Somebody stop me quick!
 

I think I'm falling in love again. I rode bikes for years and sort of lost interest as the bikes got more and more complicated and fancy. Fairings, electronics, it all leaves me cold. The Honda Gold Wing is the ultimate motorcycle blasphemy to me.

Now a new industry pops up. Custom bikes! Elegant, simple, mechanical, BEAUTIFUL! These bikes are pricey, but the low-miles used ones are pretty reasonable.

Is this just a passing infatuation? I don't think so. Do any of you have wisdom to impart before I start a serious search? Which shops do the best work? Anything to avoid? Are the S&S motors the best? Any great websites to share? What do you think?

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my literature choice this past weekend at a ceu seminar was a copy of "AMERICAN IRON". good place to start with several reviews, and plenty of websites listed. i am building my own, as are many many people, having some work farmed out.

PICTURES!

[sarcasm]I hate those d@mn wannabes riding their custom bikes.[/sarcasm]

"They have to congeal together in some great wiggly pack like a herd of sperm covering the entire roadway."

Remind you of a thread from a long time ago, Moses? :p

I think custom bikes are here to stay. My only advice is don't buy a bike from Orange County Choppers. Those guys don't fabricate bikes. They buy parts from catalogs and assemble them. You could pay an Indonesian kid $2/day to do the same work. :p ;) :D

I'm building my own too. I've got the frame on order and the wheels are getting powdercoated. I've got a buddy out trolling the waters for a motor (shovelhead). Fabrication should start late Feb with final assembly sometime in late March. This is all happening in my garage, BTW, except for the powdercoating...

Anyway, it'll be based on a roller from these guys:

http://www.sinwear.us/SuckerPunchSallysChopper.html

Old School rules. Don't buy one of those girly-man wannabe billet barges.

You guys hit a weakness with me too. I was in a thrift store in Riverside last week, and stumbled upon a big Harley coffee table book: okay, maybe you guys can help me -

I've always been thoroughly in love with the Harley Cafe racers. To me they're the best example of American Iron and Euro style. Sportsters are okay and so are Buells, but I saw a Triumph-style motorcycle from, it looked, like the '70s with a big V-twin Harley stuffed in it. An English outfit builds them.

Do any of you guys know who that company might be? SmileWavy

I think we almost had an animation deal with those guys. Taz on a chopper, etc...

Or I'll take this...

http://www.sinwear.us/images/Img268.jpg

Thanks for the link to the eye candy, Blue. :)

Moses.... it's OK and all, but it's not supercharged. Now THAT would be cool. :D

j/k. Sweet bike; but I don't think they're worth the ducats. Wait 2 years 'til the fad has passed and you'll get one pretty cheap, IMHO.

JP

BTW, if you absolutely must get a bike custom made for you, go down to Huntington Beach.

http://www.chicacustomcycles.com/chicasite/homeset.html

How can you blokes bag OCC when they built the "MIA/KIA" bike? Not to mention the "FIREBIKE" 9/11 tribute.

How unpatriotic. I am outraged.

Moses, I am against this move on principle.

I considered getting a BMW R90S or an R65, when I was single: my liver was cirrhotic, my CV system choked, my eyes myopic and skin not particularly interesting, hence I figured there was not much to be harvested, what could I lose?

But in all seriousness, I would go for something like the Vintage WW2 harley above, or even one of the Russian Copies of the BMW aircooled twins, like a Ural. The last thing you want is a daily driver that will expose you to the threat vector of the oblivious motorist.

On the other hand, an old BMW aircooled twin with a sidecar could be just the thing for early saturday morning trips to the grocery store.

Moses have you ever ridden one of these bikes? I was, at one time, a partner in a custom motorcycle shop. The kind of bike you picture is for show and not go. This is ok if you never plan on riding it more than 10-20 miles at a time. And like the others have said, most of these bikes are not well built and depreciate faster than a Korean car driving off the new car lot. Before you go crazy on the custom scene, check out some of the new Harleys, Kawasakis and Honda cruisers. The new Kawasakis are some drop dead good looking customs and will be much easier on you for long rides.

Moses, aren't you a little young for a midlife crisis?

Hmmm... where to start. I've been riding motorcycles my entire life and have definitely formed some opinions from what I've seen. There are some great looking bikes out there these days, that's for sure. Most of them don't get ridden. The seating positions, suspensions, and frames are so compromised to achieve that "look" that they are almost unrideable. If you are into actually riding beyond just bar-hopping, you might want to avoid these. As far as resale value, these bikes are such an unknown to any potential buyer, especially if you built it yourself, that you can never expect to even come close to getting your money out of them. They make great toys, but not serious riders or investments. I would love to build one myself, but it would be as a third or fourth bike, with others for serious riding.

Speaking of building it yourself. The biker community is divided into several distinct camps. Us "old school" guys, when we say "build it yourself", do not mean the "bike in a box" approach. Back in the day we chopped bikes ourselves and you simply could not buy the bike kits and other short cuts of today. Worse yet is to show up on a "chopper" that some one else built for you. To hard-core bikers, that's akin to having some one else do your screwing for you. It's just not done, and you miss most of the fun. So at least go into this with your eyes open on that count. Riders of these machines are viewed as yuppie wannabe's that have not paid their dues, and don't even realize there are any to pay. So don't be surprised to get a very cold shoulder from the very crowd you hoped to fit in with by buying one of these; membership can't really be bought. It's a really weird community to those not familiar with it, or the unspoken rules they adhere to.

There are several shops here in Phoenix that make custom bikes so you see a fair number riding around. I'd want to ride one to make sure it will go around a corner. I've seen a few that looked pretty unstable making a 90 degree right turn. Of course it could have been the rider, too.

A long time ago. I must have touched a nerve! :D

It was a classic. Nerve was sore for a couple days, but no hard feelings. It's good for a laugh. The large pool of bikers out these days reminds of the cyclists, only the bikers are fatter and favor dyed animal skin outerwear. Who would be caught dead wearing skin-tight clothing over a 48EEE gut, anyway? :p:DSmileWavy

Moses - I say if the bugs biting you, then go for it! 2 years ago, I never, ever would have dreamed of owning a crap American bike, but am now the new owner of this beauty. I doubt if I'll cave to the black-leather-with-fringes fashion scene, but hey, you just never know. These bikes are a lot of fun for cruising around town and short (5 minute) stints on the highway. Beyond that, they're pretty much worthless. What does the wife-unit think about your new idea?

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