John Deere Green

Not just John Deere Green but it looks like you could go to a JD dealership and pick this motorcycle off the showroom floor. It's got a jokey shifter, and a tractor seat. I can't imagine the ass cramps this motorcycle will give you after 30 miles... I grew up in the country and I've seen and driven my shahre of JD tractors and I have ti tip my hat off to the builder of this bike. With those wheels, he nailed the look of a genuine JD.

This motorcycle is currently for sale on Evilbay and I hope it makes it to the country side where it can fully be appreciated. I don't think this motorcycle is destined for New York City. A couple of interesting things, the fatty tire; it does not look bad but I think a rough and tough skinny might have looked better. Also, a front brake is a must for me. It wouldn't have taken anything away, especially if a drum brake was used. Not as good as a disc but it's better than nothing.

Photos taken from Ebay

Are you paying too much?

I often wonder why people pay $50,000 for a motorcycle and park it in their garage. In all honesty, I don't know if I would pound the hell out of a motorcycle I paid that much for. When I went looking for the custom shop to build my motorcycle I wanted a motorcycle I was not afraid to drive due to its cost. When I came across American Classic Motors, and talked to the head builder there he said something that really resonated with me. He said, "we build nice custom bikes for the daily driver." That's what I ended up with. I'm not joking when I say people yell out their car windows at red lights to tell me how cool they think my bike it. When I ride down the road I feel like I have a $50,000 motorcycle the way people react. However, I know what I paid for the bike. ACM motorcycles average around 17-20K and when you think about it, that's less than most stock Harley, Yamaha and Honda motorcycles. I have no problems being a spokes boy for ACM because they have treated me well, balanced my expectations and provided world-class customer service not only in their sales department but in their build shop as well.

For an example, I came across this motorcycle for the first time when I went to pick up my bobber. Had I seen it first, I might have rolled out of the shop with it instead. They sold the bike a few months ago and I'm sure someone is rolling around town with a grin from ear to ear with it. When I get my next motorcycle from ACM it will most likely looks similar to this one. This just goes to show you that you can get a great custom built motorcycle and not have to pay $50.000 for it.

Pictures taken from America Classic Motors.com

RedSoul Motorcycles

I came across RedSoul Motorcycles today and took some time to look around their site. Besides, the site not working very well with Google Chrome, I was quite impressed with some of the designing they completed on a few of their bikes. I'd love to check out that blue and white "Sodo King." I've always wondered how you can see past the gas tank on motorcycles built like that. It's intriguing.

I was also impressed by the way they mounted the petcock on their El Endrogado. Many bobbers are outfitted with very small tanks. My tank is a 1.3 gallon tank with the petcock located in the traditional location. Because of this, I have a cross over to help fuel get past the tunnel. However, even with the cross over, I sill have close to a half gallon left in the tank. This petcock design surely fixes that issue.

It looks to me that there are some pretty cool bikes being produced from that shop in Seattle. Keep up the good work men!

Pictures taken from Redsoul.com

So Many Industry Experts

Pictures taken from Bike Exif.com

I read a lot of blogs about motorcycles, ranging from Bobbers to Cafe Racers to classic Harley-Davidson news. I read them because I love looking at motorcycles. Now I might not like them all and I've been outspoken before regarding my dislike for "Crotch Rockets" but that is mostly because I don't personally find bikes covered in plastic appealing unless I want to go dirt-biking.

If you like reading blogs, you most likely get all wrapped up in the comments section but lately I've noticed a trend regarding how many industry experts we have. I took the bikes shown above from a popular blog that relates to Cafe Racers. It is amazing how so many people know so much about how a motorcycle will ride just by looking at a picture.

Now just about none of the readers on that blog would even look twice at my billet covered Bobbed V-Twin. I've read enough comments on that blog to know that anyone riding a V-Twin is just a sell-out to the Harley marketers. That's a whole different blog post for a whole different day. Many of the comments they make about motorcycles, where they claim to know exactly how it will ride relates to my motorcycle are flat out based in opinion and zero fact or experience. Low rider, forward controls, larger front wheel, lower handle bars: all of this means my bike should ride like shit.. well, guess you will never know since you will never be on it. I just think it is ridiculous how someone can "claim" to know exactly how a motorcycle will handle and react to cornering just by looking at three or four pictures of it.

If it isn't your cup of tea, then say it and move on but seriously, until you take the time money and effort to get off your ass and build a motorcycle, how about you keep your "I know this bike is shit because..." opinions to yourself until the day you get to ride it. Just click on each picture to be redirected to the comments about the motorcycles. Have your popcorn and soda ready!