Page 6 - Performance Machine News Today

Harley-Davidson Mighty Guerilla is a Fat Boy conversion handled by a custom garage called Rough Crafts, first shown back in 2019

Harley-Davidson NoCTI is a 2006 Night Train converted by a Japanese custom shop called Bad Land, sports sharp-looking German-made wheels

Harley-Davidson Doraco is a customized Night Train handled by a Japanese shop called Bad Land, made as the usual dark machine

It’s no secret black looks great on pretty much everything, but one has to admit, there are times when the non-color seems to be used to such an extent it kind of loses its appeal. Until something like the motorcycle we have here comes along and twists that around all over again.

We all know motorcycle builders like to choose the names for their projects to match whatever primary feature or message the bike is supposed to use or convey, and most of the time they sure nail the process. We’re not sure if Bad Land, the Japanese shop behind this particular project, did the same in this case.

There are so many custom Harley-Davidson V-Rods out there (especially in Europe) that it’s getting increasingly difficult to find one that really stands out in the crowd. That’s because most of them, although great in design and execution, look pretty much the same, and they fail to get our blood pumping.

One can judge the power of a company by the number of words it forced into the modern-day vocabulary, and few such entities come close to ruling the dictionary as Harley-Davidson. Just think knucklehead, or shovelhead, or Softail, among others, and the image of the Milwaukee company instantly pops into one’s head.

Like it or not, plastic rules the toy industry, and in theory that’s the way it should be, for a number of reasons that can range from safety for kids to aesthetics. But one can never deny the coolness (both figuratively and literally) of metal toys.

When your custom project starts with a donor that used to race at Glemseck 101, things are bound to get pretty spicy.

For military aviation and space enthusiasts, the name Bob Springer speaks volumes. The American test pilot and astronaut flew two space shuttle missions in 1989 and 1990, spending over 230 hours in space, and before that he clocked some 500 combat sorties in the Vietnam war.