Photo: Fred Kodlin
We have no statistics on how many custom motorcycle garages are out there, but the simplistic answer would be "a lot." Chances are we'll probably never get to know them all in detail, so we're left with judging this amazing industry based on the ones we already know.
And one of the things we've learned after years of keeping an eye on the custom motorcycle scene is that, in most cases, custom motorcycles are just the visual manifestation of their owner's dreams, most often based on some existing bike.
They're only meant to impress the eyes, and never venture as far as to be modified to do something they were never meant to do. Like, say, spitting flames out the exhaust.
Yet in the world of custom bike builders there are names who are not content with simply modifying Fat Boys and the likes. Names like Fred Kodlin, the first non-American to be inducted into the International Master Bike Builders Association (IMBBA) Hall of Fame.
Kodlin has been active on the motorcycle scene for decades now, but somehow many of his project have escaped the scrutiny of mainstream media, despite them being perhaps the most extreme two-wheelers out there.
Take the Outtalimit, for instance. Put together back in 2013 as Kodlin's own ride, it's not based on an existing bike, but made from the ground up in the German's shop, using a lot of skill and time.
It took Kodlin no less than eight months to assemble the Outtalimit. For a skeleton he used a frame he made in-house, and fitted inside it a Harley-Davidson-sourced engine of unspecified type. Around the frame, an all-metal bodywork was fitted, from fenders to fuel tank, and then everything was painted orange (with detailing) once it was complete.
Both wheels are made by Kodlin himself, with the one at the front measuring 30 inches in diameter. The one at the back, just 18 inches in size, is hidden from sight by the bagger's bodywork and supported by a Kodlin swingarm.
The entire bike was propped on an air suspension system that allows it to be lowered and raised depending on need.
Aside from the parts he made himself for the project, Kodlin turned to Performance Machine to source the braking hardware, grips, and footpegs, Harley itself supplied the oil tank, one of very few original Milwaukee bits that made it onto this build.
It's unclear where the bike presently resides, but we do know how much it was worth back when it was made: 140,000 euros (152,000 in today's dollars). That's an insane price, but the uniqueness of the ride, and perhaps even the fact it can spit flames out the exhaust, are more than enough to justify it.
They're only meant to impress the eyes, and never venture as far as to be modified to do something they were never meant to do. Like, say, spitting flames out the exhaust.
Yet in the world of custom bike builders there are names who are not content with simply modifying Fat Boys and the likes. Names like Fred Kodlin, the first non-American to be inducted into the International Master Bike Builders Association (IMBBA) Hall of Fame.
Kodlin has been active on the motorcycle scene for decades now, but somehow many of his project have escaped the scrutiny of mainstream media, despite them being perhaps the most extreme two-wheelers out there.
Take the Outtalimit, for instance. Put together back in 2013 as Kodlin's own ride, it's not based on an existing bike, but made from the ground up in the German's shop, using a lot of skill and time.
It took Kodlin no less than eight months to assemble the Outtalimit. For a skeleton he used a frame he made in-house, and fitted inside it a Harley-Davidson-sourced engine of unspecified type. Around the frame, an all-metal bodywork was fitted, from fenders to fuel tank, and then everything was painted orange (with detailing) once it was complete.
Both wheels are made by Kodlin himself, with the one at the front measuring 30 inches in diameter. The one at the back, just 18 inches in size, is hidden from sight by the bagger's bodywork and supported by a Kodlin swingarm.
The entire bike was propped on an air suspension system that allows it to be lowered and raised depending on need.
Aside from the parts he made himself for the project, Kodlin turned to Performance Machine to source the braking hardware, grips, and footpegs, Harley itself supplied the oil tank, one of very few original Milwaukee bits that made it onto this build.
It's unclear where the bike presently resides, but we do know how much it was worth back when it was made: 140,000 euros (152,000 in today's dollars). That's an insane price, but the uniqueness of the ride, and perhaps even the fact it can spit flames out the exhaust, are more than enough to justify it.
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