Yep, these techs will be backwards. I just rolled in fromArizona after the first 1,000-mile test ride after installinghighbars, performance parts, and modifying the windshield to fit thehighbars. So why publish the techs backwards starting with thewindshield? We're lazy. This one will be short and the next two,since Frank Kaisler was involved, will be mammoth techs withthousands of photographs. Hang on for them, but if you've installedhighbars on a Softail or a King model and have long arms like myself, the windshield may be a problem to attach, but there's acareful, simple cure. First put the shield in place and decide if you can endure ahandlebar adjustment or not. If you pull the bars back in line withthe front end, ...

If you're like my freedom seeking self,once in a while youneed to ride. I don't mean ride to the goddamnbar or even to arally, bike show or event. I'm talking aboutgetting out of town, outof the city, and out of site. That was the mentalplan. What happeneddidn't exactly fit the criteria, but in somerespects improved on thebasis, in others it failed miserably.At first I was going to ride alone. At onetime I rode toPhoenix several times alone. I enjoyed it.Riding alone, in a sense, iswhat it's all about for me, but then I startedmentioning the runto pals. Keep in mind that this was not anetched-in-stone puttin' proposal, like what youwrite down on your calendar for next weekend.It was a notion, ...

There's an unwritten rule in the Code OfChrome that says, if you slip a set of highbarson any motorcycle you save it from mediocrity.There's more, an evil punishment for this oftenillegal gesture towards the rebellious arts. Assoon as the unsuspecting rider throws his legover the saddle and reaches for the tall grips,his sideburns expand down the sides of hisface and a goatee springs forth from his chin.The cuffs of his t-shirt roll, and he begins tosmoke a pack a day. An treacherous grinspreads across his smoke tainted teeth, as ifa deadly rash, and before the week is out he'sleft his lovely religious wife and ravagedseveral other women. Hearts lie broken in histire-burned path. It's an ugly sight. So what didwe ...

I couldn't think or speak. I had a week and a half to insure that this puppy ran. I could sense fangs growing under my upper lip. I began to snarl as my fingernail extended beyond my cold hard hands. My eyes reddened, and I wanted to ride. Without the throttle cables I could use the cruise control, if it still worked. I could jam it into gear and fly. Frank hit me with a torque wrench. "We're burnin' daylight," he snapped, "Let's measure the cables and install the left Knuckle style grip." After wiping the grip end of the bar down with alcohol, the grip interior was coated with the rubber cement, that came with the grips. Then it ...

Editor's Note: Our 5-Ball factory racer was feature in Heavy Duty Magazine in Australia recently. It's the largest selling custom bike mag Down Under. The story and the photos were handled by the amazing Smilin' Doc Robinson, the longtime tech editor. I've left the story alone for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.--BanditMany interesting and colourful characters populate the biker world and Keith “Bandit” Ball walks tall among them. And not only because he tops out at six-foot five inches. Lifetime biker, author, longtime Easyriders’ editor, custom bike builder, salt racer, founder of the premier web site Bikernet.com, Bandit is all this and more.Get him settled in the comfortable lounge seat in his Los Angeles abode, pour him a stiff whisky, and ...

Click here for: Mudflap Girl Part 3, the Bandit Engine Completed Suddenly we're smoking on the Mudflap Girl FXRs, but the week after I received the frames, I had to jump a plane to New Orleans and ride a Victory to the Smoke Out. I was itching to work on these bikes. I survived the Smoke Out, and since I just spent 1000 miles in a Victory saddle, I was motivated to get back in the wind. We looked down the barrel of the ticking calendar as I returned from the East Coast on Sunday and Monday the 27th of June I stepped back into the Bikernet shop and faced two Mudflap Girl FXRs on lifts ready to rock. I dove ...

Click here for: Mudflap Girl Part 4, the Spitfire Frames to Roller Life is nuts, but we are scrambling on the Mudflap Girl FXRs, at least mine. Us old farts constantly have discussions about how unmotivated kids are. I want to work on my bike constantly. Every waking minute I'm thinking about it, about new ideas, innovations, and who I can reach out to for resources. My son just complains: "I'd have to drive over there…"I constantly come up with Plan B, another connection, or build it myself. We crawled out of the Sunday sack at 6:00 a.m. to haul ass to the Long Beach Swap Meet, just to scour rows of vendors for parts, to find a handful of pieces, ...

That's right. You can enter by filling out the coupon, subscribing to Bandit's Cantina on Bikernet, or to the Cycle Source Magazine. With a Crazy Horse 100-inch engine, and a frame from Texas Bike Works this build is already flying together.From issue to issue you'll see your motorcycle being built on the pages of Bikernet and Cycle Source. You'll witness Gary Maurer from Kustoms Inc. and Ron Harris from Chop Docs bend sheet metal, create one-off components, and shoot one of the sickest old-school paint schemes that you have ever seen...The team will carefully select components from the best in the industry, including wheels from Ride Wright, electronics from Accel, leatherwork by the master, Howard H. Knight, and controls from ...

Hang on for a chance to win this bike. The odds will be terrific, so step up and enter, or subscribe to Bandit's Cantina on Bikernet.com, or Cycle Source Magazine, and we will take care of your entry into the drawing towards the end of the year. In the meantime, grab a beer and enjoy this build process monthly on Bikernet, or on the crumpled pages of Cycle Source magazine. Last issue, we discussed the myriad of top-notch components flying at this build, and how Jason built the frame, at Texas Frame Works, around the master's configuration and the pre-bent contoured backbone. The master is the boss of the 28-year- old shop, Kustoms Inc. and Evil Engineering, Gary Maurer. Gary ...

SADDLEMEN MODS TO THE SHRUNKEN FXR--In a world where over promising and under delivering has become all too common here is a gem I must share. The Bikernet built Shrunken FXR has become my daily rider and needed a couple small adjustments to be just perfect for me. One detail was the too small seat or the bike was too fast (pick one). So I rode my bike over to meet the nice folks at Saddlemen and see what they could do to help me out with my seat. Upon arriving at the Saddlemen facility I spent time with guys from the front office to the guys in the shop ( all of whom took great interest in my motorcycle ...