Bossen dutifully dragged the un-colored custom off into his powdercoat pit of pain and conjured up a menacing menagerie of skulls, skeletons, and rustic chains against a blood red base coat. As Jesse strolled into the painter’s workshop, eager to see his freshly tattooed creation, he found himself stopped dead in his tracks. As the coup de grace, Brian had airbrushed a tombstone...

  What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “Las Vegas?” No, it’s not colossal buffets with shrimp piled up to the ceiling or brainless dancing fountains of water, it’s gambling. Gambling is what makes the lights stay on and the casino hotels grow in size beyond all comprehension. It’s the lifeblood of the community whether anyone wants to accept it or not. Gambling...

  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...

  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...

  Ah, if only the entire build could have been that easy. It took about 18 months to get his bike up and running due a false start with a company that went out of business. But Jerry is nothing if not lucky, and he got his money back and began looking around for new help. “Finally I looked into Ace’s Choppers,” he said. “I sent them over the spec sheet and they reassured me they...

  And interesting it is, especially the work he did with the bike’s Redneck Enginuity frame. It’s a rigid, single-downtube chassis raked to 42 degrees with plenty of stretch (4” out, 6” up) that sets up a long, tough profile in keeping with what was big at the time of the build. But if you take a gander at the dentiformed downtube, that’s where the bike comes into its own. CT...

  But while he had plenty going for him in the fabrication department, he’d never built a bike before and needed guidance from a knowing hand. For that, he turned to Jimmy Pacwa at Twisted Twin in South Haven, Michigan. Jimmy’s a custom bike builder whose work has been showcased at events around the USA and featured in magazines. It was his knowing eye that kept Kirkey on the path...

  This long and low custom, Blown Bayou, built by David Perry, owner of Chopper One in Destin, Florida, presents a different vision using parts that are normally found on all motorcycles. “I wanted to take part in the Florida Biker Build-Off competition. Later I saw that the majority of participants were famous custom builders. I knew I had to build a unique motorcycle with many...

  Richard Parra is one of the few people I know who rides to work, and it’s no stock bike, he’s got a custom chopper that he built with his own two hands. His first bike was a ’77 Sportster, but life prevented him from getting another one until he bought a used 2001 black and yellow 1200 from a friend late in that same calendar year. “My buddy dropped the bike within the first 100...