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 ground up build that has a 2” stretch and 38-degrees of rake built in to not only give it the right stance, but still be rideable in the twisty-turn laden countryside near his shop. Making sure his bikes can be used as a motorcycle and not just as a static exhibit is important to him. “All of them are built to ride,” said Aldo. A taste of old was added with the retro-style Harley springer front end and a taste of new with the shock controlled suspension action. Here’s where the first of many of Aldo’s delicately curved fabricated pieces holds the front RST caliper on the right side of the fork. It would have been a hell of a lot easier to just mill out a piece of billet aluminum to mount the caliper on, but he’s got a bit of an artist’s eye for making such a normally utilitarian piece much more visually interesting. Keeping the fork ends from scraping the ground is a 21” 40-spoke wheel with a black powdercoated Excel aluminum rim giving the classic Avon Speedmaster MKII tire an excuse to get all puffy about. Out back, a similar wheel setup with a much wider 18” Excel rim is shod with an uber-modern 180mm Michelin Pilot Power Race tire. In another twist of old and new, Aldo combined two high performance tires from totally different times, the Speedmaster was a recognized high performance tire way back in the Sixties and not only graced English road burners, but was often seen on the front ends of front engine top fuel rail dragsters while the Michelin Pilot is the love child of MotoGP and Superbike racing. Don’t have any idea how the combo works with such different construction methods on the road, but it looks cool.

The motivational speaker of this bike is an 80” Harley Panhead engine that doesn’t speak softly and still carries a big stick. The motor’s classic good looks are enhanced by the bellowing velocity stack made from an old horn that still looks like it’s capable of warning pedestrians to stay at the curb until Aldo’s passed by. Feeding the engine its aira and benzina marinara is an old SU carb whose forerunner was originally invented to make use of leather goods from animal skinners. Luckily the leather venturi was recognized as a silly idea and the mammalian artifact was replaced by the all-metal body of this unit. Ever wondered what SU stood for? Very appropriate for the leather infused design, it’s Skinners Union. AQG’s 2-into-1 black fishtail exhaust, tucked in tightly, adds a bit more animalism at the far end of combustion in more ways than one and nicely follows the lower frame tubes’ lines aft. The BDL open belt drive connects a Harley softail tranny to the party, which in turn spins a quaint final chain drive. Kustom Tech’s sprocket/brake setup joins in the fray when things get a little too rowdy.

Aldo let his imagination rip when it came time to provide human interaction on El Dorado. The only straight lines on the handlebars are where the hand controls mount. They curve up, around, back, and around again with a set of built-in risers capped like the twin fork springs. Earlier I used the term “delicately curved” and that describes his foot controls which look like a quick pencil sketch come to life in metal. Not to be outdone, though, is the combo top motor mount and coil holder that looks like a Google satellite shot of Route 1 in northern California.

AQG bodywork is sweet, simple, and to the point. The gas tank’s Old School shape sits well with the traditionally-styled lipped rear fender which has a taillight from an “old Italian car” perched on top and balances the AQG headlight which is aggressively mounted low and forward on the springer. One up, one down and this doesn’t refer to the shift pattern. The oval AQG oil tank hides a gel battery, which this bike needs in case you noticed there’s no Old School kicker hanging off the transmission case. Directly above that tank is a wide, sprung saddle covered in lizard skin by Wild Hog. Between the electric starter and the seat, it looks like Aldo takes his comfort seriously. The final touch was the AQG paintjob with graphics by Ettore Callegaro.

With his ability to create gorgeous customs like a rabbit on a mission, don’t be surprised to see AQG scoring an eighth Barnett’s feature soon.