For that matter, how Special and how Limited are those models? Or is it really just an adjective all dressed up as a gaudy noun in a title? Something to lay awake and ponder at 3 am tonight.
cus·tom·ize/ˈkəstəˌmīz/Learn to pronounceverbmodify (something) to suit a particular individual or task.
What does Customise mean?Definition of customize transitive verb. : to build, fit, or alter according to individual specifications.
To me custom means a bike that has had stock parts modified by the owner to his personal tastes.
But in today's world it seems like custom means somebody wrote a big check to have someone else bolt a bunch of aftermarket parts on their new bike.
Miss Billy was a custom. I made the frame, forks, tank, seat, guards, pegs, pipes etc and changed it from right side foot shift to left side hand shift and much more with a worked over 67 650 BSA Spitfire motor. Originally I used a set of factory bars but prefered the flat bars I made.Had to put a back bar on the seat to stop sliding backward under heavy throttle.
I should let this thread die, but a thought popped into my head on the ride in this morning:
The irony of this stuff (using the word "custom" in a used bike ad) is that at least for guys like me, that is probably the most negative word you could use.
For me, shopping for a used bike (and I'm not personally interested in anything that's not at least 25 years old), the ideal example is one that is 100% factory stock. Every single deviation from that is a negative. In the real world, you always have to accept some modifications, but the fewer the better.
I was browsing CL this morning. I like to check out the bikes and sometimes see what others do. Whike doing this i often see people call their bike custom so I read on to see why. Does installing an air cleaner really make it " custom"? To me no, it's just a simple bolt on that 90% of other bikes have.
There is no point to this im just taking a dump and wanted to write something lol
I think a lot of people confuse the words custom and customized. I would say adding an air cleaner, some pipes, some grips or pegs would make a bike customized to that owner and their tastes.
But in my mind a custom bike has some custom paint, maybe a chopped frame and fenders, or hand fabricated parts. Buying parts and hanging them on a bike doesnt make a custom.
07-24-2022, 04:05 PM
