David Shuey ofWest Chester,Pennsylvania, had ridden motorcycles with his brother Bill during high school, but his story of giving them up mirrors so many others. “College, marriage, kids, and other responsibilities put them on the backburner,” said David. After clocking 55 on the age-o-meter and with the constant prodding of his brother, he decided it was time again for a bike....

A Denver’s Choppers springer fork and a 180 rear tire was fitted to give the bike a good look with good performance.  A PM front brake and an Exile Sprotor handle the stopping duties. Custom pieces from Lucky Charm include the stainless steel oil tank which they produce for sale, the stainless steel top motor mount and speedo housing, rear fender, sissy bar, and modified gas tank...

  The New York Bike shown here is a ground up custom, another style of bike Dave turns out.  This one started out with a Pro Street Frameworks frame, an even 8 inches up and 8 inches out.  With 45 degrees of rake in the frame and six in the trees, the front wheel is over five feet from the front of the engine.  American Suspension forks are fitted up front, and RC wheels hold the...

One dictionary definition of “rigid” is undeviating conformity. So when is a rigid not a rigid? Well in Frank’s case it starts with the Vendetta’s DRM designed frame that is obviously rigid, but it incorporates other design elements which make it stand out from other rigid production bikes. The exposed curved backbone has a large DRM gas tank that appears to be floating in space as...

     Michael talks about how his dog, Hank, is a bit of an old soul, but I think he’s projecting himself on Hank as he’s a bit of an old soul himself. They’re both old souls. Like some other builders whom I would classify with a term I take seriously, but in a fun way, Michael’s a pretty damn hip guy who you might think was born at a wrong time.  But, actually I think he was born...

  Aldo of AQG Custom Motorcycles is one of those Italians who has a special eye for uniqueness when it comes to motorcycle customizing and design.  And it clearly shows in his custom bike, “Magnificat.” Sure, there are French and other European bike builders who create awesome custom motorcycles, but all will agree that Aldo is a builder who can easily walk away from any custom...

Building a custom around a Sportster drivetrain is a no-brainer these days as Harley’s red-headed stepchild is finally getting the respect it deserves as an affordable V-twin platform with reliability, good power, the unmistakable H-D sound, and looks that you’ll never have to make excuses for. Jason agrees and said, “Generally I try to stay under $10,000 building a bike. I’ve been...

I first met these guys at an Easyriders show in Albuquerque back in 2005 and was totally smitten with their display bikes that stood head and shoulders above anything else there because they weren’t like any of the other “show” bikes which looked just like all the other generic “show” bikes. And so on. Plus, they were honestly-cool-without-trying-to-be-cool young guys bubbling over...

  What he got was a recently finished, 130” Ultima engine bike built and used expressly as a show bike. “It’s pretty much been a show bike all its life and it had less than 500 miles showing on it. The guy I got it from was 62-years-old and had never actually ridden the bike himself. He had artificial hips and two artificial knees so for all intents and purposes it was pretty new,”...

  Scott started his project with the hope of finishing it to enter it in the Amateur Chop Off (ACO) competition at the last Smoke Out and that’s where Mr. Jack caught his bike in all its retro-without-trying-hard glory. Scott began with the some remnants of a 1972 Ironhead Sportster and very little else according to him, “Me and Ironheads have a love/hate relationship, I guess...