I don't want to sound like one of those old, crusty bikers I knew when I was young who started conversations with "Well, Sonny, when I was your age, we used to ...," but if you've been in this business long enough, everything comes full circle.

I was walking around Big Twin West in December, checking out the latest offerings from some talented local builders. I eavesdropped on a group of younger biker types as they chatted in front of a slammed, stretched, smoothed, skull-painted super-custom. "Dude! Whose primary is that?" said one Kustom Kulture dude. Another one said "Dude! It says here that this is a Yamaha!" They didn't say another word. They looked around to see whether anybody was watching them, put their hands in their pockets and walked away.

Economies of Scale High production volume, coupled with fewer changes between model years, has led to more metric bolt-ons than ever before Nov 1, 2006 By: Denny Berg

In the '80s and early '90s, it was difficult to modify a metric bike. Bolt-on parts were not readily available because the production numbers were not there to justify prototyping and producing them. A company has to justify to their bean-counters that a part will pay for its long road from idea to finished product, and make a profit.

Fading Stigma Whether it uses a metric platform or a domestic one, a custom motorcycle is an expression of the builder Sep 1, 2006 By: Denny Berg

I got home late last night from the shop — I'd been working on a couple of Suzuki M109s for Cobra. I was cleaning up, looking at the guy in the mirror and wondering at what point in time did I start looking like my father.

Well, it's deja vu all over again. When Big Twin Dealer asked me to write down my thoughts on the metric custom scene, I flashed back to 1970 when Japanese bikes started infiltrating the magazines and bike shows.