Harley-Davidson is an icon of American culture and the most popular marque for custom builders. Shortly after the company was founded in 1903 in Milwaukee, customizers started bobbing, chopping and dirt tracking the famous V-twins.
After WW2 Harley motorcycles were at the center of the bobber craze, and kept their lead as Californian bikers turned to choppers in the late 1950s. The 45-degree engines have their own nicknames and folklore: from flatheads, knuckleheads, panheads and shovelheads to today’s Evolution and Milwaukee-Eight motors.
The Sportster is the basis for more Harley-Davidson customs than any other model. Originally fitted with an ‘Ironhead’ motor, it turned 60 years old in 2017. It’s probably the single most customized motorcycle on the planet, and certainly has the largest supply of aftermarket parts.
If you’re a fan of Japanese inline fours, this is your week. We’ve lined up Kawasaki GPz1100 and Kawasaki KZ1000 restomods, and a Honda CB750 cafe racer. Then we go in the opposite direction, with a look at Harley-Davidson’s new Pan America adventure tourer.
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We’ve followed the wacky Sultans of Sprint race series since day one, impressed by the outrageous purpose-built machines that some of our favorite custom builders have produced for it. But the series is much bigger than what we’ve touched on here. Because for every high profile shop or manufacturer with an entry, there’s a hidden…
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Crooked Motorcycles is a name worth watching on the custom scene in Europe. Just a couple of months ago, they impressed us with a crisp BMW K100 build that avoided the cookie-cutter ‘flying brick’ vibe. And they’ve now just released details of this intriguing Sportster street tracker. You don’t often hear adjectives like ‘sleek’ or…
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Even though there’s been no official word from The Motor Co., it looks as if the venerable Harley-Davidson Sportster is slowly fizzling out. It’s been completely removed from H-D’s European website, and the once extensive range has been reduced to just three models on the US listing. And with H-D currently on a mission to…
Read more »Over the past fifteen years, Martin Becker of MB Cycles has carved out a reputation as one of the best custom Harley…
Read more »Even though they require similar skills, the custom motorcycle and car worlds are vastly different. But they do sometimes meet. In the…
Read more »Suicide Machine Company build machines that go fast and turn well. Brothers Aaron and Shaun Guardado have a taste for speed, and…
Read more »I didn’t see many motorcycles when I paid a brief visit to Dubai a few years ago. The streets were full of…
Read more »It’s strange times at Harley-Davidson. Earlier this year, rumors and spy shots of a small capacity bike for the Indian market started…
Read more »A rare Harley shovelhead Liberator spotted in France, a punchy Suzuki ‘DR Big’ from Brazil, an enormous Honda CB1300 roaming Bangkok, and…
Read more »The global pandemic hasn’t just shut down big events like Intermot and EICMA—a slew of grassroots custom shows have hit the pause…
Read more »Like many accomplished customizers, Martin Becker has lived an eventful life. For almost twenty years he’s been building bikes in the beautiful…
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