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.
Engineering is easy. Lean on decades of technological progress, R&D like hell, and a modern manufacturer can build a mechanically competent motorcycle that satisfies the masses. Style, on the other hand, proves elusive. It slips and shifts, deflecting fleeting trends and prevailing tastes while flirting with the culture zeitgeist. On a rare occasion a bike’s…
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The French are out in full force this week, with a Katana from Lucky Cat Garage and an R nineT from Le Motographe. Big news from the OEMs too, with the new Harley-Davidson Sportster S and Zero FXE both breaking cover.
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It’s been a couple of years since Harley-Davidson revealed the LiveWire and sent shockwaves through the industry. It was the first battery-powered sportbike from a major OEM, and it still has no competition. Milwaukee positioned (and priced) the LiveWire as a halo product, so column inches have been high and sales low. That also means…
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This week’s custom motorcycles come in all shapes and sizes—from a pint-sized flat tracker, to a stylish BMW R18. Plus we take a look at a tidy BSA bobber, and a Norton Atlas with a Harley-Davidson WLA motor.
Read more »This week we’ve got a smokin’ hot XSR155 in John Player colors from West Java, Harley’s cool and classy Electra Glide Revival,…
Read more »“I got to say, you’re looking older.”—Ellis “I am older.”—Sheriff Ed Tom Bell Amongst my Rushmore of cherished films, No Country For…
Read more »The Japanese custom scene sets rather than follows trends. Japan’s top builders each have a unique and instantly recognizable style, and the…
Read more »Most of the customs we drool over on these pages have little or no history. They’re usually modified after a few mundane…
Read more »If you’re a fan of Japanese inline fours, this is your week. We’ve lined up Kawasaki GPz1100 and Kawasaki KZ1000 restomods, and…
Read more »We’ve followed the wacky Sultans of Sprint race series since day one, impressed by the outrageous purpose-built machines that some of our…
Read more »Crooked Motorcycles is a name worth watching on the custom scene in Europe. Just a couple of months ago, they impressed us…
Read more »Even though there’s been no official word from The Motor Co., it looks as if the venerable Harley-Davidson Sportster is slowly fizzling…
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