Free Departments

Author and custom painter, Joann Bortles, or Crazyhorse. CRAZYHORSE'S DREAM COME TRUE–ALMOST They say, that a human brain will take a traumatic experience and bury it, not allowing the conscious mind to dwell on it. By 1994 owning a Harley became so distant a dream, that I never even thought about it anymore. I was

Old shots from Bugs. Doesn't have a damn thing to do with this story.FIRST MEMORIESWith me, it started on a highway somewhere in LA, when I was probably in the 3rd grade. It was the early '60s. My mom and dad, who were and are fine upstanding citizens, had no interest in motorcycles. As a

Here's Johnny, the authorThe Origins of a Passion I have had many people ask me why I ride a motorcycle. I’m sure most who ride have known the scenario of pulling up to the gas station to refuel and getting hammered with the stories of cycle lore by every customer. You know the stories, “My

Bike Building Boot Camp or A Crash Course In Chopper Building The 50th Team.A rare e-mail address flashed across my in-box. Jesse James from Monster Garage wrote, “Wanna help build an Old School Chopper?” I wrote back, “I'm not a master builder, you have a number of talented builders at West Coast Choppers. I'm just

There's always a lot of squawkin' about what a true chopper is. Some guys swear it's a chopper if it's a motorcycle with long fork$$$$$. Others believe it's an anti-social statement in the form of a motorcycle. The descriptions and beliefs on the subject are endless, and (this being America) there ain't a damn thing

Editor's Note: Below is a story from Tim Conder, and old friend, bike builder, custom painter and all around artist. After the story I'm running his bio to give you the entire scoop on the man. Enjoy–Bandit.I just worked a 16 hour day crankin' on a paint job for some football player. I think I'll

I planned a weekend getaway with my son Logan for some time ago, and the weekend had finally arrived!Young Logan was due to get out of school at noon on Friday. I needed to rescue his young self and scramble through gravel for 1.5 hour into Port Alberni, from our home in Bamfield, on Vancouver

There's Ken Saxon Editor's Note: Mike didn't supply images so we ask Curt Lout if we could use some riding shots from his 2005 coverage. He kindly said yeah, so enjoy. The road has characteristics and glitches that sometimes confuse you, sometimes work in your favor, and sometimes slap ya in the back of the

My Robin in front of Flora-Bama on the Beach. Well kids, it is time for another blithering installment of “The Travels of Rigid Frame Richard”. This one doesn't involve a quest to “Clothe Poor Girls”. What a shame. I hit Pensacola, Florida for my niece's graduation. It was great to get to visit but tough

With the unfortunate passing of David Mann, there has been a lot of attention on his effect on the motorcycle world for generations. My view on David’s death is a little different. You see, David Mann and my father, John, had been friends for more than 35 years. They met through mutual friends in the

One of Ben & brother Chase's early mechanical efforts. Some people call motorcycles a lifestyle or a hobby, while others call them status symbols. I called motorcycles a barrier. I am the daughter of a mechanic and a fanatic, Mark Deacon. I am the sister of a protege and a follower, Ben Deacon (14-year-old). I

My first Harley was a 1979 Sportster, Guards red (Porshe red) with the old style lettering on the tank. I remember picking it up in March. My brother Gary had a truck or I should say what was left of a truck. Yeah I picked it up in a truck due to insurance reasons. It

Photo by www.vixenstars.com   Ain’t no use in lookin’back…  Jody’s got your Cadillac. Ain’t no use in goin’ home…Jody’s got your girl and gone.. Your left, Your left, your left, right,BRAVO!!! One helluva run, but Jake Kincaid wasglad it was over. It had taken nearly fourmonths, but he’d done it. He rode themodified Super Glide through

Every time I saw a Harley I used to say “Some day”.I had a lot of Harleys. My first was a black pan. All black with black saddlebags. Had another black chop pan that never ran right and bled oil. It had black saddlebags too. Had a 79 Lowrider in orange and O.D. green. Loved

My first Harley. Well let me back up a little bit and start by saying I had just sold my last Yamaha to buy a car from a friend who was going to the brig. I needed to get back up on two wheels. I knew I didn't want another japaneese bike, but I was

I had to call Bandit back at his velvet-walled Bikernet penthouse office three times before he stopped hanging up on me.“I’m serious, you stolen-plate runnin’ bastard! And stop hanging up on me!” I shouted into the phone.“You want me to fly you out there and pay you to cover Miami strip clubs?” came the suddenly

This is the story of my first Harley. It is one filled with dreams, good times, friends, and enemies, drugs, business dealings, parties, women, & treachery. It is a story that needs to be told, for the young ones to learn from, if they will. The time is approximate, and all names have been changed

Scoots First Ride Scoot’s second chopperMy first ride was a “Bug” mini bike when I was around 12-yrs. Old. It was one of those “cool” ones with the peanut tank and baby apes. First thing I did was rip off the exhaust and put on a straight pipe. My life went down hill from then

Art still owns his first Shovelhead.ART'S FIRST BIKE AND BLUES1983, Pushing the front end of the big Shovelhead down the coastal highway of the outer banks of North Carolina, thinking about the year on Okinawa. I was Scrimping and saving to purchase the 1980 FXE. The time spent as a barracks rat was worth every

I found myself between jobs. The company I worked for the past 4 years was closing down at the end of the year and my new job wasn’t scheduled to start until February. It would require us to move from Texas to Virginia, but that’s what you do sometimes to pay the bills. Preparations needed