Click here to see more photos Todd Van Emburgh’s “Cops and Robbers” Built by Joe Palermo of World Class Customs Story by Mark Barnett, Photos by Todd Van Emburgh Working out of a one-and-one-half car garage in the Daytona Beach area, custom bike builder Joe Palermo builds one-offs which have won some of the biggest shows in the world like the Rat’s...

Turbo Touring By Buck Manning, Photos courtesy of Trask Turbo Although it may happen, I’ve never heard an owner of a stock Harley dresser complain that the bike had too much power. If anything, that’s probably the most common upgrade an owner does first. Usually a Stage 1 kit (high-flow air cleaner, pipes, and fuel-metering recalibration) is immediately thrown on...

Click here to see more photos No-Limit-Custom’s “$%#@ Old Style” Harley-Davidson Softail By Mark Barnett, Photos by No-Limit-Custom Yes, there is a Harley-Davidson in there somewhere. Holger Schnell of No-Limit-Custom (NLC) in Huffenhardt, Germany has built several bikes in the past that have been featured in Barnett’s Magazine. Check out our feature...

Click here to see more photos Underground Bobbers 1972 Carbon Triumph 650 By Mark Barnett, Photos by Reza Gohary and Farzin Yassiny Making boat, airplane, and car parts by summer and one-off motorcycle parts during the winter, Reza Gohary and Farzin Yassiny of Underground Bobbers in Livermore, California are combining old and new in a super creative way....

  Sometimes the end of one bike can be the beginning of a new bike. Spike was able to turn an unfortunate accident into a beneficial situation. One of Spike’s friends is Bill Nigro, owner of American Motorcycle Parts Company in Albany, New York. Bill had built a Shovelhead for Spike in the past, but it was totaled in an accident, which left Spike without a bike. Fortunately the...

  Tony’s approach to the build was different than any I’ve run into, starting with building a set of 10”-over forks that appear to be suspension-less. The twin tubes have a slot cut on the inside that allows the axle to slide up and down in a solid tube shrouded in Teflon within the fork leg pushing against a spring above it. Next, he took an I-beam and added legs to it to build...

  Like many builders, Brian’s customers don’t always want bikes built exactly the way he would want them built. He likes to keep his clients happy, but sometimes a builder will discover a new idea for a bike that a client hasn’t asked for, and they need to get it out of their system. Case in point, Brian had been talking about building a seventies-style Sportster chopper with his...

  The Count’s crew disassembled the ‘70s machine in order to start chopping the frame. Shannon Aikau, Count’s Kustoms’ head fabricator, had a 30”-over Sugar Bear springer front end sitting in the corner of the shop waiting for the right chopper. He planned to stretch the original frame in proportion to the length of the front end and dissected the neck, top motor mount, and the...

  This bike began life as a frame with skinny tubes. “I saw the frame at a swap meet, and what got my attention were the thin-looking tubes used to build it. It reminded me of an old Corbin-Gentry frame, but I have no way to be sure who originally made it,” Mickey said. The frame’s down tubes were stretched four -inches skyward and the backbone had an additional two-inches added to...

  King’s looking to change all that, one biker at a time. He breaks local guys in on Sportsters, gets them hooked, then they move on to an Evo or Twin Cam. King’s personal ride is intended both to fit his unique frame and to inspire others to modify their bikes in a country where the phrase, “stock Harley” is not an insult. At over six-feet and somewhere north of 250 pounds, he is...