Route 66 Vida Locais a Swiss custom house who specialises in hotted-up Harleys of all kinds (Big Twins, Sportsters, V-Rods). Due to their country’s fairly draconian antimodification laws, most of them are based around stock, or ostensibly stock anyway, frames with the majority of the work cleverly done to change their appearance with what many of us’d consider just cosmetic modifications. That doesn’t mean that their bikes are a bit meh though – no, just have a look at their website, and you’ll see cool Harley after cool Harley after cool Harley (assuming that you think Harleys are cool, of course).
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IN-YER-FACE 'ONDA
BACK IN ISSUE 420, IN THE H-D SUPPLEMENT WE DID FOR THAT ISSUE, WE INTRODUCED YOU TO KNOCKER, AND HIS NO-NONSENSE IRONHEAD – A BIKE THAT GAVE THE FINGER TO BOTH TRADITIONAL BSH CHOPS, AND THE NEW SKOOL RETRO-CHOPPER CROWD TOO.
THE SHINY SURVIVALIST
THERE’S LITTLE DOUBT THAT 2020 DIDN’T REALLY TURN OUT THE WAY THAT ANY OF US EXPECTED, OR HOPED, IT WOULD. MIND YOU, I DID WONDER IF THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC MIGHT’VE INFLUENCED BIKE BUILDERS IN A MORE VISIBLE WAY THAN IT SEEMS TO HAVE, AND EXPECTED A RESURGENCE IN THE BUILDING OF ‘SURVIVAL BIKES’.
MONTANA REO
MANY YEARS AGO I BUILT TWO FXR SOFTAILS – MINNESOTA FATS (A SORT OF SUPER FAT BOY), AND DAKOTA BLACK (A PROPER CHOP), ONE FOR ME AND ONE FOR MY MATE JIM. WE’D DREAMT UP THE NAMES IN THE PUB ONE NIGHT AS PART OF AN IMAGINED SERIES OF BIKES – THE NORTHERN STATES SERIES. THEY CAME OUT WELL, AND WERE FEATURED IN BSH 170 IN 1998.
MORTICIA
I BUILT THIS CHOP 38 YEARS AGO (THE DRY BUILD WAS IN MY BEDROOM), AND I TRY TO KEEP IT LIKE IT WAS WHEN IT WAS FIRST FINISHED. I USED TO PRIDE MYSELF ON IT STARTING FIRST KICK, AND NOT LEAKING OIL – IT STILL STARTS FIRST KICK (OCCASIONALLY SECOND), BUT THERE IS NOW, NEARLY 40 YEARS LATER, ONE SLIGHT OIL LEAK…
UJB UNIVERSAL JAPANESE BOBBER
ONE OF THE WORST THINGS TO HEAR WHEN OUT AND ABOUT AMONGST ANY GATHERING OF MOTORCYCLE TYPES IS A SLIGHTLY NASAL VOICE SAYING, IN THE PAUSE BETWEEN PEOPLE SPEAKING, ‘DID YOU KNOW THAT…’ BECAUSE YOU KNOW, YOU JUST KNOW, THAT YOU’RE GOING TO TURN ROUND AND BE CONFRONTED WITH AN ANORAK.
LONG SHOP MUSEUM BIKE SHOW
THE THIRD BIKE SHOW AT THE LONG SHOP MUSEUM IN LEISTON, SUFFOLK, WAS HELD ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 13TH. IT’D BEEN HANGING IN THE BALANCE, LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE THIS YEAR, BUT UNLIKE MOST IT, WAS DEEMED OKAY TO GO AHEAD, DESPITE CONCERNS OVER LIMITING NUMBERS AND KEEPING EVERYONE SOCIALLY DISTANCED.
THE REWARD...
AS I’M SURE YOU’RE AWARE (IF YOU’RE NOT, REALLY? WHERE’VE YOU BEEN? DOWN A WELL?) OUR CHOSEN LIFESTYLE IS, AS ELIZABETH BATHORY MIGHT SAY, IN DIRE NEED OF AN INJECTION OF FRESH BLOOD BECAUSE… WELL, WE’RE ALL GETTING A BIT OLD, A BIT PAST IT THESE DAYS, AREN’T WE?
FACTORY CUSTOM
DURING MY VISIT TO MUDDY BEACH CUSTOMS BACK IN AUGUST, WHERE I TOOK THE PICS OF CHRIS LINDSAY’S CUSTOM CHAMPS-WINNING S&S (AS FEATURED LAST ISSUE), GUS, THE MAIN MAN, ARRANGED FOR A WHOLE LOAD MORE SCOTTISH BIKES TO ARRIVE TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED TOO. AS WE DON’T GET UP ACROSS THE BORDER THAT OFTEN THESE DAYS, I GOT ‘EM ALL IN THE CAN, AND YOU’LL SEE ‘EM IN A FORTHCOMING ISSUE.
HOT ROD SHOUEL
IF YOU’RE A LONG-TERM READER OF THIS AUGUST PERIODICAL (AND THE ONES PUBLISHED OTHER MONTHS TOO), THEN YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE BIKES, OR AT LEAST THE KIND OF BIKES, BUILT BY A GENTLEMAN BY THE NAME OF VINCENT SUMMERS
AMOC CUSTOM SHOW
AH, THE JOYS OF A SEPTEMBER MORNING – STILL SOME OF THE SUNSHINE FROM SUMMER, BUT THOSE SOFT TONES OF EARLY AUTUMN COMING IN, WHICH MAKES FOR A PERFECT COUNTRY RIDE... MIND YOU, I’M NOT SO KEEN ON THE BARRAGE OF CONKERS AND ACORNS WHICH SEEM TO MAKE A BEELINE FOR THE HELMET.
FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS CALIFORNIA CAN ENFORCE NET NEUTRALITY LAW
A federal judge this week ruled that California can for the first time enforce its tough net neutrality law, clearing the way for the state to ban internet providers from slowing down or blocking access to websites and applications that don’t pay for premium service.
A Room of (Almost) My Own
FINDING SPACE, AND PERMISSION, TO WRITE
The FOOD ON YOUR PLATE
I Am Pistachios … An American Success Story
CLARKSON TEETERING ON THE EDGE!
Tells lawyers: Do what it takes to get Brandon out of my life!
TRUCK MANIA!
CALIFORNIA’S LARGEST TRUCK EVENT
REKINDLING THE PASSION
For top prospect Brandon Wood, failure was the teacher that granted him the perspective to aid others
THIS YEAR, I AM MY OWN VALENTINE IN AND THAT 'S OK
A LOVE LETTER TO MYSELF…AND ALL THE SINGLE GIRLS OUT THERE
COWGIRL Empowered
ERIN BAAYEN OWNER/CEO RUSTY BROWN JEWELRY
Heirlooms
Objects in a home, like flatware, vessels and various silver, carry the stories of all of those who used them, and thus, are imbued with their own inherent meanings. Some of these heirlooms may end up in antique shops, while others are passed on to relatives, but all the same, a story is always there.
SOME UBER, LYFT DRIVERS SUE OVER CALIFORNIA BALLOT MEASURE
Drivers for app-based ride-hailing and delivery services filed a lawsuit to overturn a California ballot initiative that makes them independent contractors instead of employees eligible for benefits and job protections.