Being located so far out of the custom motorcycle mainstream kinda leads me to believe that Aldo says screw it and just makes everything for his bikes, as I doubt there’s a local shop to get parts from. One look at the spec sheet boringly (so to speak) shows seemingly everything is fabricated in his AQG shop. Like his frame for instance, the double-downtube gooseneck rigid was a...

  Work started at his shop, Chandler Originals in Lake Worth, Florida, the old fashioned way by cutting up a perfectly good Paughco frame. “We cut the ass end off and we ended up using only the wishbone part. A lot of people think it used to be a softail frame,” said Adam. “My guy Gumby (Roy Hall) and I made those plates so it would be structurally sound and not break. I took a...

Deano explained that his little Italian Momma likes the look of gigante rear tires, so even though he prefers to put about a 180-200 series on his bikes, he decided to indulge her with the 310. “That’s the kinda’ kooky background behind the big tire. I wish it was a more macho story but it’s not,” said Deano. Family man Deano is a humble guy, and fond of saying, “I’m not trying to...

  Dave Welch, owner of Chopper City USA in Orange Park, Florida, must have had some similar experiences as his cool looking creation for Ian Scott addresses the issue of how to make a really-hot, hot rod motorcycle that’s a pleasure to actually ride. “I’m so sick of big-inch V-twins that vibrate so much that when I get on it (throttle) my mirrors are vibrating and my eyeballs are...

  Like many builders, Brian’s customers don’t always want bikes built exactly the way he would want them built. He likes to keep his clients happy, but sometimes a builder will discover a new idea for a bike that a client hasn’t asked for, and they need to get it out of their system. Case in point, Brian had been talking about building a seventies-style Sportster chopper with his...

He removed the motor from the Discovery bike; it started out as a 92” S&S Indian mill with round cylinders. Greg kept the displacement the same, but machined the jugs and heads in a hexagonal shape, polished it, and topped it with a set of square shaped rocker boxes that were brushed to bring out a color similar to the stainless steel pieces on other parts of the bike...

  “I built the bike originally as kind of a street tracker because I’m a huge fan of dirt track mile racing and I miss the mile racing, it’s almost extinct now,” Joe said. “I thought I’d build a fun little street tracker so it would remind me of all the fun dirt track races.” Using the same Casino Lighting & Sign CAD system employed to make such works of art as the motorcycle...

Admittedly more of a design guy than a builder, Kevin had become friends with Tom and drew for him the chopper he had in mind. “I’d always liked bikes,”  Kevin said. “Growing up as a kid one of my friends was friends with Dave Perewitz and I thought custom bikes were pretty cool. When I wanted to build my own bikes I had a certain style in mind.” Kevin left the details up to Tom,...

Keeping his costs low right from the start, Steve procured a’99 Sportster Custom as a donor bike. Other than the driveline, there weren’t many stock parts he planned to use on the final version, but he was able to get the entire bike for less than the price of a Big-Twin motor. He upgraded the 883cc engine with a Dyna 2000i ignition, a Mikuni 42mm carburetor, a set of straight,...

Probably just as well as The Love Machine was already taken by George Barris’ famous shag-carpeted custom van back in the ‘70s. Good choice then. Rear suspension? Have the Detroit Bros. gone soft? “I called up Dave Kaye and said I wanted to do a Softail. He said, ‘It just so happens I’m ironing out the details of building a Softail.’ I flew to Detroit and we sat down and he drew up...