Blacked Out
As we move forward to black out our '06 Night Train test bike, we're up to the point of wanting to make the biggest change in the bike's looks by swapping out the paint. There was nothing wrong with the denim blue paintjob; it got a lot of compliments, but it's not black. As we looked through H-D's P&A catalog, there were a lot of paint choices, from bright colors to basic black. We wanted to black out the Night Train, but thought adding a little color to the bike would look better. We picked a black base with Harley's orange highlight flames. As we placed the order for the paint, H-D's P&A catalog guru Jennifer Gruber told us about the all-new Diamond Black Attack parts for the Softail line. We had the parts shipped to us, and once they arrived we went to Pomona Harley-Davidson to get the goods installed. Service Manager Chris Dyer handed the parts to Service Tech Brian Breeland and turned him loose on getting everything installed.

With baggers being all-around bigger bikes, that leaves more room to add parts and accessories. However, there's also a lot of room to upgrade stock components on these bikes like the speakers (those models that come with stereo) and the multiple gauges.

Boyesen Engineering, intake innovators for both the two-stroke and four-stroke markets since 1972, recently developed the Power X-Wing (MSRP: $129.95) specifically for the V-Twin market. Even though Boyesen has only dabbled "in the V-Twin industry" for a little over a year now, they know what it takes to achieve results.

Do you have a comment, question, complaint, or something you need to get off your chest? Then write us at: Speak Up, HOT BIKE, 2570 E. Cerritos Ave., Anaheim, CA 92806, or drop us a line at hot.bike@sourceinterlink.com.

As one of the editors of HOT BIKE, I have seen a lot of motorcycles over the years through the lens of a camera. One thing that I have noticed is no matter how much work went into getting a bike in the magazine or to getting it to stand out in a crowd, it was usually the paint job that got it noticed first. A good paint job can grab your eye from across a parking lot or snap your neck trying to get a second look. A builder could have countless hours in custom sheetmetal work, but it's not until the painter uses his or her creative touches that the bike really comes to life. From a stock Harley-Davidson to a top-notch custom one-off bike, it is essentially the paint that sets a bike apart from the rest.

After messing around with a Deuce, Chad Vollmer of Chester's Choppers decided it was time for a little more comfort on long hauls. Rather than start with a brand-new bagger, Chad wanted to see what he could do with a wrecked bike. It didn't make much sense to him to pay all that cash for a perfectly good bike when he would just be taking half of the parts off to put custom parts on anyway. He found what he was looking for, a cosmetically damaged '02 Electra Glide, in Jackson, Georgia.

Malcolm teams with Brenda in leading the Bike for Breast Cancer Awareness - EWC Top 50 Rally Park Charity Ride.

Bakersfield? Where the hell is Bakersfield? Is that on the way to Vegas?

Temecula, CA-Biltwell Inc., Four Aces Cycle and co-founders of the famed El Diablo Run have pooled their energy and resources to give motorcycle riders, garage builders, swap meet shoppers and fans of punk rock an event early buzz is saying will be the biggest and best of its kind in the western United States.

Picking parts for your bike usually requires you to decide between form and function. But there are some parts out there that serve needs, cool looks, and great functionality. One such part is Kryakyn's Flamin' Switchblade pegs ($149.00), a slick flame style footpeg with a hidden/flip-out heel rest to make those long rides more bearable.

Not everyone wants to hit a button to start his bike. For those guys, flipping out the old kicker pedal is just what you do. However, once you get your bike running, you swing the kicker pedal back out of the way of your leg and take off. Once you get going down the road the pedal can swing back out and get in the way of your leg as you ride or when you put your leg down when coming to a stop. If you own a bike with an old-style kicker pedal, then you have had to deal with this. Nash Motorcycle Co. has come up with a solution for you kickers out there which will stop the bruising of your leg.