HDForums Sounds Off: The 13 Most Irritating Custom Trends
When it comes to custom bikes, I’m sure we would all love to be able to honestly say that nothing irritates us. After all, we’re nice enough, fairly open minded guys here. Sure, some trends might not be for you or me, but this is America, and America is about freedom. What your neighbor does to his bike might not be something that you would ever do to yours, but he’s more than free to do it. In fact, you love that he does what he’s free to do because his questionable choices only serve to reinforce your belief that freedom of choice is one of the greatest of all America’s ideals.
Sadly, however, reality is not as perfect as we wish it could be, and there are certain trends that just downright annoy some of you. It doesn’t make you any less of a freedom loving American if you’re one of those people. It just makes you human. John said he’s over the whole big wheel thing, but there were plenty of other responses as well. Here, for your reading pleasure, are the 13 custom trends that you guys declared the most irritating.
13) EasternSP: “Pictures of kittens on the fairing and tank.”
12)Irish 883: “Back in my sports bike days there was a trend of “furring” bikes. Literally covering them in some sort of animal print that was literally furry…I can’t help but shake my head when I see a bike rolling down the street covered in leopard ****. Thankfully it seems that it didn’t last more than a couple of years and I haven’t seen one in a long, long time.”
11)_Gir_: “It’s not irritating to me but just funny looking–fish tails. Leave ’em to the fishes.”
10)Upflying: “Most irritating: mega-watt audio systems on bikes and blasting it while riding”
9)Paul32730: “I have to throw my hat in with the big wheel haters right now. That’s only because the super-stretched front ends seem to have stopped.
I never understood how messing with the things that effect handling for cosmetic purposes became a trend. I guess there are only so many areas you can customize on a bike.”
8)sarpeezy: “ill probably catch a lot of heat for this, but i never like neons on bikes.”
7)beakerztoyz: “The “trend” that irritate’s me most is Little gas tanks, I just don’t understand it, back in the 60’s they ran peanut tanks on sportsters, and nowady’s it’s custom made 2.5 ounce tanks on bikes with 120 inch motors… It always just screams to me This bike isn’t really ridden anywhere.”
6)JaySwear: “Huge sissy bars on the back. I like the shorter ones, think it really adds to the look, but when it’s a few feet tall it just looks dumb. Especially when the vibrations from your bike at a stop light make the thing bounce around like a flag pole in a wind storm.”
5)Justin327: “Fringe….I just hate Fringe. And I can do without the ‘get back’ whips”
4)dog155: “Besides DooRags,facemasks and loud stereo’s it has to be super loud exhaust. Some of the bikes that blast by literally rattle things in the house. Funny thing is 20+ years ago it was me with the loud exhaust.”
3)Hopscotch: “Fog lights on an engine guard. End of story.”
2)Hopper: “The trend that something you buy ready to go and bolt on your bike is “custom”.
Used to be that custom involved at least an angle grinder and a welder.”
1) Frostbite: “The custom trend that bugs me is the fancy paint jobs that make me drool all over my chin and into my beard – what a mess!
I would love to do something like that, but up here I could buy a whole bike for the price of nice paint, so I dream, and drool……”