We need a spreadsheet to keep tabs of all the custom bike shows springing up around the country lately, but we try our hardest to hoof it over to the FastDates.com Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show every year (July 14th and 15th at the Queen Mary Event Park this year) to check out the latest goods. Because of its prime SoCal locale, the event tends to draw a disproportionate share of top-shelf talent from the custom bike building world, as well an enthusiastic crowd of admirers and gaggles of, er, 'healthy' swimsuit models. Stretched motorcycles usually dominate the show, but there's often a good dose of genre-bending (cruiser-engined custom sportbikes, anyone?) mixing it up with the rest.
Dusold Designs Rocket III...
Dusold Designs Rocket III
The first jaw-dropper we ran into was this completely slammed custom by Dusold Designs of Lewisville, TX. It's built around a stock Triumph Rocket III engine and electronics, but other than that, everything was designed and fabricated by Dusold. Custom frame, functional air ducts, front and rear air suspension, conversion from shaft to chain, and even the coolant running through the frame to eliminate a radiator. This blue and silver beauty was one of nine custom bikes selected to compete on ESPN'S Metric Revolution TV show this past season, in the pro cruiser category.
We also came across this stout little Ducati-driven bobber, designed and built by Mat Zabas of 13 Choppers of Escondido, CA (the engine donor was a Ducati Monster S). Everything was done in-house, from the custom frame and swingarm to the tank and rear fender. Note the lack of visible electronics and wiring, as well as the front turn signals built into the footpegs.
Our good friend Jim Giuffra from AFT Customs also brought out his bodacious2004 Honda VTX 1300 custom, Credere. Sporting a chain conversion, huge unadulterated Rune fender riding over an Avon 'Big Monty' rear donut, and a 23 inch front wheel clamped by a VTX 1800 front fork, the littlest VTX had no trouble convincing the crowd it was a much bigger machine.
Credere from AFT Customs
Credere's 23 inch Avon
Rune rear on AFT's Creder...
Rune rear on AFT's Credere
Jesse Rooke's retro racer,...
Jesse Rooke's retro racer, Darla
Then there were the hard-core show sleds from big builders, like Jesse Rooke's KTM-powered retro board tracker, Darla, which took the metric class championship at the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building at Sturgis in 2006. Rooke's designs always seem deceptively simple, fusing a racers' mentality with old-school sensibilities.
-- Evan Kay and Andrew Cherney