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.
The global pandemic hasn’t just shut down big events like Intermot and EICMA—a slew of grassroots custom shows have hit the pause button too. To help fill the void, Harley-Davidson put on The No Show, a weeklong Instagram-based showcase of top class builds. H-D pulled their entries from the canceled Mama Tried, Congregation and Born…
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Like many accomplished customizers, Martin Becker has lived an eventful life. For almost twenty years he’s been building bikes in the beautiful ancient city of Heidelberg—and petrol has been coursing through his veins since he got his first moped at the age of 13. At 16, he started an apprenticeship as a motorbike mechanic, but…
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The Heritage Softail Classic is the kind of bike most non-riders think of when they hear ‘Harley’—oodles of chrome, saddlebags, riveted leather and massive fenders. At over 700 pounds wet, it’s designed for long distance touring—and it isn’t the sort of machine you expect to find in a teeming metropolis in tropical Southeast Asia. So…
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We’ve never run a feature on a bike from South Korea before. The local custom scene is tiny, and builders are heavily restricted on the modifications they can make—with a legal system similar to the German TÜV. Frame mods are totally out, and it’s not even possible to register a new bike with a carburetor.…
Read more »It’s been ten years since Winston Yeh launched Rough Crafts, less than a year after Bike EXIF started up. It didn’t take…
Read more »Custom motorcycles don’t always need to be practical… unless, of course, you need a purpose built machine that can handle a two…
Read more »In rural New Zealand, where I am writing this, you often hear that someone has a ‘number eight wire mentality.’ ‘Number 8’…
Read more »Building a custom bike is often beset with difficulties: there can be unreasonable client demands, unforeseen technical issues, cashflow problems, and in…
Read more »After reporting on the custom scene for over ten years, it takes a lot to stop us dead in our tracks. But…
Read more »If you’re looking for a classic American tourer, a Harley Electra Glide is just the ticket. They were popular with police departments…
Read more »What does it take to rack up two wins and four podiums, in the Modified Harley-Davidson class at the AMD World Championships?…
Read more »We’d love a glimpse inside Max Hazan’s head. His machines are elegant and visceral, and we’re left wondering how he actually builds…
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