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There’s a rumor that over one million Swingarm Shovelheads still roam the highways. I say, “Bullshit.” Let’s count ‘em. That’s beside the point here. Ben Kudon, the marketing directors of Rivera/Primo came up with this hair-brained scheme. “Let’s fix all Shovelheads,” Ben said. “We can do it for a decent price and give Shovelhead riders […]

“Heel Hammer” Shift Levers (patent pending)There’s this monster of a madman in New Mexico who came up with this heel/toe shifter for custom applications. At first I thought, “I’m an outlaw, building a rigid. What the fuck can I do with this?” So it hung around a year, just shinning on one bench or another.

I fucked up, but that’s not out of the ordinary. I’ll cover a couple of oblique building philosophies in this simple tech. Choppers are rolling art in a constant transitional stage. As soon as I ride a rumored completed bike, I discover shit I want to improve on. In this case the seat, to name

Jesse Jurrens calls the Lowlife Chassis Kit the “next generation of custom motorcycles, a ground-breaking package for anyone seeking something slightly to the left of insanity.” He could be right. Take a look at what Tank Ewsichek did with this package. It’s the base for one of the bikes on this issue’s cover and on

There I was on the shores of Australia riding on the left side of the road, with Glenn Priddle, and wondering how to turn. The highbar Evo Road King rumbled along the curvy roads like butter. We cruised along the same cliffs Captain Cook gawked at as he pulled up to Noosa, on the Australian

Roger, with his bike, on the salt in 2006.We’ve been scrambling on our own 2007 Bonneville project, but a note burnt brightly on my Panhead desk, “Call Roger Goldammer.” I’ve known Roger and respected his craftsmanship for years, but we experienced the salt together last year and again I was impressed with the level of

“Back to Basics Bagger” After over two decades in the motorcycle industry I decided it was time to go back to the roots of customizing. Over the years I have gone from bolting on items to stock motorcycles to taking the stock bike and cutting up the frame stretching and raking pulling motors apart rebuilding

S&S Cycle opened their doors in 1958. At that time, the performance motorcycle business was a lot different. George Smith figured out how a few lighter parts could make a bike go faster and everyone wanted them. Soon he was rebuilding stock engines into drag strip monsters and setting new records at Bonneville. Tuning a

Reprinted from Drag Specialties Magazine I No. 09 — 06Over the past year or so lots of magazine featured customs have one thing in common. Dig deep into the specs listed with those features and you’ll find that the frames are coming from Jesse Jurrens’ Independent Cycle, either the swingarm-style Lowlife or the rigid Hardlife.

Bandit and the King with D&D tested Pure Duals. I got a shot at an Australian run and a brother Down Under bought a used Road King, so I’d have something to ride. The least I could do would be to shoulder a massive box full of D&D pure duals and climb aboard a plane.