Like anything I think of as Ness, this bike is long and low with a big appetite for chrome and a million little details everywhere you look. The engine, in this case an S&S Shovelhead, like all of Ness’ bikes that I remember was an important focal point as much or more than even Arlen’s often outrageous bodywork. Arlen had a way of making an engine seem bigger than life...

      If you didn’t guess this was a Trotta bike at first glance, I’m sure you’re definitely not the least bit surprised to find out it is a product of Eddie Trotta’s ’s Thunder Cycle Designs in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There’s just something about a Trotta bike that makes it its own style or sub-style depending on what kind of category you might be trying to pigeon hole it in....

     It seems like choppers have always been and always will be on somebody’s wish list. There’s just something about the whole concept that makes people still lust after them even if they really don’t want one for practical reasons. They just have a spirit that brings out the inner outlaw in the nicest of people and they always make a statement to whomever sees them that you must...

     Whenever I’m in Hollister I stop in his shop and disturb Benito long enough in order to pick up the latest copy of Thunder Press which I scour for their event listings. The last time I was there I noticed an old Harley Knucklehead sitting in a corner. I asked about it saying, “Gee, maybe I should take a picture or two of it.” One thing led to another and...

    Gilby’s Street Dept. is a balls-out custom shop owned by Todd Gilbertson (I’m guessing that’s where the Gilby part of the company name came from or maybe it was his dad) and ace mechanic Matt Anderson. I don’t know if it’s the long, cold Wisconsin winters that led to a complicatedly-cool “What if . . .” build like this or not, but these two have got it going on. The...

     The Count has always had a taste for the bizarre and extreme that he totally seems comfortable with it. Same goes for his choppers over the years that always had a taste of Goth meets Elvis via Elvira. They were wild to the extreme with a bit of horror tackiness that often made me not take them quite seriously, but then The Count wasn’t building anything for me anyway so what...

    Manteca doesn’t like a destination worth seeking out and you’re probably thinking, “Why would I want to visit Manteca? Is there anything special about it?” Yes there is, but it has nothing to do with history or agriculture or even communing. Manteca is the home of Binford’s Custom Cycles and with the unbelievable builds they’re doing including this BikerLive build, there’s...

     Maybe what makes this bike called Big Red more interesting to me is that it’s been around for a while now with its first iteration complete about five years ago. The recent update kinda reigned in the bling while keeping the basics much the same and in this case, that’s a nice thing. CSCW’s BMOC, Sam Polys, laid down the original groundwork of a radical, but rideable chopper...

   Barnett’s Magazine Online’s lensman to the ladies, Jack Cofano, shot this lovely red Gangster Softail chopper hanging around John’s vendor area at last year’s Smoke Out and it’s been hanging around Barnett’s Picasa site ever since. Mr. Cofano brought back lots of Gangster bikes that we’ve since featured including John’s personal ride. But I’ve had a strange fondness for this...

    That’s exactly what happened with our feature bike belonging to Mitch Cooper of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Mitch was experiencing The Thrill Is Gone symptoms with his bike so he turned to Craig Hartless and Jay Cutts Jr. at Ace of Customs also in Winston-Salem for a makeover that would light up his adrenal glands to eleven like it once did. “He brought this bike, originally...