Trends & Fashions Harley Custom Discuss Trends & Fashions in the Motorcycles forums; Anyone else noticing the radical customs are becoming less the trend and more practical customs are getting more popular? For example, I see more custom bobbers and baggers the readical ...

[Buzz Kanter]

Anyone else noticing the radical customs are becoming less the trend and more practical customs are getting more popular?

For example, I see more custom bobbers and baggers the readical choppers nd over the top customs.

How about you?

[47knuck]

Never could understand the thinking of taking aperfectly good bike and spending lots of money and time screwing it up as a long stretched out chopper that looks ugly, handles poorly and is uncomfortable to ride.

Baggers and bobbers are ok with me.

[Gunnert]

Totally agree. I bought my first bagger ten years ago, 97 Road King. I had previously ridden a well massaged 74 Superglide for the previous 19 years. I never rode a bagger til I bought one. That day I transitioned from a biker to a motorcyclist. What a difference! Instead of bar hopping, I was now state hopping...
That Road King lasted for two years till the twincam was released. I'm still riding that 99 Road King 9 years later with over 100k on the bike. It has gone through every transition possible, numerous motor upgrades, lots of chrome, performance handling, full fairing, tour pak, you name it. For 4 years it has been a 116".
I mention all this because I see more and more riders switching to bikes made for touring but they are customizing these baggers with more zeal because they now have something they can ride more and more and more.
I'm now in the middle of building my first custom, a Rolling Thunder 200mm Bagger frame, 124" S&S. This time I'm going for touring performance (140mm front, traxxion frontend, Brembo brakes, longer (not shorter) 13.5 440s, 6 gallon RWD stretched tank, etc).
Times have changed. I now skim through the articles on the choppers and go straight for every word on the bikes being made to be ridden.
Oh yea, I'm not much of fan of the Bagger Customs slammed to the ground with a seat about 3 1/2 inches wide....

i have noticed this too, you still see them at rallies but not on the road and very seldom at weekly town events. and really who wants to ride any distance with someone who has to stop every 40 or 50 miles to fill up the gas tank.

[ahamay0_0]

I agree with "Baggers and bobbers are ok with me". Both are bikes that can be ridden and still have fun on. I didn't start riding 35+ years ago to follow trends or fashions. I just love to ride! Both of my bikes, (99 Dyna lowrider and 02 Ultra) are set up to ride, and be functional / comfortable. Although the radical customs look cool and are testament to the builders skills, alot of them aren't very streetable or rideable. It's great where the custom industry has gone, and very cool designs have come out of the industry in the last two + decades, but the reason the Motor Co. was and is so successful is the fact that they built a fairly bulletproof platform with the EVO and Twinkies. Once they showed the public that they could build a dependable scooter that will run / not breakdown, the public bought into it BIGTIME. Once they refine the next generation platform (watercooled) and if the economy re-adjusts so their is more disposable income, the recreation market will take off even more. Some of the best riding / coolest bikes I've seen in the last 5 years are the small backyard garage builders. Sorry for the long winded post.

[hotrodsporty]

I have noticed the decline in the want for the long streatched bike, but when you ride the Iron Horse Highway on the black hills, and see the yuppies not being able to turn the corners on these bike, one can see why the demand is falling.

[4cams]

I was surprised and happy that so many younger riders liked the new X Bones.

I went into Bob Dron HD in Oakland a few years back and they had some in house built custom sheet metal fantasy type bikes for sale for $100k for a new one and $65k for a used one with less than 1000 miles on it. Very similar to each other but still they were one of a kind bikes. Who ya gonna sell those kind of bikes to now? They're EPA violators for one thing and illegal to build here. I got a feeling Bob Dron found that out the hard way. Not much fun to ride either once the novelty wears off. Besides, it seems it's just all been done by now. Most of what I see in the super customs now are just variations on the same old theme.

My favs these days, and always was actually, are the "machinery as art" bikes where form follows function. That's my personal taste.

I mean I love seeing something new and outrageous come out of the minds of some of the great visionary bike builders. And I think of some of the fantastic paint jobs I've seen on custom bikes are true high art way beyond anything Andy Warhol and a lot of other so-called artists ever did.

I think what kind of satiated me was going into Simm's shop in San Leandro (I think) and seeing 20-30 very similar but slightly different brand new "customs" with $30k-$45k price tags on 'em. There was just something odd about the whole picture. Mainstream American Consumer Culture had found its way into the heart of the Outlaw World and they looked strangely like kissin' cousins at that point.

I think it's all settling out right now back toward bikes that are fun to ride as well as interesting to look at. Also, as much of the Harley Generation approaches senior citizenship (myself included here) comfort starts to trump outrageousness. Hence the Bagger Boom. Or, hey, how 'bout "The Baby Boomers Bagger Boom" ? Say that three times fast.

[texan321]

When I got of of the Navy and moved to California - I lived and worked in Orange county. As most of you know that is the territory of the Hell's Angels' and various other "outlaw" biker groups(notice no use of the word gangs) - I saw some of the best custom bikes ever - they were the true "bobbers" and they are were very unique - When I lived in Huntington Beach they had a club house not far from where I lived at the time. When I think about "bobbers" customs - I think of those bikes... built for riding - not comfort and they would kick start those suckers. If I were to built a bike - it would look like those.(Captain America - Billy's bike)..not the unrideable things they have now... but that is just me.....besides I couldn't ride a kidney cruncher at this point anyway.....Boomer Baggers for me!!!! maybe I will get a patch....

[BlueBob]

Originally Posted by texan321

Boomer Baggers for me!!!! maybe I will get a patch....

A boomer patch... perhaps that's what the gubment will give you instead of your social security check. It'll say "Thanks for playing. Please try again!"