Inspiration, modification, and fabrication are the three steps that make up the trinity of true custom bike building. Every build cycles through these stages, regardless of whether or not the builder is a professional in a shop or an amateur working out of his/her garage. A bike or part seen in a magazine might inspire a person to modify an existing bike or part, and from that modification a new part or bike design might be born that has to be fabricated from raw materials. For instance, in this issue we've got an easy bolt-on two-up seat and peg conversion, a moderately difficult garage-built exhaust-pipe fabrication, and a difficult hand-made aluminum fender article by a pro builder.
The bikes Ernie and I choose for features are intended to inspire. In fact, many of the crazy, not-practical-in-any-sense customs are built with the sole purpose of inspiring, provoking thought, and creating new ideas. Only pessimists believe that everything has already been thought of-somebody had to be the first person to dream up the wheel. We showcase bikes that attempt to change the perceived notion of what a motorcycle is and can be. We try to expand the known boundaries and show the public the cutting edge. Sometimes that boundary is expanded by someone from outside the motorcycle industry, such as Gary Hetrick working out of his garage, or Chip Foose, Greg Westbury, or Cole Foster building show-winning bikes-and they come from the hot rod custom car market. We try to show you every bike that interested us in one form or another, regardless of industry status, geographical origin, race, or gender of the builder.
Modification is the reason why a magazine such as this exists-it's the foundation of our content. Street Chopper's technical articles focus on the entire spectrum of modification, from simple bolt-on articles to pieces that cover in-depth motor customization and general fabrication, but all are designed to inspire every level of wrench slinger, from the guy who barely has maintenance handtools to the almost-a-machine-shop-facilitated garage. Ernie's exhaust-pipe article is a good illustration of heavy modification: He bought some stock shovelhead pipes and flanges at a swap meet for cheap and modified them to work with his specific bike build. Ernie couldn't order the pipe he wanted, but he figured out a way to change an existing part. Parts manufacturers think up new modifications all the time, and we try to showcase these new parts as soon as soon as builders produce them. We deliver the freshest new parts hot off the CNC machine so the average builder knows what new options are available to modify his/her personal bike.
Sometimes a new part is created from an old one-a custom part that's been modified might not create the desired look or function. Or maybe the necessary custom part to complete a certain bike hasn't been created yet-so it must be built from scratch. The fender fabrication article in this issue is an example; there isn't a shorty aluminum fender in any catalog that would fit the look of Mitch Bergeron's full-custom bike, so he had to make one. Other times fabrication is necessary because it might be less expensive or take less time to make a part than order it. If you're skilled and have the right materials and tools but little money to work with, the only way to get a part is to make it yourself. Many builders learned to fabricate this way, starting with more skill than cash; they made their own parts because they couldn't afford to buy anything.
We try to cover everything that directly and indirectly supports custom motorcycles, but our main focus is on the garage builder. The person who builds out of their house is the one we try to take care of the most, because he/she buys this magazine. The garage builder is the person we hope to inspire, teach how to modify, and push to eventually become a fabricator-who might in turn inspire someone new. And the cycle starts again.