Taking a studied approach to future customization, George kept an eye out on different builders’ styles and their attention to detail before finally settling on Robert Gilliland Customs in Jackson, Ohio, to discuss a potential build. “George is an older gentleman and likes the old street rods with long fenders and ’34-style taillights,” said Robert Gilliland. “I studied the bike...

  The bike’s streetfighter styling didn’t spring from a single mind, though; it was Matt’s interpretation of what his customer, Jason Ostrander, wanted. “At first Jason told me he just wanted a bagger that was clean and fast, but when we got down to business, I heard the real story. He wanted to make sure his bike was faster than his friend’s bike that I built a few months before....

Ask yourself, do I have the skills to build it or the money to have it built by someone else? There are plenty of excuses why building a custom would be impossible (usually money), so what do you do? Well, you could continue buying one piece at a time and getting nowhere in particular or you could try and give your Harley a whole new overall look in one fell swoop. Something that...

  Ed Syer, owner of Huntington Beach Hogs and Choppers (HBHC), in Southern California, made this custom out of the few useable parts left over from his motorcycle accident in 2002. “I had just bought my first brand new Harley, a 2002 Fat Boy. Six months later, a guy ran a stoplight and T-boned me with his Mercedes. I’ll never forget the date, August 16, the same day that Elvis...

  Holger started with a Street Rod and apparently never looked back. He’s modified quite a few V-Rods and has his own ideas about what they should look. I can tell you they’re not for the faint of heart. The chromed modified frame holds one of NLC’s three-piece swingarms that finds a 330 Avon stuffed in between the machined cut-out chainstay. Up front, super beefy NLC inverted...

Carey Kiser of Concord, North Carolina, seems to be cut from the same cloth as old George and didn’t let a tough economy stop him from having a cool bike that he can ride the living pee out of while not being part of a same-cow, making-payments herd. This work in progress piece is based on the smart man’s donor bike, a late model Buell utilizing the high quality components like...

  Bryan, 33, had never even considered owning a motorcycle; in fact, he’d never even ridden one. But one fateful day, as he was chopping grass in the melting heat, he caught a glimpse of a brand new Harley Nightster sitting in the open garage of a customer. It was sort of a magical moment for Bryan. “It was just a beautiful bike,” he said. I imagine there were little harps playing...

Bandit pieced the bike back together, putting a DNA Springer front end on it and adding an extra wide 16-inch front tire. He removed the front fender, added apes and Vance & Hines Longshots, and reworked the electrical system, among other things. He then started in on a wickedly beautiful orange and yellow flame paint job. “I really like that paint,” he said, “but it was...

If the difference between men and boys really is the cost of their toys, Les Desavedo of Bentonville, Arkansas, is Rambo. His garage is a retiree’s dream, stuffed full of Jet Skis, a boat, a couple of Trek bicycles, and other rewards of his years of hard work in Wyoming’s gas and oil industry. A beautiful, gleaming red ’76 Shovelhead sits waiting for repair, a reminder of its...