That’s not the case anymore, as Exile’s affordable Twin Cam Softail customs pictured here definitely don’t look like something somebody put together in a garage, although they actually can put it together in a garage. Forget the torch, welder, and milling machine, these all-out-looking Exile doppelgangers consist of strictly bolt-on items. “It’s hard to even recognize that it is...

     The Modified Motorcycle Association of California was the host of this event held on Sunday, December 7th.  For days before the Sunday the weather was real iffy, vacillating between needed-precipitation and clearing. Finally on Saturday, the weather broke and we were off to Dixon and the day turned out just fine.     We got to the fairgrounds as vendors were arriving for the...

       The show had a very respectable $15,000 total prize payout that brought in a considerable number of bikes to the display floor. Not only were there many more bikes on display than last year, but it was also a first class setup with low entrance fees. Each bike had a place card showing much needed information we need to be able to do a feature article at Barnett’s Magazine...

    Apparently Willie Ball had the same type of experience I had, but with totally different results. Why else would a guy cover his wildly (and expensively) customized Road King in screaming, evil clowns and other oddities from Captain Spaulding’s Freak Show? I can’t say I’ve ever been there, but it’s influenced Willie Ball enough to have his Curly’s Custom Cycles Road King...

          There are over 70 bikes that will be on displayed the next two days and that’s not counting the bikes I have selected for features in the future.           I would like to do features on a lot more of the bikes I shoot there, but unfortunately I have a hard time getting contact information for many of the bikes I photograph. If you see your bike here over the next few...

  Possibly the easiest part of meeting the rules was starting with the 984cc engine from a Buell XB9R which puts out enough beans in stock form that internal modifications were limited to flowing the heads while the rest of the innards were left stock. Exterior mods did include the adaptation of a Mikuni BN46 downdraft carb, which is usually seen adorning watercraft according to...

      Igor Akrapovic, obviously the head of the company bearing his name, decided to let the American V-twin world know there was a new kid in exhaust town. He did what any respectable aftermarket manufacturer would do and commissioned fellow Slovene, Tomaz “Capo” Capuder of Dreamachine Motorcycles, to build a futuristic custom that incorporated the carbon fiber, titanium, and...

 Yuri’s reply to what inspired him to come up with this bike called Gustav Skippone (for no apparent reason) was, frankly, hilarious to me. “The customer’s money! Well, to be serious, I do like Old School bobbers and used to build them quite often, but this project made it possible to diverge from traditions and give myself more freedom,” said Yuri. “To be frank, in the process of...

       Now we get amazing bikes seemingly one after another and needless to say, that only makes it tougher for the builders. It definitely doesn’t stop them. Take the case of this absolutely unbelievable bike built by Kyle Shorey of Shadetree Fabrications in Dallas, Texas. Built from a pretty-decent shape 2007 Saxon Crown owned by Bill McNabney, little was used from the original...

  Dar is only one half of the story; the other is three-time Top Fuel World Champion and legendary frame builder, Sam Wills of Racing Innovations. Sam’s been building frames for racers and custom builders for years and had a shop that Dar frequented. Dar wanted to build his own custom bike and “harassed” Sam constantly to show him how to build it. Sam finally caved and worked with...