Watch for motorcycles," is typically the phrase you'll find on many highway signs and bumper stickers. However, there are the few motorcycles you don't have to keep an eye out for like Tyler Foster's '02 Road King Classic as it shakes the ground when he rides the highway. Tyler has created his own sound in the world with his custom exhaust shop SikPipes. Tyler's custom exhaust on his Road King has everyone in their cars, walking down the streets, and even at many shows turning their heads to find out where that deep sound is coming from.

Email your submissions to: Hot.Bike@sorc.com Or snail mail to: HB Reader's Showcase 2570 E. Cerrotos Ave, Anaheim, CA. 92806. Please include hi-res jpegs, your name, hometown, email, phone #, bike year/model, engine size, frame, wheels, sheetmetal, painter, custom accessories, and anything else interesting about your bike.

Ever since early man accidentally dropped his brontosaurus burger on a dried up salt lakebed and realized salt's tasty goodness, the mineral has been used by humans for everything from food preservation, trade, and religious activities to hide curing and food seasoning. However, this may be the first instance in which salt has been the inspiration behind a motorcycle model.

Since 2004 Road Dog Customs has been dropping, flaking, striping, and ape hanging just about every Harley that rolls into its Santa Fe Springs, California, shop. Road Dog has also been pinned as being one of the shops that created the "Vato" or "Homeboy" look that started in Los Angeles with the Harlistas (slang for a Harley enthusiast of Mexican-American heritage) and has since grown across the USA, Japan, and Europe.

There aren't too many business owners in our industry that come to the table with the experience or credentials that Gerald Rinehart, President of Rinehart Racing (rinehartracing.com) does. And while the company may not have the extensive history in the V-twin industry as some of the other exhaust manufacturers, its rapid success and popularity is impressive. We recently had the opportunity to spend some time with Gerald, his son and COO, Kyle, and his CEO, Judd Hollifield, to learn a little about the beginning and future of Rinehart Racing.

H-D Shovelhead Chopper
Year: 1977
Make: H-D
MSRP: $30,000 (est.)
Mileage: ? (No Speedo)
Rider: Jeff G. Holt

Dante DePaola has been into motorcycles since he was a little kid. He probably wouldn't have been exposed to bikes if not for his uncles, Al and Angelo. When he was 8 years old his uncle Al gave him an XR80 and he was hooked. Al also introduced him to Ron Simms, who was a huge influence on Dante. Al and Angelo have been riding Harleys for more than 40 years, and it was Angelo who gave Dante his first ride on a Harley. As he got older Dante became obsessed with hotrods, since motorcycles were too expensive. He would spend a little bit on an old car, maybe a Nova or something with a ton of power but cheap, and spend his time getting it running and tuning it, and then take it to the track. Ever since he could remember he had an itch to work with metal and mess around with engines. It came naturally for him.

Going back to school is a great way to further your knowledge in the always-evolving rat race. If your passion is motorcycles, why not pursue a career as a motorcycle technician? There are many schools that offer the right training in furthering your knowledge of all things motorcycle, which will help you get your foot in the door of becoming a motorcycle mechanic.

Tom Russell, owner and builder at North Carolina's T-n-A Customs, is an enthusiastic guy who loves to build and ride motorcycles. Tom's affable personality and exuberance for motorcycles shines through the first time you talk to the man. He strives to create bikes like the pro-street-styled drop seat rigid on the pages before you. "I build bikes that you can ride hard and not have to worry about polishing for eight hours every week." Tom's pedigree for bike building started at an early age, as he learned bikes from the inside from to his father.

Editor's note: Believe it or not, we are an international publication. No I don't mean international in the sense that we feature metric/import bikes. I mean international in the fact that HOT BIKE is shipped all over the world. With our international distribution we've gotten reader letters and bike submissions from the Middle East, Japan, the UK, and Italy. Our most recent international submission comes from George Ziri in Australia. Once a former sportbike enthusiast, George was converted to the Harley side by his wife's cousin, and immediately immersed himself into the customized Harley scene with his first bike, this once stock '09 Softail Custom. Here is George's story.

What do you do when you've held the titles "World's Faster Bagger," and "King of the Kustom Baggers," taken the custom bagger scene by storm with innovative products like the Flare Wind Screen, and built some of the cleanest baggers the industry has ever seen? For Brian Klock of Klock Werks (KW) in Mitchell, South Dakota, the answer is simple; start designing parts and accessories to turn Softails into baggers.

Carl Brouhard's name is synonymous with style. Whether it be at the Bonneville Salt Flats on the world's fasted bagger, aboard a twin-turbo pro street chopper, or riding this here nuevo boardtracker, his design essence wreaks biker panache.

Softail Springer
Year: 1996
Make: H-D
MSRP: $14,030
Mileage: About 6,000
Rider: Eric

It's that time of year again; time to scrounge for loose change, time to empty the piggy bank, time to take your recyclables in. Now is the time to do whatever you can in order to get a shot at winning this custom Knucklehead-style motorcycle built by J&P Cycles for the National Motorcycle Museum.

Sitting in the L.A. family room of antique American bike aficionado Jeffrey Gilbert, one can taste the patina of precious metal leaking into the warm spring air. Shafts of gauzy sunlight seem to spotlight a large glass case containing several dozen neatly mounted motorcycle license plates representing the first 20 years of the 20th century. Close by, almost huddling in a corner beneath a framed poster of itself as seen at no less than the Guggenheim Museum exhibit is a banshee bright yellow racing motorcycle, its slab-sided, underslung gas tank emblazoned with the name "Cyclone." It's not the shade of yellow associated with gold, but we are in the presence of treasure. Placing a value on the 1914-15-ish, one-of-11-existing motorcycles is almost a moot point (like its exact birthdate), but one that must be made clear if we are to grant it the title of America's most valuable motorcycle. Pedigree plays a significant part in this quest or to use the term preferred by the high-end auction houses...provenance.

The past decade has been pretty unstable for the custom motorcycle scene. In the early 2000s, the long, low, $75,000 chunks of rolling billet with 420mm wide rear tires ruled the streets. But eventually the trend died out, the money dried up, the TV shows tailed off, and all those who jumped into the game trying to capitalize on a burgeoning industry were up a creek. Unfortunately, that is what happens with trends.

Peace Offering
John Magers of Shelby, Ohio, purchased this Peace Officer's Edition Softail in 2005. Motor wise it has .258 Screamin' Eagle cams, a stage one air cleaner, Samson dual exhaust, Harley custom paint, H-D Revolver wheels with matching pulley, and a H-D Sundowner seat. It also includes a quick-release saddlebag kit, a Marine Corps derby cover, and a splash of chrome. John has ridden to Washington DC, York, Pennsylvania, the Smokey Mountains, and West Virginia on this bike and loved every minute of it.

Another new Sportster? Did Harley-Davidson make a mistake by producing yet another 1200cc-powered bike simply called the Forty-Eight? Not in the slightest.

Editor's note: If you really work your connections, utilize your skills, and take advantage of any opportunities that come your way, with a little finesse you too could have one helluva beautiful Road King (or bike of your preference) like this and still maintain a reasonable budget. Jevon Lau of Pickard USA says it cost him less than $15,000 total to build this bike. After dropping the initial $7Gs on a wrecked bike, making some smart trades, and doing the labor in-house, it only took a couple grand more to get the bike to show-quality status. Here's Jevon's story on the build.

You Need a Burn Permit!" In big letters, the announcement appears on the internet bulletin board for the town of Medon, Vermont, population 1,100. If you're prowling around the New England area, you'll find the hometown of Green Mountain Performance (GMP) nestled in the green fields off US 30 and Route 4. Medon is not in a hurry to get any bigger. It was planted in the same spot just five years after the birth of the nation. Chartered in 1781, it's learned caution over the long years and the requirement for an official permit to burn anything in the open makes perfect sense. Now whether that warning applies to burning rubber is another matter.

Some people tiptoe around issues and some jump in headfirst never looking back. Marty Spranger of Warren, Michigan, is of the latter crowd. Born with motorcycles in his blood (his father was a long time biker), and living in the heartland of horsepower (on the outskirts of Detroit) you could say Marty was destined to roll two wheels and turn wrenches.

I guess only Harley-Davidson could name a new motorcycle after a 62-year-old fuel tank. Maybe you didn't need to read the media release to know that Forty-Eight refers to 1948, the year that the so-called peanut fuel tank first appeared on the Harley-Davidson S-125. But that tank, which became a styling touchstone on generations of both production Harley-Davidson and custom motorcycles, had its real origin in pre-war Germany.

Lonnie Barretta is a Harley traditionalist. He's also a hoarder that doesn't like to let things loose when he gets them. He's been saving knick-knacks, paddy whacks, and all things motorcycle since he was a wee lad. Luckily for him-and us-it's the reason he was able to build this true original '56 Panhead at home.

There are few men that leave a strong impression on you from the time you meet. Caleb of Cro Customs is such a man. I once made the mistake of asking him the silly question why "Cro"? Was there Native American in his background? Maybe I assumed too much. I'm not sure if it was the flat foot Billy Bear 48 Hours vibe he was bringing, or the fact that he was more Melungeon than pale face. Caleb is a solid cat and an original to say the least. What other bike builder do you know that can throw down crazy beats on drums? The dude's a full-on jazz and blues connoisseur and loves Frank Zappa and Richard Pryor the same. Oh and his name is Caleb Robert Owens, hence CRO. It just sounds Blackfoot or Apache.

We all know the Harley and custom motorcycle community is filled with people doing good deeds, helping each other out when in need, and most of all, brotherhood. Actually, it's the brotherhood that pretty much sets us apart from much of the rest of the world. The bond runs so deep that even amongst bike builders there's no hesitation to call upon one another for help with a build. In fact that's sort of how the bike you see here built by Bryan Schimke of TPJ Customs came to be.