That’s a bit like the story Peter Branz of Lardass Customs in Richland, North Carolina, told me about the simple, yet striking 2013 Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe you’ve already gazed at. “Both my wife, Roxane Branz, and I are currently active-duty Marines stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. We have had a love of motorcycles ever since we met and we have a garage full...

Peter Branz of Lardass Customs in Richlands, North Carolina, has found his own niche within a niche with his customized 2006 Night Train and, like any Night Train owner I’ve met, would defend his choice for any number of intellectual and emotional reasons. Oh you know things like it’s tough, it’s bad ass, it’s as black as you can get a factory Harley, it’s a cheap Softail, it’s a...

            Taking a peek at the photos you can see there was a lot more going on here than just a color change. What Tom and the boys at his Fort Lauderdale, Florida, shop did was to tastefully modify Carlos’ Fat Boy into a show stunner without losing the Softail’s real- world usefulness as a motorcycle you’d want to ride as well as show off. That‘s a little trick too many owners...

      The average Softail guy could see their bike in Mark’s as he didn’t eliminate the profile Harley-Davidson carefully worked into a stock Fat Boy. The basic outline is there, but with a bunch of twists from end to end and everywhere else in between until he had a sleek version of its former self. It’s amazing what swapping out the signature stock solid wheels will do for a...

Not all bikes with jobs belong to builders, though, as some bikes have found other ways to help their owners do whatever it is they do for a living. For instance, take a look at Barnett’s Magazine Online’s feature bike called Jesus Bike belonging to Beth Roberts of Kernersville, North Carolina, and guess what it represents? If you haven’t figured that out yet by either the name or...

  There are several very good engines on the market today, but for total reliability and competent mechanical service almost anywhere in the world, Barry quickly recommended sticking to the original stock Harley-Davidson engine and transmission.   “Harley’s new Twin Cam engines and transmissions are great.  They are very dependable and if on some rare occasion you have a problem...

     But, but, it’s a bike that looks like a fire truck so that must make it a theme bike you’d think. Well you’d be wrong as the man behind it and Bloomfield, Indiana’s, Hoosier Daddy Choppers, Jon Shipley, just doesn’t build theme bikes per se, but “idea” bikes. He just takes an idea, plays with it, and somehow he doesn’t have the terrible taint of theme bikes stuck on him. Jon’s...

Kalle owns a hotel and two restaurants, so between work and spending quality time with his family, he finds it challenging to find time to ride.  But like all true Harley riders, finding time to ride seems to just somehow happen, and Kalle managed to rack up several thousand miles annually on his Fat Boy and his Deuce before deciding he wanted something different.  What he wanted...

  Tony has owned this Bad Boy for six years and he finally decided to go all out and dress it up.  He contacted El Paso’s premier custom painter, Danny Bally, and together they went to work.  A 200mm tire was fitted on the back, covered by a Milwaukee Iron fender.  Danny stretched the tanks and applied a super flame paint job with chameleon paint that changes colors as you move...

    In the meantime, we can speculate as to what this fine ride is and isn’t. I’d guess that it’s an old build probably based on an old police bike bought at auction and from numerous items like the sky-shot sissy bar, extremely narrow and radically-angled bars, and the enclosed chrome shocks among many other things. The engine patina with just the right amount of real-world rust...