Bike Features

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 spotted

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

I have a lot of full custom bikes and love to ride them but when you’ve got that much money and time invested in something it’s hard to take it out and beat it up on a daily bases. When you leave a $50k bike on the street in front of the bar its hard

The man with his creation. Bob Carrillo is the quintessential bike builder: part renegade, part Renaissance man. He is a man of many talents. Trained as a stone mason, Bob's family hails from the East San Fernando Valley area of metropolitan Los Angeles. Bob started riding dirt bikes at a very young age. His grandfather

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

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

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.Paul

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 brief

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

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 CUSTOM

Take a sunlit beach and surround it with arching palms, and blooming ruby hibiscus plants and you're nearing heaven. Then peer into the turquoise waters to the pearly depths that are so warm they call to you in the night. That's Hawaii and in a deeper sense stock cars and bikes shouldn't be allowed to

Bob T. on his latest acquisition, a 2003 FLH Standard.Bob T. supplies Bikernet with antique motorcycle images on a regular basis. As it turned out I rode with him in the early '70s. Through Bob I met his Brother Chris T. who also contributes to Bikernet and produces stickers for Bikernet.com and Jesse James. But

Photography from C.H.C.With his nothing-was-left-untouched wizardry, Cyril Huze will go any length to make those few chopper parts look even more minimalist. In a competitive chopper world one of Cyril's signatures is detail. He takes the time, and whatever talent needed in addition to his own to form each component into some form of an