Motorcycle Features: Bikes, Blokes, Culture and Beyond
In this section you’ll find motorcycle-related feature articles including biographies, technical endeavors, historical spotlights and other articles that focus on interesting aspects of motorcycling culture. If it’s not news or a road test, gear, rally, blog or tour article, you’ll find it here!
Customizing an OEM Harley-Davidson with Rucker Performance
Rider Contributor
March 26, 2007
By Buzz Buzzelli [Customizing an OEM Harley-Davidson with Rucker Performance was originally published in American Rider] The problem with stock Harleys is that they are infested with all those boring original-equipment parts, so they all look the same. What we need is a road map with a route to rout... Read more »
Making your Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Fit You
Rider Contributor
July 28, 2006
he first time you throw a leg over your new Harley you are getting on an unfinished motorcycle. In at least one or more ways, that bike does not fit your body. [Making your Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Fit You was originally published in American Rider magazine] The first time you throw a leg over your... Read more »
Remembering 1947 Hollister
Reg Kittrelle
July 28, 2006
(This article was published in the August 2006 issue of American Rider.) Fifty-three years after Brando’s wild ride, we went looking for Johnny. You know, Johnny Strabler, the Triumph-riding sneer of a man with a too-cool swagger who, along with his black-jacketed Rebel Motorcycle Club, terrorized... Read more »
Retrospective: Customized Motorcycle (based on a 1985 Suzuki Madura 1200)
Clement Salvadori
June 21, 2006
(This Retrospective article was published in the June 2006 issue of Rider.) This is one man’s view of how his motorcycle should look—it is a true custom. Many people talk about having customized bikes, but for the essential meaning of the word “customize” we should take a look at Webster’s... Read more »
Big Dog, Harley-Davidson and Wild West; V-twin Manufacturing Spotlight
Rider Contributor
May 5, 2006
[Big Dog, Harley-Davidson and Wild West; V-twin Manufacturing Spotlight was originally published in American Rider magazine] From little quark-sized mom-and-pop shops that build one or two at a time; to small molecular-level construction shops that make one or two hundred a year; to medium-size solar-system... Read more »
Installing a Barnett Scorpion 3-Inch Belt Drive
Rider Contributor
January 24, 2006
by Scott Dalgleish photography by John Hyder The great thing about installing a belt primary drive is that it takes about the same time and effort as installing an OE chain drive. So if you’re interested in adding the look that sets the bike apart from the oil-bathed chain-driven stock Harley,... Read more »
Installing the Arlen Ness Big Sucker Air-Filter Kit
Rider Contributor
January 24, 2006
story and photography by Chris Sindoni There are many ways to improve the Sportster’s air filter: a bigger element in the stock housing; a new housing and element with the stock cover; or a whole new air-filter assembly. For those who want to get away from the “ham can” look of the... Read more »
The Nuts and Bolts of Torque: All about tightening fasteners.
Rider Magazine
November 15, 2005
Torque – the nuts-and-bolts kind – is important, but many of us don’t understand exactly why. We know things like fenders and spark plugs tend not to fall off or unscrew if we tighten them without the benefit of a torque wrench. Since this is the case, why are torque specifications... Read more »
