#custom

Allstate has sponsored a custom bike giveaway for the past four years. Each year a new custom bike is built by a legendary custom builder (Arlen Ness created the 2013 and 2012 bikes), and riders enter a sweepstakes for the chance to win the bike. For 2014, Rick Fairless of Dallas Strokers fame was given the nod to take a Victory 8-Ball from stock to custom. This year, Allstate and Fairless planned a twist, with the winner receiving the custom Victory plus a VIP trip for two to Fairless’ shop at Strokers Dallas for a paint consultation with Fairless. Next, the winning bike will be sprayed with the paint scheme that Fairless and the winner developed.

I’ve always been an admirer of customization but never a participant. A willing custom bike show attendee and armchair judge, but an owner of stock original bikes and equipment, like the ’75 CB400F in my garage that, besides some patina, looks the way it did some 39 years ago. Truth is, besides riding and performing basic maintenance, my motorcycles are lucky to get a bath more than once per year. Finding the wherewithal to customize the damn things, fugetaboutit. Too expensive. Too time consuming. Too … beyond my capacity to get unlazy.

Florida, like California, has a large motorcycle population thanks to the mostly year-round riding environment. This nearly perfect climate was reason enough for John Gatti to move from his hometown in nearby Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to South Florida. Drawn into the world of drag racing at the young age of 15, a lack of funds upon his arrival in Florida meant he had to learn to make his own performance parts. As his skills grew over the years, so did his goal of owning his own shop, one where he could design and build the one-off bikes spinning around in his imagination – a wild mix of vintage racing heritage melded with streetfighter personalities.

This week’s video comes courtesy of German custom parts and accessories maker Wunderlich. The latest project from the BMW specialist is a Scrambler based on the liquid-cooled R1200GS.

BikeFest returned to Sin City for its 13th edition, gaining attendance, adding vendors and featuring headliner bands for the first time in its history. An estimated 40,000 enthusiasts rolled in from surrounding states and points unknown, covered in desert dust and thirsting for a good time. The event delivered, with a little help from nearby vice and persuasion.

Last month, we showed you the RC-X Mini Vintage Racer, a heavily-modified Grom by Honda’s Thai affiliate that transformed the modern monkey bike into a Mike Hailwood-era grand prix racer.