutlery, candlesticks, kettles, knives, vases, clocks, scooters, motorcycles, desks, beds, taps, baths, toilets, countless hotels and restaurants all over the world and even pasta … in short, our whole life.  So, in this post I recommend first that you visit the gorgeous website of Phillippe Starck just to get an idea about what is design excellence and to admire his subversive vision of a better looking world. Second, go to Voxan Motorcycles to see their stable of nice 1000cc V-Twins and what you have been missing in America.

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 for his next build.  That’s how he found Guilty Customs and Errant, his next and third custom motorcycle. Errant, part of Guilty Customs “Last Chance” line, caught Spurlin’s attention with its 70’s dragster styled influences. Spurlin comments about his decision to have his next chopper built by Guilty Customs: “Since I had two bobber styled bikes that were similar in looks, I wanted something different, but dependable and affordable. One of my friends told me about Guilty Customs so I called and spoke with Cj Hanlon.  We talked for about an hour. I didn’t feel like it was a business call, which is when I knew 100 percent, this company was the kind of business I’d always heard my father and grandfather talk about. Not cookie cutter $65,000 choppers or assembly line bikes, but actual one-on-one discussions about my next bike.” The bike is ready, Spurlin is back in Iraq from where he already talks with his builder CJ Hanlon about a cross-country ride to raise monies for the widows and families of soldiers killed in battle. Another reason to wish him a safe return home. Guilty Customs 

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 1995) are or will take major roles in our society. So, what’s our industry is doing to tap this vast potential market? Sadly, almost nothing. Do you know of any motorcycle manufacturer, print magazine, motorcycle TV show or motorcycle rally making real efforts to adjust to these 2 new generations whose taste, language and entertainment is quite different from the one of the baby boomers. Xers and Yers have their own specificities, but both were raised front of television, playing Atari 2600 or World Of Warcraft, doing their homework on a computer and socializing through internet social networks like MySpace. In addition to have raised 2 boys belonging 1 to the Xers and 1 to the Yers, I have a lot of interactions with the new generations and I know for sure that they spend more time surfing the web than watching TV, and more time enjoying HD movies than they will ever reading paper magazines. We cannot expect that all children born in a biker family are going to be bikers. And even if it would be the case, it will never be enough to support our industry. I have no doubt that the baby boomers children can acquire our taste and love for the sport of motorcycling. But they are not exposed to it because our industry exclusively “talks” to us, never to them, and never in a place or media where we would get a chance that they listen and fall in love with bikes like I did when I was 18. Let’s take Internet, the meeting place of these 2 new generations. Motorcycle print magazines limit their online presence to a “giant business card” with a few titles and pictures. But in no way they are full and complete interactive online magazines. Consequently their traffic is extremely low and much lower than any improvised website whose author is a biker dude sitting in his kitchen and publishing aggregated motorcycle news copied from other websites. I am an Internet publisher and I believe in the “word of mouse” to extend my passion for motorcycles to others, I don’t understand why my friends and fellow print publishers still don’t recognize it. Major newspapers and magazines were able to have both a successful and profitable simultaneous print and online presence. Why not us?  

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 paradox of form & function is even the most exciting part of our business. For 2008, Big Bear Choppers just released a brand new model called “Paradox” and you already know why they picked this name. Artful lines, sunken seat at 19” from the ground, radical fuel tank flowing into an innovative 3D molded composite down tube cover, 23” front and 20” rear wheels, a Baler 6-speed RSD are what you see at first glance. For power plant, you have the choice between a 100” Smooth Evo Carb, a 100” Smooth EFI, or the already popular 114” S&S X-Wedge EFI. But what you don’t see is what Big Bear Choppers qualifies as the smoothest and most comfortable ever pro-street ride. I still have to experience it and maybe Big Bear Choppers is secretly preparing one for me to test during Daytona Bike week. I already see the elegance and strength. Now, I want to experience the handling and the comfort. Big Bear Choppers. Tel:909.878.4340