Bike Features

Maybe it smacked you at a local bike night, maybe it occurred at a bike show, or maybe you were out for a ride. We all run into bikes that stick in our brains like the first touch from a gorgeous woman after a hazardous tour in Iraq. In this case, “Peckerhead,” the motorcycle, slapped […]

Lodi, CA~August 24, 2009 – Bryan Schimke, the immensely talented custom bike builder and owner of TPJ Customs out of Lodi, CA and his good buddy Satya Kraus, owner of Kraus Motor Co. from Cazadero, CA, hit the road for Sturgis this year on badass custom steel with a pocket full of optimism and a

Click on any image in this feature for a chance to win this beauty. Have you ever wanted to roll on the throttle while riding down the twists and turns of a back country road on a pure American classic — say a pristine 1947 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead? Easy question, right. What if I told you

This all began 38 years ago on the Big Island of Hawaii. Chris Calicdan’s dad, a phone company lineman, rode a raked-out Panhead at the time. Chris, at 2-years-old, stumbled into the garage as his father’s engineer boot kicked the starter lever and that rigid, with upsweeps, fired to life. It was the first time

US Choppers is alive and well. Rick Krost, the boss, knows business. He has a degree in finance, but his heart belongs to vintage motorcycles, so he designed something new that would make new shit look old, the US Chopper Board Track Chassis. He focused his love for vintage bikes and built a frame configuration

People work for it, people steal for it, people dream of winning it, people sell their bodies for it, folks killed for it, people sell their souls for it, and songs have been sung about it and in these days of legal thievery and corporate greed, the world spins on it ! You all know

On the way to a motorcycle photo shoot starring his recently award-winning bike build; a funny thing happened to Pat “Mongo” Kelly. He was aboard his daily ride, or should we say a road-ripping terror that passes for a street bike. In truth, it is a highly modified 2005 Harley-Davidson Dyna FXDXI Super Glide Sport.

I ran into Ross Suderno at the Grand National Roadster show a couple of years ago. His bike was a standout for several reasons. As it turns out, we share a lot of biker- linked history. He built a bike for a giant Los Angeles black weight-lifter in the early ’70s and I featured two

Interestingly, when this Ironhead Sportster motor went down the line at Harley-Davidson’s Engine Plant in Milwaukee some time in 1967, carbon fiber hardly existed. Sure, it was back in the 1950s that the first carbon fibers were developed for use on missiles, but they were primitive compared with today’s product. And it wasn’t until the

Editor’s Note:This Departure Bike Works feature came via many motorcycle talents including the Departure crew, Michael Lichter, Wayne Scraba and the American Iron Magazine Team where it was originally published in 2009. Thanks guys. Richmond, Virginia’s Departure Bike Works is a busy but low-key place. The truth is, the entire low-profile, relaxed atmosphere is by

Editor’s Note: We looked at 2009 as the Year of the Sportster, due to the economy in the USA, and because we ran into a vast assortment of rigid framed Sportsters at the Smoke Out this year. It was a strange year, but good for Sportsters, then this one landed in our laps from a

Here’s a strange one from the Sheriff in Sweden. As it turns out these shots were taken in Finland. The Sheriff shoots bike features and events all over the world. He’s one of those guys who never sleeps unless he’s resting on a trans Atlantic flight. When we quizzed him for the tech chart or

Hollywood is a strange place. Nothing seems real. You could run into a girl dressed like the baddest biker chick in the world, only to find she's never ridden a motorcycle. She just bought the threads at some too-cool, too-expensive boutique. I'm not kidding. I was delivered to the Ralph Lauren Vintage clothes shop on

Mid fall of 2007, I picked up a rusty old 1968 Triumph TR6C with the idea of doing a quick bob-job and selling the bike. The profits from the build were destined to help support a few Children’s Charities I help out through my TBearWear T-shirts.As we all know, no good deed goes unpunished, so

Once in a while, you stumble across a bike that stops you dead in your tracks.That’s exactly what happened to me at the Victoria Hotrod and Bike Show back at the end of May this year. I was wandering around the show checking out all the cool rides and not so cool barges, when I

Over the years, I’ve interviewed motorcycle brothers and sisters all over the world. We are all members of a passionate breed. In each case, specific feature bikes represent vast undertakings in a mission for love, freedom, or artistic expression. To Roy Gregory, this motorcycle represents overcoming a life of alcohol and drug abuse. It was

A true Viking Warrior on two wheels. That’s an accurate way to describe Master Leather Smith, Paul Cox’s BERSERKER Panhead. Sporting enough hand carved leather armor and dangerous sharp edges to make Odin and Thor proud, The Berserker blends various Paul Cox talents together. Hell, any Viking would be elated to ride it into Valhalla.

The industry is nuts with production bikes, new manufacturers andone-off custom builders popping up daily. It’s terrific for the guylooking for a particular machine. The sky’s the limit, and here’s astrong example of a custom line bent on performance. John Covingtonhas more than a 15 year history of building bikes. His goal is to build

I grew up around old skool bikes. My dad has a policespecial Pan and a high bar chopper Pan, as well as astroked Shovel, a flathead, and two Ironhead Sportsters. It'sbeen in my blood way before the yuppies decidedDiscovery Channel made it cool. I always wanted tobuild a Pan after years of riding on my

“Here is a Bobber that nobody expected me to build,” said Cyril Huze, “Except me and my client, Paul Gren, from Orlando. Graffiti is the first form of Hip Hop. It pre-dates Rap and all the other forms!!! Graffiti is still the only art form where the life span of a work can be as

Walter riding the machine.Y’know, reality T.V. is a kooky business. It’s a relatively new gig and folks are just now startin’ to get ‘er figured out. Now, all of us know that SOME bikers and hot rodders are fucking CRAZY, and the Hollywood types have discovered this in a BIG way. Personally I don’t know

One of my earliest memories is my pop shouting “Hold on, Jes” over the potato-potato-potato of his chopped ’57 Pan as he gave my first H-D ride. Much older I remembered pictures of this classic bike. It was bright orange with at least a 16-over front end (sixteen feet that is). One of the old

What’s in a name? Even a vivid description of the mythological half-horse, half-man, the Centaur leaves something to the imagination. You might have a Centaur picture in your mind, recalling a panting or drawing published in a old high school textbook. But, no one has really witnessed the mechanical version, in the metallic-flesh, until now.

Each month we try to bring you an example of the finest custom choppers we can find. Granted December isn’t exactly the best time of year to find sweet street machines roaming free in the snowy Northeast, but a deadline is a deadline. I ran into Dave, Mouse and all the boys from EAST SIDE