I can't say that I'm a fan of Harleys. They're EVERYWHERE, and they're all the same. I've been out west during Sturgis and get so tired of seeing doctors and lawyers on their shiny "custom" Harleys that have different combinations of the same parts from the same catalogs and probably off the same shelves that probably only leave the garage this one week a year. Even all the choppers look the same nowadays- with the big "deformed penis" gas tanks all made at some commercial "shops" that throws together a bunch of parts from a catalog drops in an S+S motor and calls it custom. I thought that the point of a chopper was to do something original and personal. Getting out a credit card instead of a welder is neither.

Around here I'm starting to see a lot of really cool "rat" choppers made from '70s Japanese bikes. They're not the chopper style, they're more racer style/bobber hybrid. I saw one that was built from one of those 80s turbocharged bikes- it was Kawasaki that did that, right? What a recipe for disaster, but a very original concept! If I had a photo sharing account I, like Bill, would share a photo of a couple of cool ones I've seen. Maybe after my next qajaq is finished I'll set one up. Then fill it with photos of other people's kittens for you all to look at.

Personally, I pine for a nice stock Ducati 748. One that doesn't have carbon fiber stuck all over it and a fart can exhaust. Of course, I wouldn't turn down a current-model 848 either...

Now to get that caffeine so that I'm not this grumpy the rest of the day. I'm a bit young to be a curmudgeon.

BTW- It's the QUSA forum that's DEAD right now.

Have a great day!

m