Free Departments

The Before shot.Making a Bobber out of a late model Softail seemed the ideal project for the Softail book. After all, Bobbers are popular right now and all we had to do was install a new short rear fender, throw away the front fender, install a solo seat and get rid of the factory dash […]

When Harley-Davidson started rubber mounting their engines in FLT & FXR models it was a big hit with many riders. After a period of time some of the motorcycles developed handling problems. These problems were related to the Cleveblock style bushings in the swing arm. As the engine moved on the rubber mounts, it allowed

Editor’s Note: Plates, plates and more plates…Always needed but most of the time overlooked. We are on the hunt to document all the various transmission plates in the Bikernet.com Galaxy. It’s a strange search with many variables. We started with Paughco, a classic chopper company. They’ve been stamping out plates since 1969 and have a

The Bikernet Board of directors assigned me this article at the last editorial meeting. “It’ll be a good one,” Snake said while guzzling his third beer during the meeting. His nerves were shot easily if there was an sharp edge to the story or conflict. “Don’t mind him,” Renegade said. “You’ve been assigned a simple

I can’t wait to replace this shot with a photo of EZ and this bike from ten years ago. What a wild man.My name is E.Z. (really, my initials). The photo is current, having been taken early in October. That’s me, on my scoot. Built ten years ago around a 96-inch S&S package, with a

New Bikernet Security Beast, Cash, who works closely with his partner, Tank.There's a code going around regarding Twin Cams. Lee Clemens pointed it out to me first, when he broke down on the way to Myrtle Beach on his FLH Twin Cam, with 25,000 miles on the clock. “The cam bearings disintegrated and took out

This tech was blessed by the Bikernet.com and Sturgis Ride Live.com girls.One night while browsing through the endless good deals on eBay I stumbled across a front brake rotor from a late model Buell. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Buell brake set ups they consist of a perimeter floating rotor and

A Las Vegas craps dealer, by the name of Gerard stopped by recently looking for a motorcycle seat. He informed me that he needed a special seat to finish off the custom build. He thrust a well-made, heavy, steel pan into my hands.“It’s gotta be thin.” He stated.“Okay. It aint my nuts that are gonna

I started with this clip for the magnet.Hey bandit here are the shots of the jig I made, and a short tech article. Feel free to add, take away, whatever. Sorry it took so long but my grandfather has been in and out of the hospital with Alzheimer's and heart disease so we have been

Most folks kick back on New Years Eve and make plans to hit some lavish party downtown, or stand in the street in Times Square with 100,000 other freezing fools and scream at one old Dick Clark. That ain't the case at Bikernet.com. We huddled like so many football fans and developed an earth-shattering plan

Our Panel of Celebrity Judges.Okay, this is completely nuts. We've covered various seat installs, creations, leather etching techs, and now we have two seats built on Bikernet, so why not pick your favorite. I'll do my damnest, like these bullshit reality shows on television, to point out the various attributes of each seat and esteemed

Veteran Pinstriper and Kustom Paint Master, Alan Johnson, opened the 2008 spring bike season at his New Jersey studio by coloring outside the conservative lines with silver leaf on custom orange chopper tins, which belong to a dream build of Dave Stiteler. The term “old school” is casually thrown out in the kustom bike world

Like most people who ride, I never gave a lick of thought ta dealin’ with a handicap while still keepin’ yer knees in the breeze. That is, until last August, when my wife, Reggie, had a spinal cord surgery go bad, resultin’ in the loss of all feeling in her left side from mid-rib cage

There's always a couple of ways to deal with bike thieves. Photo by Jerry Southworth.Thieves are brazen these days; the Son’s Of Bitch’s will take what’s yours without batting an eyelash, getting a huge rush as they ride off with your motorcycle in broad daylight. Short of guarding your bike with a loaded gun, baseball

Since selling my last girlfriend to buy a Harley FLHTI I have made several changes to it. Most mods were for performance and handling but some for comfort as well. One area that I was not thrilled with was the radio. When hauling ass on open highways I couldn't make out my favorite Michael Jackson

STOP IT!Nobody else tested brake calipers up to now. We did it. Three 6-piston brake calipers had to prove that they are better than the original Harley Davidson 4-piston caliper.The results were quite interesting.Brake calipers are one of the main players when it comes to change parts for custom bikes. When a biker makes up

I have been threatening to put a set of Ape hangers on the cop bike for a couple of years, but after my trip to the Smoke out West last year with Bandit and crew, and seeing all those bars to the stars down there, I was all over it. These bars are specifically made

Patron of the Bike Arts K. Randall Ball aka Banditdelivers the Sporty to my door. No, it’s a full-size bike,it’s just that Bandit comes in the XXXL size.In the Beginning there was a 20041200 Screamin’ Eagle SportsterGiven the full bling-bling treatment…Yes, very spiffy indeed. Enough chrometo flash messages to the moon…now the taskto toss it

Cut 'em if you want to replace pushrods with adjustables and not take the rocker boxes off.I don't know why I think this is wild, but I do. There's something so damn old school about this. In essence this allows any builder to take all the electronic bullshit off his Twin Cam, including the battery

When I was contacted by Mark Lipski of Traction Control Braking about trying their brake banjo bolt replacement that they said would help stop my brakes from locking up I said, “Yeah, sure! How is a bolt going to do that?” Mark explained the bolt is separated into two chambers by a rubber diaphragm. The

Editor's Note: This may seem strange, but the following is from Tim Conder, a long time bike builder and painter, gone nuts for a drag racing endeavor. Here's his tech update and request for sponsorship help.–Bandit Howdy folks, just a quick word to update you on the ol' #2 car's progress. I gave Alyssa a

Shocks are an interesting quandary in the world of motorcycle design, construction and performance. We all want to look cool, have the correct travel and a ride that won't break our backs. The science of shock performance is not simplistic. You can't just grab any shock the length you want, and receive the other critical

We received a notice before Sturgis that the Baker crew scheduled to set up a 6-Speed Overdrive install tent. They did and installed 17 6-speed gear sets during the week. Talk about a rush. A brother rides his 5-speed to the Badlands and glides home on a 6-speed. Here's Anthony Raho, another satisfied Baker customer