"Custom" (rant)
 

Do you guys ever get the feeling that the word custom is used a little too freely with motorcycles?

I was looking throught Craigslist today (just something to do while I was taking a break) and kept seeing ads for "Custom Sportster", "Custom Suzuki", "Custom .......", etc...

Not one of these was a custom. Every one of them were in my opinion "Accessorized". They all had bolt-on this and that. A couple did have some nice paint but the majority were stock paint.

I have an old "biker" friend that stops in from time to time to shoot the shitand talk about the way he used to build bikes. We got started on this topic and he agrees with me. Just to give you an idea of the kind of guy Pappy is, after he saw the Crossbones, he rode over here and we were talking about it. He said "HD sure is taking the fun out of things...we used to have a lot of fun making bikes look like that...it was a lot of work but it was worth it"

I'll be the first to admit that my bike is not a "Custom" or "Customized" Wide Glide. Sure, I've had to do some work and had to rig a few things to get them to work but she is "Accessorized".

Trust me, I'm not trying to step on anyones toes. I just think the terms "Custom" and "Customized" are used too often for bikes that are "Accessorized".

Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

Well...OK....what ever than means...!

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

Not trying to split hairs or create an argument here but if you look at the true meaning of the word custom, anything that has been changed in a way that is different from the norm, it has been customized. So, technically, bolting on a set of Kuryakyn footpegs makes a bike custom.

Now, I know there are hardcore guys that feel like a bike isn't truly customized unless you created a part from scratch, rather than buying it off the shelf, and made it fit your bike. Or, unless you tore the entire bike down and rebuilt it as a complete 1-off. And, in the bike world, that may be the accepted meaning. But, in the true sense of the word, it doesn't take all that to be a "custom" bike.

With all that said, it is a bit overused for a lot of bikes. Mine is a custom only by name. Nothing on it is 1-off. But, I do consider my ride a "customized" superglide custom. It certainly isn't a stock bike - you gotta give me that.

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

Think about the word "custom", it's derived from "customer", so if it's "customized" it has been modified in some way to suit the "customer" who bought and owns it. So those non stock items make it a CUSTOM!
If a bike comes from the factory and isn't a special order, then it shouldn't be called aCUSTOM even if HD wants to call it that.IMHO;)

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

If its had custom parts added its customised ie not stock ... imo a custom build is a different animal as that describes a bike built from custom parts.

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

Marketing, marketing, marketing. We are a consumer-driven capatalist society and our culture is dictated by advertising, television, and thelatest craze.If logic states "custom is anything non-stock" then maybe there should be a better way of describing custom built bikes. Sure, people call them choppers but that word is so burnt to the ground (thanks to media overexposure) that you just say "custom". That mixes it in with all the bikes that people own that have been "customized", and certainly are described so in orderto sell on Craig's list. I've seen ads on Craigs list for "custom" bikes that wound up being Road Kings with concho saddle bags and Mustang seats. I've also seen ads for Deuces that turned out to be badass customized chopped and rebuilt bikes.... it's all marketing. You can't say "I wish people would stop using the word 'custom'" because the people that supposedly throw it around carelessly are just trying to sell something. I'm in the recording business and I own a studio. Logically, any place where art can be created and recorded is a studio. But in business, a studio used to be a professionally designed and built room with very expensive equipment and very skilled engineers and producers, whereas now a "recording studio" on Craigs list is some guy with a couple grand worth of equipment set up in his living room selling "studio time" for peanuts. And consumer level merchandise companies grab onto that (or is it the other way around?) and market to the home studio guys, making tons of cash and perpetuating the cycle. It's all f***ed all the way around. I'm with you Sway, I just had to get that off my chest. And I stay off of Craigs list.

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

lets just call them harleys:D

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

i dont think there is such thing as a "custom harley". its either a harley or it isnt.
a custom to me is a bike built from scratch or a least started with a bare frame.
if you have to get a VIN insp. and/or a builders title, you have a custom
i'm lazy so i just have a harley that has a diff. paint job, minus some lame crap and added some cool(imho) crap to
let the ranting continue:D

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

The only term probably abused more than "custom" in bike circles has to be, without a doubt, the term Old School. Or Old Skool if your under 30 and still live with your parents.................

No matter how you spell it, this is a way over used term and not even just in with bikes. Friggin' kids these days think that anything that was in style a mere ten years ago can be revived and they can slap "Old School" on it.

I wanna puke everytime I hear that cliche tossed around...........[:'(]

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

Sure there is. Mine is a Dyna Superglide "CUSTOM"[sm=happybounce.gif]

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

i stand corrected:D

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

It doesn't bother me in the least, either way... "custom" is just a word...

However, I will say this: all of the changes to my bike, I have done myself, with my own hands, within my admittedly limited skills.

I'd much rather do that, than be the guy who purchases a $30,000 turn-key chopper, that he didn't lift a finger to, and proudly rides it around town like it means something.

That's my rant. Y'all can continue, now.

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

well said.
Risdo, is that the harley spoiler on your bike?

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

I think you might be onto something there. It's not logic that states that custom is anything non-stock, it's called a dictionary that states it, in so many words. So, by definition, changing something that is "standard" or in this case "stock" by adding or modifying things for the specific needs and/or comfort/taste/use of the customer (rider/owner), you are custom-izing it and therefore it is "custom". Therefore, it would seem appropriate to find a different term to use to differentiate between a customized stock bike and a custom built, 1-off bike. Now, who wants to come up with the new term and mark their place in pop-culture history? [8D]

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

Greg, you answered you own question with this "custom built, 1-off bike". Some people forget that everyone has different skill sets. Some folks can turn a wrench, paint, weld, fabricate, etc., while others just don't have that ability. I can do some, but not all, and being away as long as I have, when I'm home I don't want to spend the time in the garage, I want to spend it with my family and out riding. So, if I have some spare change in my pocket and I can pay someone to bolt on the parts that I chose because I thought they would look good on my bike, then I'm more than happy to.

I personally could care less who did the wrenching, whether it's a guy doing it in his own garage or a tech at a shop. The final product is what catches my eye. Yeah, I had a blast when I "customized" my Ironhead Sportster, and I got great satisfaction out of knowing I did most of the work and design of it myself, I just chose a different route this time around. In the end, it is still my ideas that have gone into my bike. Yeah, others may have some of the same parts, but I can guarantee you won't find another bike like mine.

I think some people spend way too much time worrying about who is the "real customizer" or "real biker".

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

No, I didn't like the Harley spoiler. To me, it has a strange shape.

It's the Doss Chin Spoiler, part #701-498, on page 599 in the J&P Cycles 2007 catalog. It doesn't fit the 2007 right; I had to do some cutting with my dremel tool.

http://www.jpcycles.com/catalog/2007...talog/0601.asp

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

I'll tell you what craigslist does however have some custom hookers for hourly rates

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

...and let's just ride!

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

don't you mean 'customising' ?

:)

sorry ... it was just sitting there ... someone had to say it !

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

Actually, the term I would've used is more like "appalachian engineering"... :D

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

I agree with Sway who started this thread...
To me 'custom' means MAKE IT YOURSELF. Alot has changed in in this world, and if the majority of people think it means pull the plastic off and bolt it on, well the reality is they're just walkin' through the shopping mall. I seen a lot of flared attitudes on this forum with this subject. It's not worth fighting about, but I think we all know what makes something trully unique.

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

That's just it though - that's what custom means to YOU. But, that's not what custom actually means. Custom and Unique, by true definition, are not necessarily synonymous. There is nothing about the word custom that means it has to be the only one. Unique, however, does mean "the only one" or "like nothing else". I don't think anybody is arguing as much as we are just discussing it. I do agree that some have come to believe, in the bike world, that custom means it is hand built and/or unique. But, that's simply not truly what custom means. So, when someone describes a bike as a "custom", they aren't misleading anyone, they just mean they have modified it from the norm (stock). And I don't agree that the MoCo misuses the term either. Take my bike, the Super Glide Custom, for example. Technically it is a Super Glide Standard that has been modified with extras so, therefore, it has been customized. That doesn't mean there can't be more than one. Now, if they made, for example, a "X-Glide Custom" but had no standard "X-Glide" in the lineup, it would then be a bogus use of the term custom in my opinion.

With all that said, you may not be worthy of as much "street cred" for off the shelf mods vs. truly unique, hand made mods, you still have the right, by definition, to call yours a "custom" bike.

That's not just my opinion or definition, it's Webster's as well.

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

does it really matter? sounds like cabin fever

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

Symantics do matter in attempting to communicate. Many serious ramifications have resulted from themisuse or missunderstanding of words. That's what makes the English language so universal, like Latin, each word has a specific meaning despite the location or culture involved.
Slang, on the otherhand, leaves opennings for misreading that leads to missunderstanding.
And I'm not even snowbound!;)

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

Nope doesn't matter. Definitely cabin fever "fodder".

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

Could have been-should have been doing more custom work on my bike rather than reading this thread. I agree with what someone already said. Cabin fever.

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

very well put, i couldnt agree with you anymore on this topic. call it Accessorized or modified, not custom. jackyl

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

I prefer "asthetically reconfigured" or "butchered".

RE: "Custom" (rant)
 

HA ha.... good one Sway.

Folks can parse the word custom from here to eternity and beyond.

At the bottom below is a screenshot directly from the HD website.

Let us not forget -
the Dyna line came about after the marketing geniuses at the "MoCo"
watched the bikers pull the SportSter front end,
and work it onto the frame of the big machines.

mud.........

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6509/bargerfu0.jpg

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/859/customizeip9.jpg