Well that all changed when I started reading car magazines as a gawky pre-teen and discovered a whole new breed of mules called “test mules.” All of a sudden, here was a type of mule that was right up my foot-to-the-boards alley. The designers and engineers at Detroit’s Big Three would take a stock-looking vehicle and load it up with go-fast goodies for evaluation and testing and...

Bobby Jones of Frisco, Texas, definitely falls into that “enough is . . .” category with his first-ever Harley-Davidson, a 2008 Street Glide. The FLHX (anyone can remember that) is a pretty-warmed-over factory custom version of a FLHT and mimics what a lot of Standard owners were modifying on their bikes. Lowered, stripped of shiny bits like passing lights, fender trim, bag...

The parents of Rigo De la Torre, owner of this 2007 Harley-Davidson Road King, came to America from Mexico and decided to settle in the state of the all-American motorcycle, Wisconsin. They became American citizens, worked hard, and started making their contributions to America. Several years later, Rigo was born and like many other children of naturalized citizens, his parents...

So the story about this bike is really about Old Skool’s total rear bodywork conversion that sure takes it out of the commonplace extended-stock-bag-look featured on most custom baggers. “We didn’t do anything ingenious, we just said, ‘Why can’t the fender extend outside the rear shock towers so we can add bags and get the same amount of storage, but have a custom look without...

  Picking a Road Glide was an easy choice for G-Right who said, “Every time I throw my leg over the bike I know I have what I want. I love the longer wheelbase as it’s like going from a Corvette to a Cadillac. The ride is so smooth and comfortable.” But leaving it factory fresh was not part of plan for the Fort Washington, Maryland resident. “I spent some time on the West Coast and...

  The short part of this story is that Chris and Donna both loved the bike and rode the pants off it for a while, but like all things Harley, you can’t leave stock alone. Two big things that were an important aspect of this build before the build began was that Chris was adamant about not losing or ruining anything that made a bagger useful and comfortable and he hates to clean and...

  #1. Now maybe you are one of those people I’ve always been in awe of (but don’t understand one tiny bit) who kept it minty-factory fresh with no miles as a future collectable. Well you know where you stand and you’re just gonna keep your 100th Anniversary FLHRSEI2 parked next to your no-mile 25th anniversary 1978 Corvette Indy Pace Car Replica in your lovely climate controlled...

The lucky recipients of all this exchange of Benjamins are the builders, Bryan and Big Mike, from Sinners-N-Saints Choppers (www.snscustoms.com) in Columbus. Ohio, who look to have earned every dollar for the fine work they’ve done. Over a period of six months they transformed Shawn’s 2010 Street Glide from factory fresh to a ride worthy of entering shows while keeping all the...

Andreas’ Thunderbike Harley-Davidson dealership in Hamminkeln, Germany is not your average dealership with a few accessorized bikes and maybe a production custom or two lying around. It’s home to the 2006 and 2008 European Championship winners with a second (2006) and fifth place (2008) in the AMD World Championship along with a slew of other awards too numerous to mention. Not too...

Shane’s a Midwest guy, Pataskala, Ohio, to be exact, and the long winters there probably just led to a bit of “What if . . .” moments that culminated in the extreme custom bagger displayed here. The radical drop-seat frame houses an also-radical powerplant, a 113” Ultima, that’s sure to get the show on the road in a timely fashion. The fenderless front end might not be the best...