Click on the image to view three classic Arlen Ness customs
Arlen Ness, a legend to the custom bike community, started out by painting customer bikes on the weekends as he worked to deliver furniture during the week to pay the bills. Gradually, his skills and reputation transformed his small company into the parts-selling juggernaut that it is today. Along the way, Ness has created quite a few one-off creations, many of which are now considered to be classics. Some of them, like the '57 Chevy knock-off "Ness-talgia", twin-engined and twin-supercharged "Ferrari-bike" (above) and Bugatti-inspired "Smooth-Ness" recall iconic automotive designs of years past. According to Ness, those three bikes represent some of his personal favorites, and each of them, along with many others, will be on display at an upcoming exhibit at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio called Awesome-Ness. Interested in attending? The event will run from July 24 through the end of June 2009.
[Source: Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SPG @ Apr 25th 2008 8:52AM
The red one looks like a shop style tool box.
Shipey @ Apr 25th 2008 9:34AM
The only thing less tasteful than Ness bikes are OCC bikes.
Blech.
Give me Salinas Boys any day.
nexus @ Apr 25th 2008 10:45AM
You know everytime I look at these Arlen Ness custom bikes, I can't feel like I'm looking at bikes that were inspired by the '70s. I'm sure this man can build good quality custom bikes. It may be appealing to some, but the bikes look like they were made for the Bee Gees.
Carlos @ Apr 25th 2008 12:44PM
Smooth-ness looks like a bike batman would ride.
harribert @ Apr 25th 2008 1:29PM
first thing that sprung to mind when i saw that was "testarossa"
now if it had a boxer engine...