All I have to do to justify my appreciation for custom Harley builders from the other side of the Pacific is to point out our stunner of a Shovelhead feature bike called GangStar from Ken Nagai of Ken’s Factory located in Nagoya City in Japan’s Aichi prefecture and also at Ken’s new American facility in Signal Hill, California. Is that thing a pip or what? Strange as it may...

Although I’m going to be hanged for this, in a lot of ways Moto Guzzi has a lot in common with Harley-Davidson. Both have been pushing an ancient architecture air-cooled engine as their mainstay power plant for decades and decades although Harley wins the longevity prize here. Guzzi’s been building a 90-degree V-twin air-cooled pushrod engine (think of it as a slice of a Chevy...

The five minute horn blew and soon we are heading out to our first fuel stop and lunch in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Our Road Guards have everything under control as we roll toward our destination. As we arrive at our fuel stop at the Pilot Truck Stop, I look around as I am waiting to move up to fuel. . As I look across all the bikes, I notice our group is considerably larger now. What a...

  Like every enthusiast-driven industry, there are going to be some ups and downs, but where there’s a will, there’s always a way. One of the more interesting trends I’m starting to see is the guy who’s not trying to make his only means of living out of building one-off customs, but is personally doing a few ground-ups or serious makeovers just for the learning experience and fun...

   And, as the headline says, there’s 285hp lurking in the mainframe waiting to be unleashed. Although this bike is so far from it that it’s probably stupid to even bring it up, but if this was a total rust bucket with 285hp, we’d still be interested. Amazing how overwhelming power will do that to riders who love to whack open a twist grip to the stop. The engine room provides a...

      Built by Vindictive Wayz of Rutherfordton, North Carolina, it’s a beautifully re-made 2002 Harley-Davidson Road King if big wheel baggers are your thing or even if they merely interest you to see how outrageous they can be. This one’s had every bit replaced or re-worked into something it wasn’t to begin with including the OEM frame and engine.     The FLHR frame got the old...

  Mike Corbin was in the process of designing a new Warbird package and decided that the FXR frame would be the ideal starting point. A newer motor was needed, so a Twin Cam with an attached 6-speed tranny to power it was selected. Since sound defines a Harley, 2-into-1 header-wrapped pipes dumping into a titanium sound enhancer were attached. I’m not an engineer, but the...

A custom that is intended to resemble a racer better have more power than a stock bike. Jeff made sure this custom wouldn’t be underpowered with an Arlen Ness 124” S&S motor with rounded fins that create a distinctive appearance from the left side of the bike. A Goodson air cleaner cover smoothes air into the motor while a set of LMF pipes from Creative Cycles help get it out....

 Every bike we feature has a story behind its purchase, but it’s the first time I’ve heard a lack of parking as the cause. “I’m in sales and two of the towns I go to, I can never find a parking spot. I told Charlie I wanted to get a moped or a scooter, but I couldn’t touch the ground on a Vespa,” said Kelly. “He laughed and said, ‘Go for a motorcycle’ and I fit a Sportster just...

First thing I do when I (finally) get up in the morning is to pick out my writing bathrobe of the day and immediately pour myself a cup of black (as-strong-as-I-can-make-it) French Roast and head over to the computer to check my email to see what Internet havoc went on during my personal slumber party. Most of it is plainly carp, but every now and then, some little gem like the...