Dave Johnson is a genuine connoisseur of motorcycle rallies and events. Like Johnny Cash, “He’s been everywhere, man.” From Laconia to Laughlin, Dave and his wife Jan have been to every major motorcycle event America has to offer. Dave is the original owner of a 2006 CVO Screamin’ Eagle Ultra that he has customized over the years using a wide range of aftermarket parts. It’s with this Ultra that the Johnsons regularly rode coast-to-coast exploring the roadways of the USA. In the winter of 2011, Dave decided that he wanted to build a complete ground-up custom bagger that exhibited his style while still allowing him and Jan to ride to the rallies they had grown to love. With a loose plan in mind, Dave got together with the guys at Bad Dad to discuss the ideas for his 2007 Road Glide project.

They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure: case in point, the woeful ’09 Harley FLHX Jevon Lau of Pickard USA stumbled upon at auction last year.

Us biker types who live in the snowy winter states sincerely appreciate the warm weather riding months, and probably appreciate the seasonally warm weather more than those riders who live in the more southern latitudes. Cold weather for snowy state riders usually means maintenance and rebuilding duties are to be performed before the next riding season begins. Sometimes instead of doing the maintenance or overhauling the motor, some guys just trade their existing motorcycle for a new one. Not Todd Bolken. He told me this is his “Forever Bike” and it will never be sold or leave his possession. How’s that for loyalty?

Noel Kaai is no stranger to custom bikes. In addition to his history with tricked-out sport bikes, he previously owned a Big Bear Pro Street sled that was built by Mikey’s Speed Shop in Hawaii. While Noel loved the chopper to death, he eventually sold the big bad bike because it was just too uncomfortable for two-up riding with his wife, Tami.

Yes, we know this is a Softail, and we’re okay with that. When this magazine was founded far off in the misty past of 2006, its venerable founders debated back and forth over what constituted a bagger—just touring bikes, or anything with saddlebags and a windscreen? A half a decade’s bike features later, we think we’ve reached a good compromise—mostly tourers, but if it’s a big cruiser that’s cool enough, we’ll make an exception. This is one such motorcycle.

In the 21st century, the term “bike builder” doesn’t mean what it once did. Once upon a time, being a bike builder meant having a shop with an arsenal of machines run by men with the skills necessary to fabricate whatever parts they needed to turn their flights of fancy into rolling sculptures of steel reality. But nowadays, far too often it means a warehouse where aftermarket prefab parts are bolted onto a bike with all the creativity of a snap-together model kit.

Using this 2011 Road Glide as a daily rider is akin to swatting flies with a 12-gauge pump. It’s far louder and more powerful than the job requires, but it must be fun. Tommy Bedford had Dusold Designs modify it just for that purpose, though. Well, that plus handling this beast with a heavy throttle hand. Tommy is a power player. Burnouts and wheelies are his meat and potatoes. If ponies are his entrée, then thumping bass is the gravy. I really hope he isn’t into show tunes, though. Nothing kills a good mood for me worse than a musical blasting at max volume.

As baggers take over the planet, it becomes not so much a matter of if you should own a tour-built machine, but which one. If you’re looking for a versatile motorcycle that feels at home on the highway or mean city street, Harley-Davidson’s Road Glide Custom may be a good fit and getting a used one is a great deal.

The big daddy of the Road Glide models, the CVO Road Glide Custom sets itself apart by having a big motor, three killer color combinations, and a rather large price tag.

We have known about the boys from Ballistic for quite some time. First with crazy choppers and custom bikes and now with award winning baggers that have seemed to have turned the custom touring word on its ear. Ballistic Cycle’s baggers are sleek machines that look more at home at speed than standing still. Bikes with wildly creative bodywork, extremely large wheels, and paint schemes that seem to come out of a future chock full with coolness.

After seeing Ballistic’s 30-inch wheeled bike at the V-Twin show in early 2011 we just had to sit down with the guys and have them give us the straight story on there latest two-wheeled work of art.

Wyan Wheeler, what a appropriate name for a motorcycle rider. Ryan hasn’t always been a Bagger enthusiast. Like most of us who started riding motorcycles at a tender age, in Ryan’s case 16 years old, he started riding on a motocross machine. That first machine was a 238 Kawasaki Greenstreak. The Greenstreak was Kawasakis first mass-produced race bike and after one crack of the throttle Ryan was bitten by the motorcycle bug in a big way.

Matt Anderson first met Derk Hinsey of Bad Dad in a classroom in 2007. Matt was sitting behind the desk of a custom paint class that Derk was teaching for Ivy Tech Community College. Derk was teaching the class as part of an experimental course for the school and Matt, who was already in the painting industry, had enrolled in the class to further practice and expand his painting portfolio. Derk identified Matt as being one of his premier students and was impressed enough with Matt’s expertise and work ethic that he not only gave Matt an A in the course but also offered Matt a job doing all of the paint work at Bad Dad.

Ghosts are all around us. We humans have limited perception bandwidth of sight and sound and whether real or imagined, echoes of the past surround us constantly. It’s scientific fact that long-ago aired radio broadcasts appear every now and then because they’ve apparently bounced off the moon. Imagine if you could see and hear all the TV, satellite, cell phone, and infrared radiations that flow through the room you’re in right now. We’re designed to filter out unnecessary frequencies and that includes ghosts. Southern California has some notorious haunted locations and this Ghost Writer took a haunted motorcycle jaunt and spent the night at three of them. First, the infamous Queen Mary; Room 307 at the Glen Tavern Inn, purported to be in the paranormal top 10; and finally Room 8 at the Joshua Tree Inn, where songwriter/musician Gram Parsons of the Byrds died.

As Bob Seger sang, “rock and roll never forgets…” Not that you’d notice though. Hip-hop and pop reign supreme on the radio, in movies, and on TV. And lately it seems rock and roll has become more of a guilty pleasure, resigned to man-caves where Neanderthal types swill beer, stand around looking at motorcycles, and play AC/DC way past appropriate volumes. Well, long live heavy metal, because we ain’t dead yet. There’s still plenty of time to listen to big band favorites. After all, what are we gonna do, pull up at a stoplight playing Lawrence Welk at maximum volume?

This month we have a few releases guaranteed to help you pound the pavement into submission, especially if you’re the type who has at least one saddlebag stuffed with an amp and subwoofer. Who needs loud pipes when you have loud speakers? And no, we’re not promoting socially irresponsible or hearing-threatening behavior by casting a vote for loud music. Sometimes you just gotta kick out the jams. Listen responsibly.

My journey with the Victory Cross Country Tour (XCT) began at Skagit Valley Polaris/Victory/Kawasaki in Mt. Vernon, Washington. Dan Jantz, owner of the dealership, and I spent a few minutes going over the basics of the controls, the dashboard functions, and how the cruise control and audio features worked. Dan had done a service on the bike, changing the oil and getting it ready for my three-week ride.

I had travelled China 20 years ago and recently returned to ride with the Shanghai H.O.G.s to the third annual H.O.G. event in Qingdao. Though the roads are challenging and traffic a real-life video game where you’re the target, I had found a Zen traversing these roads. I found new friends, foods, and fantastic experiences. Like riding an American Harley-Davidson motorcycle through communist China. How apropos. The Chinese can get large-cc Japanese motorcycles but they want Harley-Davidsons, the icon of personal freedom worldwide.

When I first saw Jim Stuart's 2007 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Standard here, I thought of a razor. I wasn't sure why at first. The Palladium Silver paint shouts, "Look at me, I'm metal!" When you absorb the precision fit of the side panels and the tire-hugging fenders with their complex curves and points, the total package is just outstanding. (Mark Masker's initial thoughts on this bike)

As the old saying goes “If you’re lucky enough to live in the Black Hills of South Dakota, you’re lucky enough.” That’s a true statement any way you look at it. Being able to do your motorcycle riding in the Black Hills makes you even luckier, and that’s how Bart Samuelson feels. His blower- equipped bagger, with Power Commander controller and Klock Werks exhaust can easily pull the hills, and blast the straights on the many scenic, smooth, well maintained roads in the area of Spearfish, South Dakota where Bart resides. Wiseco pistons replaced the H-D items to reduce compression for best performance with the blower. Spearfish is only 17 miles Northwest of Sturgis, South Dakota, arguably the biggest and baddest motorcycle rally in the world.

Since its debut for the 2006 model year, the Harley-Davidson Street Glide has been at the top of the touring class as well as one of the most popular bikes in Harley’s stable. While the idea for the Street Glide was to take an Electra Glide and essentially make it cooler by the subtraction and addition of accessories, the OE (Original Equipment) Street Glide as offered from the dealer is still rather understated as custom bikes go.

We recently had an opportunity to throw a leg over the newest Arlen Ness Victory Vision. Before even reading anything on the page it was probably clear this bike is bright and bold dressed in a Nuclear Sunset orange hue. Arlen Ness has been painting and building bikes for over 40 years and has amassed worldwide recognition for his forward thinking custom builds and extensive parts line. Many of Arlen’s most famous creations have usually stood out from his peers; his unique eye for style has rarely been described as subtle. Adding to the Ness popularity is the fact that Arlen is about as humble a man you’ll ever meet—gracious, soft-spoken, and genuine. A testament to his legacy is his family and coworkers Cory and Zach, Arlen’s son and grandson respectively. Somehow, whether through nature or nurture or both, the two developed the talent and drive to build motorcycles. Cory and Zach each have a Victory Signature Series model as well. Each of the bikes is a numbered, limited edition, custom Victory model styled by three Ness generations.

Shine on You Crazy Diamond

Visiting China in 1991, I left with vivid images of a thousand bicycles flooding Chinese roads. Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine traversing those same roads with hundreds of Harley-Davidsons. Twenty years later China now has more than 40,000 miles of highway (and 2.3-million miles of paved public roads). Within a few years China will surpass the United States and have the most extensive highway system in the world. Currently, motorcycles are restricted from elevated highways and some inner ring roads. In fact, 80 cities across China have some sort of motorcycle licensing, riding, or ownership restrictions. Some cities completely ban motorized two-wheel vehicles. It’s reasoned that restricting motorcycles rather than cars decreases traffic on the congested urban streets.

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word Idaho? Quick. What was it? Potatoes would be the first thing that pops into my head. Mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, baked potatoes, and most of all French-fried potatoes, that’s what I think about. As a matter of fact, the word Idaho actually makes me hungry.

Over the past year or so I’ve heard rumblings about CamTech Custom Baggers in Summerville, South Carolina. The CamTech crew led by Cameron Jurow, have won just about every motorcycle and bagger show they enter, including Bagger of the Year. CamTech’s bikes have graced the covers of just about every major magazine. When I first met Cameron he said he had a few bikes for me look at. Cameron emailed me one; then another an hour later. I decided to feature the first one I saw, but then Cameron just kept sending them in—I lost count after 11. I had to actually stop him as each bike was just making the decision harder. That’s when I decided upon the two-bike feature; both builds based on the popular Harley Street Glide platform. I caught up with Cameron and interrupted his busy day with some rapid-fire questions

I can remember the cool, rainy morning in Daytona Beach four years ago. Jeff G. Holt recently started at Baggers and we shared a room for a week; although it felt more like a month with the little amount of sleep we had. It’s not like that morning itself was so special but Jeff and I were up all night entertaining some of the local dancers when we remembered we were supposed to go to a fancy breakfast honoring, if memory serves possibly Arlen Ness with some English chopper assembler with dyed hair interviewing him. Since Jeff and I RSVP’d, it was only right we show up in our sunglasses, grab some grub, and slip out before the final applause.