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• Hamann Soltador is a Chopper-Shaped Porsche Tribute

  In Motorcycles / By Tom Anderson / 14 March 2013

  

  This year’s Geneva Motor Show (which runs through this Sunday in case you’re in the neighborhood) is stacked to the rafters with new tuned and customized cars from Europe’s most popular tuners. It’s almost enough to make a person’s head spin. And all those tuned cars – as well as the numerous stock vehicles – also draw attention away from the vehicles that don’t fit into either of those categories.

  Vehicles like, say, this highly-customized chopper. But it hasn’t been built by Arlen Ness or some other well-known chopper shop; no, it’s a product of Hamann. Yes Hamann, the firm better known for sprucing up four-wheeled conveyances from various and sundry European nameplates like Mercedes-Benz and BMW. So what is it doing fooling with an American-style, American-powered motorcycle?

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• Confederate Motorcycles Clears the X132 Hellcat for Takeoff

  In Motorcycles / By Tom Anderson / 7 December 2011

  

  Thanks in no small part to fewer parts and less stringent safety and emissions regulations, there are far more independent motorcycle manufacturers in this country than there are independent car manufacturers. And one of the hottest small bike builders in America is Confederate Motorcycles. For over 20 years, founder and CEO H. Matthew Chambers and crew have been churning out lithe, muscular chopper/street fighter halfbreeds from their factory.

  And for much of the company’s history, the cornerstone of the lineup has been the Hellcat. Named after Grumman’s F6F Hellcat fighter plane from WWII (a plane which, incidentally, our late great uncle flew to great effect against the air and ground forces of Imperial Japan), Confederate rolled out its first Hellcat in 1996. Five years later, production of the first gen Hellcat ended after about 499 more were produced. The second gen Hellcat arrived in 2003, and roughly 75 of those were produced. Now the third iteration of the Hellcat – the X132 – is here, and it’s arguably the most thoroughly Confederate Motorcycles bike yet.

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• VIDEO: Chopper Shop Brings Tron Light Cycle to Life

  In Motorcycles / By Tom Anderson / 2 December 2010

  

  By the early 1980s, the Computer Age had well and truly dawned. Personal computers began popping up in homes and offices with increasing regularity, and video arcades dotted the American landscape and were favored hangouts of many a youth. (Yes, kids, you used to have to leave the house to get your gaming fix. And interact with other people. Face-to-face. Terrifying, no?)

  Of course, all this new technology provided plenty of fodder for Hollywood screenwriters, who turned out many a tale of digital deviousness. One of the most memorable such films was 1982’s Tron, a Disney vehicle that saw Kevin Flynn – played by a 16-years B.D. (Before The Dude) Jeff Bridges – sucked into a computer, whereupon he had to fight for his real survival in a virtual world. One of the means of putting him in peril was the light cycle, and with the sequel (which has Bridges reprising his role and, more importantly, Olivia Wilde as the female lead) hitting theaters in a couple weeks, one custom bike shop clearly thought it would be cool to make the new-generation light cycle a reality.

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• Honda Fury Takes “Factory Customized” to a New Level

  In Motorcycles / By Tom Anderson / 28 August 2010

  

  If there’s one niche of the motorcycling world that has really exploded over the last decade, it’s that of the custom chopper. Whether or not you’re a fan of reality shows like American Chopper or celebs like Brad Pitt, the fact of the matter is that they and their ilk have exponentially grown mainstream awareness and appreciation of thumping, two-wheeled sculputre. So why haven’t the OEMs been as quick to embrace the chopper’s popularity?

  Granted, Harley-Davidson and the Japanese offer “custom” versions of their cruisers which feature such touches as fancier exhaust systems, reshaped fenders, gas tanks and lights, and maybe even an extra degree or two of rake on the fork. Cool looking? Certainly. Choppers? Hardly. Rather than asking why no manufacturer has offered something more radical, Honda decided to do something about it. That something is the Fury.

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