Dealer Spotlight
AZZKIKR CUSTOM BAGGERS
The custom bagger movement has grown by leaps and bounds during the past five or so years. Baggers offer builders lots of canvas area for expressing their creativity, and riders have discovered the convenience of large storage areas, sound systems and accessories. Combine comfort, handling and state-of-the-art technology with bitchin’ aesthetics, and it’s not hard to understand why so many new riders are being drawn to the custom bagger movement. Additional impetus comes from cutting-edge builders who are expanding the envelope, influencing and steering the bagger movement in new and exciting directions. One such builder is Len Edmonson, founder and owner of Azzkikr Custom Baggers in Phoenix, Arizona. Continue reading
PAUL YAFFE’S BAGGER NATION
Growing up in Los Angeles in the mid 1980s gave Paul Yaffe many
opportunities for pursuing his entrepreneurial spirit and creative
interests in customizing motorcycles. In 1986, Paul bought a
brand-new Harley-Davidson Sportster and immediately envisioned making changes that would reflect his visionary ideas. Born with a passion for creativity, Paul soon customized the tank, bobbed the rear fender, extended the swingarm, and tricked-out the engine.
Paul quickly sold the Sporty and then bought a Softail, which he
customized by reworking the fenders, raking the frame, modifying
the engine, painting the entire bike, and adding some aftermarket
components that reflected his vision. After four years, Paul was slowly mastering the craft of customizing and fabrication, but he also had a mechanical aptitude that he felt needed more formal training. Continue reading
DIRTY BIRD CONCEPTS
The names John Shope and Dirty Bird Concepts have become synonymous with building wickedly crafted custom baggers. Shope is the “Man” behind Dirty Bird Concepts (DBC) (formally Sinister Industries). He is one of the more flamboyant characters in the custom bagger world, and his creations are creative and edgy, some might say even radical.
Shope developed a passion for fabricating, building and modifying motorcycles during the 1980s. Although he started as an artist and sculptor, his keen fabrication background and love for motorcycles soon turned his passion into customizing various models of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Shope now operates his own highly successful business, Dirty Bird Concepts, based in the Deer Valley Airpark in North Phoenix, Arizona. Continue reading
SPOOKY FAST CUSTOM FINISHING
Bob Parsons is a guy who loves motorcycles. The colorful billionaire founder of GoDaddy and owner of Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale, Go AZ Motorcycles (both in Scottsdale, AZ), and Southern Thunder Harley-Davidson in Mississippi, discussed with Road Iron magazine his newest motorcycle venture, Spooky Fast Custom Finishing in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Parsons is a straight-spoken serial entrepreneur. He’s also a former Marine who saw combat in Vietnam, was seriously wounded and received the Purple Heart. After recovering and completing his tour of duty, Parsons attained a degree in accounting. Later, he taught himself how to write software programs and founded Parsons Technology, which sold home accounting software. In 1994, he sold the company to Intuit for $64 million. He then invested $35 million and started GoDaddy.com, which nearly ended in failure when his investment dwindled down to only $6 million. Luckily, people finally noticed GoDaddy’s super deals for domain name registration and Web hosting, and then there were the GoDaddy Super Bowl commercials. The rest is history. Continue reading
JIM NASI CUSTOMS
Jim Nasi grew up in the Detroit, Michigan area surrounded by hot rods and muscle cars. Inspired by his father who was an engineer at General Motors and influenced by his two brothers who were hot rod enthusiasts, Jim had engineering in his blood. During Jim’s high school years, his family moved to Roswell, New Mexico when his father was hired as a production manager in the R&D Department of the Greyhound Bus Company. There, Jim had the opportunity of working along side his father and learned the fine points of research and development and production management in the field of engineering. Jim went on to major in mechanical engineering at New Mexico State University, eventually moving to Phoenix, Arizona when Greyhound Bus was purchased by the Phoenix-based Dial Corporation. Continue reading
SMT MACHINING
By now you p
robably know that there is a plethora of kick-ass baggers builders in the Phoenix, Arizona area. But did you know there is a kick-ass machine shop for manufacturing custom bagger parts in the Phoenix area, too? That shop is SMT Machining. SMT Machining is a manufacturer and distributor of a line of custom motorcycle wheels, parts and accessories. Located west of Phoenix, AZ in nearby Glendale, SMT Machining was founded in 2001 by Ted and Sebastian Glod, a father and son team. Together, they have over 70 years of experience in the custom parts and machining industries, including aerospace industry experience. Over the years, the Glods have combined their extensive knowledge of machining with the latest motorcycle designs to bring touring and bagger enthusiasts product that will definitely turn heads. Continue reading
TRASK PERFORMANCE
Nick Trask is the brain behind Trask Performance. Nick founded Trask Performance in 2000 after following his passion for high-performance motorcycles from New Zealand. While growing up in New Zealand, Nick learned to tinker on motorcycles and hot rods with his father. Over time, Nick developed a passion for hopping up motorcycles using turbochargers and a vision for manufacturing his own performance parts. But Nick realized that parts were difficult to come by in the Downunder South Pacific. He knew that to turn his visions into reality, he had to risk everything and move to the States to follow his dream. Having already attended Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix was the obvious location for Nick to follow his dream. 15 years ago, Nick opened Trask Performance and soon became known as a leading builder of turbo systems for Harley-Davidson V-Rods and Big Twin motorcycles. Continue reading
