tomson75;3972126 said:
This is very true. In fact, they don't really "build" most of their bikes at all. They assemble.
IMO, the real bike builders are the guys that design, fabricate, build motors, paint, tune, etc....themselves. Rather than delegating that work to others. Using tools like the water powered autolathe or whatever to make wheels and such....just not my style. I suppose the technology is pretty cool, but I'm a fan of traditional spoke wheels. Way too much chrome IMO too.....
Each to their own, but I want my bike to be original form the ground up.
I don't mind the technology aspect they can bring to these bikes at all. I find that stuff cool. I like their bikes for the most part. Not even complaining about that really.
I just think there are some awesome builders out there who build great bikes without themes. Again, I like the themes, so that isn't the issue.
Indian Larry's last bike where he build an all chain frame was awesome. Larry's protege, Paul Cox does some of the best leather work I have ever seen.
Shinya Kimura, a Vegas builder does stuff that I truly admire. He hand polishes all the metals for his builds and rarely paints the bikes. I think he's the one who also combined a shovelhead and a panhead on one bike. Now that is talent.
Roger Goldammer is probably the best builder of them all. At least he is the guy that all the bike builders vote for. He has won their build off 3 times. No one else has even won it twice as far as I know.
Matt Hotch is probably my favorite followed very closely by Billy Lane and I still like the old school guys like Mondo and Chica.
The problem I have is really Senior's bike. The power is impressive. I'm not going to lie about that. But if I showed you that picture in the OP could you look at that and tell me Cadillac inspired?
I loved the 3 bikes OCC did for the GTO and Trans Am. In those designs Jason was an ace. He screwed this one up.
I look at Junior's bike and I see Cadillac, and I'm not just talking about the emblem being used. I can tell from the rear fender and tank what it is supposed to be.
Not saying these guys don't all do great work. They do. Far better than my brother and his friends at their failed little shop. I just think OCCs bike for this was not near good enough.