If you live in the Bismarck/Mandan area there’s a chance you may have seen this bike on the streets. At first look you might have thought you passed some sort of outlaw biker from the 60s. Actually, who you passed was a fellow by the name of Ryan Savenko. If you’ve ever met him you know he’s not really an outlaw, but actually one of the nicest guys you’ll ever know. He’s also got a super cool custom Harley that started life as a 2002 Softail. Gasoline recently stopped by Ryan’s shop to check it out.

The bike hardly resembles any sort of stock Harley you’d find in the dealership these days. Instead, with numerous parts stripped off and a few new ones tastefully added to suit his style, Ryan’s bike looks like it may have been born in the early 60s instead of only a few years ago. The only hint is the modern twin cam engine that adds power and reliability that bikers 50 years ago could only dream of.

The simplicity of Ryan’s bike may be what makes it so eye-catching. Simple, on the other hand, may not be the best word to describe riding this machine. Maybe one of  the coolest features is the jockey shift setup with foot clutch. If you’re not familiar with this, the clutch is operated with your left foot and shifting is accomplished via your left hand with a short shifter located below the seat area on the left side of the bike. Now go ahead and take away the front brake. Think for a minute… That leaves both feet pretty busy as you pull up to a stoplight unless that sucker’s in neutral. How many people do you know with the cojones to ride a bike like that? Ryan Savenko does it. Respect.

So the big cheese here at Gasoline has bestowed upon me the task of writing a “Stock vs. Custom” article. I’m not sure if he picked the wrong person, or if he did it on purpose, because I can’t really think of too many arguments for the “stock” crowd.  But maybe that’s just me?

Now don’t get me wrong, if you ride a stock bike I’m not calling you an idiot or anything.  Imagine you showed up at a hoppin’ social gathering and some other cool cat was wearing the exact same pastel purple leisure suit as you. You’d feel kinda like a tool, right? Now just change the scenario around. Imagine you’re out popping wheelies and tearing up the streets all day on your stock Harley. You’re feeling pretty cool and then you pull up to a stoplight right beside some other dude with the same exact bike as yours, right down to the paint job. The cool level of your bike has just dropped. You need to add some
personality, dude.

A guy doesn’t have to have a full-blown built-from-scratch chopper to stand out a little from the other bikes parked in front of the local pub. There are a million ways to make your bike your own. Maybe the most drastic change you could make without actually changing any parts would be a new paint job. Take those tins off and get some flames put on ‘em. Maybe some bass boat metal flake? Get a picture of your mom airbrushed on the tank. What it is isn’t really as important as the fact that it’s original, and a representation of who you are. If you don’t wanna drop the Benjamins on a new paint job, don’t. Heck, you can probably make your bike more unique without spending a dime. Take some crap off. It doesn’t cost anything to lose unnecessary trinkets here and there and it can make a big visual impact. Sometimes less is more as they say.

I could write a novel about ways to customize your bike but I don’t have the time or the space, and I really don’t want to.  What one guy thinks is cool, the next guy might not. Some people might prefer a 20-foot-long OCC bike tricked out with a water fountain and a fish tank, and some people might prefer a WCC bike tricked out with nothing more than what it absolutely needs. Just make your bike an extension of your personality. Pick up ideas where you can and keep it to you  or your buddies’ abilities. Just because you saw a killer chopper on Biker Build-off doesn’t mean you can turn your Gold Wing into the same thing with a torch, a 9/16ths wrench and some JB weld. Now quit reading and go customize! (Actually finish the mag, then get out there.)

We’re wrapping up the season with some simple painting and pinstriping. Well, pinstriping maybe isn’t so simple, unless you’ve got lots of practice under your belt that is. For this month’s how-to I started out by purchasing a sweet open face helmet from a swap meet. Okay… not a swap meet, but the world-wide-web. So now I have this new helmet but hate the color of it and I look like a nerd riding around in it. I still want to keep my head safe at all times so I’m going to show you how to turn your helmet from uncool to way cool and “ol’ skool.” For this job I found a friend, Jon Larson from Larsons Creative Concepts to help me with some pinstriping.

Step 1: Alright, first we need to clean the helmet and take off any materials(decals, emblems, etc.) you can. If you can’t take anything off, it’s time for the next step.

Step 2: Grab some masking tape and start taping off anything you don’t want to get paint on.

Step 3: Once the helmet is all taped off, you are ready to scuff. Purchase a red scuff pad at your local home improvement store. If the helmet is already pretty smooth and you just need to have paint stick, scuffing should be good enough. In other cases, more sanding may
be required.

Step 4: Once you are done scuffing the helmet, grab a tack rag and clean off all the dust from scuffing.

Step 5: Now this is an average joe paint job, so grab some rattle cans and get to work. You will want to purchase some primer and then a color of your choosing. Spray the helmet with primer and let it dry.

Step 6:  Next grab your cool color. Mine is flat black because it’s the most badass color you can make anything. Spray as many coats as you like. We stopped after 4 coats.
Step 7: When the paint has dryed for over 24 hours, it’s time for the next step. I tried to do my own artwork, but when you don’t have the right tools, you can’t do the right job. So we reached out to our friend Jon Larson from Larsons Creative Concepts and gave him full reign over the artwork. I gave him a few ideas and let him get to work.

Step 8: Of course before you know it, it was a day before we left for Sturgis and Jon was waiting ‘til the last minute. No worries, Jon drew out the pinstripe and the artwork and transferred the artwork to the helmet. Once Jon placed the artwork on the helmet he got out his trusty pinstripe brush and started laying paint.

Step 9: Once all the paint was laid out, Jon had to add a little something. He told me to leave and then come back in 10 minutes. The little bit of accenting color he added made the helmet complete.

Step 10: Let the paint dry and put the helmet back together. Before you pull the tape up, you might need to cut around the tape where any paint has built up. Once you have it all together, throw the helmet on and hit the streets looking badass!

We know your wallet is low, so is ours! We want to help you and your motorcycle shop out! For 2012 we have a new section of SHOP ADS, a section in the magazine where you can place affordable advertising that won’t break the bank. Shop ads will help motorcycle riders around the upper midwest, Sturgis and around the world know where to go if they are in your area. For $375/year you can not get a better deal. Email us at chad@gasolinemag.com or call 701.202.0683

No you are not seeing things, we are offering 50% off all of our current ad prices. This is our way of getting you the best discount and be inside the biggest FREE motorcycle magazine in the upper midwest. This means you can place all your ads for 50% off the ad price on our media kit and that means huge SAVINGS! Gasoline Magazine is distributed through out North Dakota, South Dakota (Sturgis Rally) and surrounding midwest states. Gasoline Magazine is also popular online, with over 2,000 online subscribers you can not go wrong with spending a few bucks to get your business inside the largest and fastest growing publication in the motorcycle industry. Tell your friends, tell your mom, it is time to advertise in Gasoline Magazine and you can do it for pennies. YOU NEED TO PLACE YOUR AD BY FEBRUARY 3, 2012 AND PAY BY MARCH 23, 2012. So a few months to add to your piggy bank and then bust it open by spring to pay. Easy! It is our way of giving back for 2012, so don’t miss out, once February 3, 2012 has past prices go back to normal and you lost your chance a huge savings!

Contact us at www.gasolinemag.com, contact@gasolinemag.com,(General)  chad@gasolinemag.com (Founder) or trevor@gasolinemag.com (Sales Rep)

2012 Ad Prices, Download 2012 Gasoline Magazine Digital Media Kit for more information.

Full Page Ad, $1,100.00 Now $550.00

1/2 Page Ad, $610.00 Now $305.00

1/4 Page Ad, $350.00 Now $175.00

Name:

Email:

Describe what you are doing, where you were riding:

Description of motorcycle:

No you are not seeing things, we are offering 50% off all of our current ad prices. This is our way of getting you the best discount and be inside the biggest FREE motorcycle magazine in the upper midwest. This means you can place all your ads for 50% off the ad price on our media kit and that means huge SAVINGS! Gasoline Magazine is distributed through out North Dakota, South Dakota (Sturgis Rally) and surrounding midwest states. Gasoline Magazine is also popular online, with over 2,000 online subscribers you can not go wrong with spending a few bucks to get your business inside the largest and fastest growing publication in the motorcycle industry. Tell your friends, tell your mom, it is time to advertise in Gasoline Magazine and you can do it for pennies. YOU NEED TO PLACE YOUR AD BY FEBRUARY 3, 2012 AND PAY BY MARCH 23, 2012. So a few months to add to your piggy bank and then bust it open by spring to pay. Easy! It is our way of giving back for 2012, so don’t miss out, once February 3, 2012 has past prices go back to normal and you lost your chance a huge savings!

Contact us at www.gasolinemag.com, contact@gasolinemag.com,(General)  chad@gasolinemag.com (Founder) or trevor@gasolinemag.com (Sales Rep)

2012 Ad Prices, Download 2012 Gasoline Magazine Digital Media Kit for more information.

Full Page Ad, $1,100.00 Now $550.00

1/2 Page Ad, $610.00 Now $305.00

1/4 Page Ad, $350.00 Now $175.00

For 2012 we putting together our list of bike shows and we want to be your sponsor for the show and attend the show. Please send us your information to contact@gasolinemag.com, we want to be a part of your bike show and be present there. The earlier the better for us to know about the event to plan you into our budget.

Thank You!

Gasoline Magazine

Merry Christmas and check back with us in January!

New podcast just posted on www.wideopenradioshow.com featuring Chad Hatzenbuhler from Gasoline Magazine and John Nowacki. Click here, now to listen to us discuss last week’s Biker Build Off on Discovery! Remember, the show starts about 5 minutes into the podcast. Also check out Wide Open Radio with host Kourtney Lambert.