Classic and Custom Motorcycles

Moto Guzzi Museum

I would finally get the opportunity to walk through the factory gates and step into motorcycling history that started back in 1917 during the First World War. At the time, three young Italian pilots were fighting for their country in the Italian Air force: Carlo Guzzi, Giorgio Ripamonti and a well-known racer of the day, Giovanni Ravelli.

Ducati Marianna Era

With sales of the 1946-1958 Ducati Cucciolo booming, Ducati turned its attention to racing. It was with the Gran Sport motorcycles - affectionately called the Ducati Marianna - that Ducati began its racing success. The Ducati Marianna immediately became unbeatable, rendering the name Ducati synonymous with victory in the racing world.

In 1971, motorcycle icon Willie G. Davidson combined the post-Easy Rider custom motorcycle scene with Harley-Davidson's Electra Glide chassis and 1200cc powerplant. That enlightened fusion yielded the original “factory custom” motorcycle, the legendary 1971 Harley-Davidson Super Glide.

Ultimate MotorCycling Special

Maybe you're too young. Or perhaps you are not intimately acquainted with automotive racing history. Whatever the reason, if dark and light blue stripes with red fail to make your heart go pitter-patter, you might miss the inspiration for the Ultimate MotorCycling Ducati 1098 Special.

The Z900 Family

The year 1967 was awash in monumental events. Summer of Love bromides aside, the image of Hendrix immolating his Strat at Monterey is a visual time stamp of a convulsive year. Change and upheaval, among other things, were in the air.

Vicious V-Twin Motorcycle

Ever try to put lipstick on a Pitbull? It's a hazardous enterprise. Blood is spilled. Fingers vanish. Michael Vick leaves nasty messages on your voicemail. Ignoring the obvious peril, the brave souls at Big Dog Motorcycles have given their vicious, 10-year-old Pitbull a complete makeover for 2008. Admirers of the ill-tempered street dog need not fear—this is no Queer Eye, metrosexual de-fanging.

Scattered like seeds in the wind, the 10 existing Britten motorcycles have blown to the far corners of the earth. Metallic reminders of one man's motorcycling dream, they stand as silent testimony to the drive, vision and genius of the late John Britten. Exquisite motorcycle artwork in their repose, they once were warriors, possessed with a great spirit from the Maori nation of their birth.

AFT Custom Bike

“Accomplishment is about believing in a concept and your ability to follow it through,” says Jim Giuffra, founding partner of world champion metric bike builders AFT Customs. “Credere”—its name purposely chosen from the Italian verb “to believe”—affirms that philosophy. AFT's rendition of Honda's respected VTX1300 cruiser embodies Giuffra's sculptural vision and celebration of the female form.

The creation of a hand-built motorcycle is a series of philosophical milestones on a path of many forks. Some lead to the circus of today's custom bike world, others to obscurity, with fortitude and integrity the only companions on a route to transcendent reward. “Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values,” wrote Ayn Rand, author of The Fountainhead. The works of builder Jesse Rooke would have enriched her lexicon of individualism, for this is a happy man.

Anti-Chopper Custom Bike

In the concrete cocoon of Ecosse Moto Works' Denver warehouse, Donald Atchison forges his industrial art, spurred by his deal with the demons that drive him and stoked by the inspiration of his heroes and icons. One is met at the entrance by neat rows of classic bikes, from Nortons to Velocettes. Upon a diamond-plate dais, the Heretic Ti holds court.