Mixed results on this one. Wish I had the answer. Went to a bike show this past weekend. Great looking bikes. The way it was set up was there were signs of the different classes that one's bike would fall under. There was so much controversy it really was ridiculous. Okay, for one, this show was run by not so much judges. Amateurs. Here goes. There was a signs there for 7 different classes but the 2 that got everyone pissed about was the Customs and the Stock. What is the difference one says. They were throwing some great looking rides into the Customs because they had chrome on them and in my honest opinion should of been in the Stock category. I am no expert on this at all. Now, my question. When does one's bike become a Custom? Hopefully I get some good reviews on this one...Thanks and sorry for the long post...

 

I think what the judges were thinking was a bike that has had chrome added is classified as custom cause its a upgrade from stock. Basically stock is off the showroom floor

 

IMHO, anything that comes out of the manufacturers catalog is stock. Custom would be any aftermarket parts or physical/mechanical mods.

 

I guess your opinion is wrong. Stock is right from the showroom floor. Chrome, grips, seats, etc. change the bikes look which makes it custom to the owners taste.

 

why would you have a stock class if you could change nothing on it? showroom stock class would just be a matter of who spent the most time cleaning and polishing! i agree with tracker56. lot of the clowns around here already spend way too much time detailing their bikes---don't tell them they can enter a bike show too. they will never get any riding done.

 

I guess it's up to who runs the event as to what is stock and what isn't. Nothing wrong with cleaning your bike, a lot wrong with just looking at it.

 

I would have to agree with the OP here. If the part is the same as stock just a different color (in this case chrome) it is still stock. In my opinion custom is when you change or add stuff that wasn't on there stock. Stock class typically is for older restored models that show off how much work one did to get factory look back. If you bike is newer and stock and you want to show off your detailing skills who cares you don't belong in a contest for that.

 

There are no set rules so who ever is putting on the shows needs to have it figured out before the shows start. To me chroming a few painted painted parts shouldnt make a bike fall into the custom category where its judged with 100,000 thousand dollar bikes that have never been started. I would think most bikes that have stock wheels, tins, drive train should be considered stock class most of the time

 

So, you believe in the "factory custom" class...that's cool. I don't, let's leave it at that. :-)

 

I think the lines of the bike need to be changed for a bike to be considered "customized". So something like bars, seat, wheels, tins, etc. would need to be significantly different from what the bike originally came with. I wouldn't think things like grips, pegs, exhaust, covers (chrome or black) would be enough to consider a bike "custom". Upgraded, perhaps but custom, no. I don't consider my bike custom and it has, bars, seat, sissy bar, pipes, a/c, covers, pegs, grips, and an axle mount license plate. Just my 2 cents.