Arlen Ness and the Iconic Ness-Stalgia

Sharp Dressed Bike

Ness-Stalgia is a custom bike like no other, but it was almost never built. Patterned after the immensely popular 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, Ness-Stalgia still captures our imagination ever since its 1995 debut at the Oakland Roadster Show. Here is the complicated build-story of the 'Chevy Bike,' its host of talented fabricators, a 1995 Harley-Davidson EVO 80 cubic-inch, and even Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.  

Talented Group

Ness-Stalgia is surrounded by a bevy of misinformation. Before he passed away in 2012 artist and custom bike builder, Jeff McCann, attempted to set the record straight. Ness-Stalgia was dreamed-up by Carl Brouhard, the project was led by the late Arlen Ness, and built by a group of talented individuals that included Jeff McCann, Ron Covell, Bryan Kinney and Bob 'The Mun' Munroe.  

>>Join the conversation about this the Ness-Stalgia here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Pizza Box Sketch

As the story goes, Carl Brouhard was inspired while eating dinner in front of the television one evening. Captivated by a car show advertisement that featured the tail-fins of a Tri-Five Chevy, Brouhard scribbled the original sketch on a pizza box. The next day he produced a finished drawing and later approached Arlen Ness to see if they wanted to purchase the concept. 

>>Join the conversation about this the Ness-Stalgia here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

ZZ Top Interest

Both Ness and son Cory initially turned down the idea. What has been referred to as “Arlen Ness' most famous bike,” by Cycle World Magazine in 2008, was almost left on the paper. Brouhard then approached celebrity-musician and gearhead Billy Gibbons of the hard-rocking blues trio, ZZ Top. Gibbons, the creator of the ultra-cool Harley-Davidson 'HogZZilla' Fat Boy, showed interest in Brouhard's idea.

Photo courtesy of Hot Bike.

>>Join the conversation about this the Ness-Stalgia here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Tri-Five Fixture

Ness decided to buy the Chevy Bike concept from Brouhard after he heard about Gibbons. With no immediate build plans, Ness had Brouhard work up several scale drawings. The plans included using a headlamp bezel from a 1957 Chevy — the only actual Tri-Five part on the bike. Shown above are parts of the bodywork on fixtures built by Jeff McCann. 

>>Join the conversation about this the Ness-Stalgia here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Hammer Time

The pace of the project changed when Ness found out he was going to be the 'Builder of the Year' at the Oakland Roadster Show in 1995. Ness approached master metal fabricator Ron Covell to hammer out the custom aluminum bodywork. After eight months, and over four hundred hours to fabricate the body pieces plus the trim, Covell finished the job in the fall of 1994. 

>>Join the conversation about this the Ness-Stalgia here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Bryan Kinney

Ness wanted Brouhard to paint the Chevy Bike. At the time Brouhard was busy working on Ness' 'Pepsi Bike.' Ness then approached Jeff McCann who also turned him down due workload, but did agree to paint the graphics and finish clear the project. Eventually, Bryan Kinney, owner of KC Customs in Santa Rosa, California was tasked with the paint and preparation. 

>>Join the conversation about this the Ness-Stalgia here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Chipped and Dented

Ness told Kinney to paint Ness-Stalgia “Hamster Yellow.” It took eighty hours of sanding and filling before Kinney applied the two-step basecoat — a white base topped with transparent yellow to produce a brilliant pure yellow hue. In the process of transferring the parts to McCann, two shop-assistants succeeded in chipping and denting the tank. McCann then had to repair the damage and repaint the part before applying the graphics. 

>>Join the conversation about this the Ness-Stalgia here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Color Difference

Bob Munroe built the custom dual exhaust for the Evolution Big Twin. The bulge under the air cleaner houses an anti-reversion device which balances the short front pipe. Missing in this image is Ness' winged 'A' logo as a chrome insert in the chin spoiler. McCann, who designed the logo, also described how over the years the transparent yellow has appeared different depending on the type of film used. 

>>Join the conversation about this the Ness-Stalgia here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

Favorite Passion

Ness-Stalgia was one of Ness' favorite machines. He was quoted as saying “We thought we'd do it for fun, but it ended up being a bike that's known all over the world.” Reflecting on his father's passion for custom motorcycles, Cory Ness said, “He wasn’t one to go to baseball or basketball games. He was just a motorcycle guy. He just really, really liked bikes.” 

>>Join the conversation about this the Ness-Stalgia here in the Harley-Davidson Forum!

For help with the service of your bike, check out the how-to section of HDForums.com.