Jerry Covington | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Custom motorcycle builder |
| Website | http://www.covingtonsustoms.com/ |
Jerry Covington is a custom motorcycle builder and owner of Covingtons Customs.
Jerry Covington | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Custom motorcycle builder |
| Website | http://www.covingtonsustoms.com/ |
Jerry Covington is a custom motorcycle builder and owner of Covingtons Customs.
Jerry started building custom motorcycles (choppers) in the early seventies and founded Covingtons Customs in Woodward, Oklahoma in 1993. He has become well known in the motorcycle industry as one of the top custom builders for his clean designs and high quality custom motorcycles, and has appeared in numerous TV shows Including the Discovery Channel's Biker Build-Off series, [1] Carlos Mencia's Mind of Mencia, [2] and Corbin's Ride On. [3] Jerry has also been featured in several custom motorcycle related books including "Art of The Chopper", [4] and "Top Chops". [5] Jerry's one of a kind motorcycles have won many awards, have been featured in dozens of magazines, including Easyriders,[ citation needed ] HotBike, [6] and Street Chopper, [7] and have been photographed by Michael Lichter Photography. [8] Jerry has built motorcycles for celebrities such as comedian Carlos Mencia, musician Sammy Hagar, and race car driver Billy Boat.
A chopper is a type of custom motorcycle which emerged in California in the late 1950s. A chopper employs radically modified steering angles and lengthened forks for a stretched-out appearance. They can be built from an original motorcycle which is modified ("chopped") or built from scratch. Some of the characteristic features of choppers are long front ends with extended forks often coupled with an increased rake angle, hardtail frames, very tall "ape hanger" or very short "drag" handlebars, lengthened or stretched frames, and larger than stock front wheels. The "sissy bar", a set of tubes that connect the rear fender with the frame, and which are often extended several feet high, is a signature feature on many choppers.
Indian Larry was a motorcycle builder and artist, stunt rider, and biker. He first became known as Indian Larry in the 1980s when he was riding the streets of New York City on a chopped Indian motorcycle. Respected as an old school chopper builder, Larry sought greater acceptance of choppers being looked upon as an art form. He became interested in hot rods and motorcycles at an early age and was a fan of Von Dutch and Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, whom he would later meet in California.
Rat bikes are motorcycles that have fallen apart over time and have been kept on the road and maintained for little or no cost by employing kludge fixes and improvised repairs, with little or no consideration given to appearance. Rat-Look bikes are motorcycles that have been deliberately styled to look like ratbikes. Survival bikes may look similar but are different in purpose from rat bikes; they are modified for stylistic reasons to represent a post apocalyptic vehicle.
West Coast Choppers (WCC) is a brand that began selling screen-printed T-shirts and stickers with the company's Iron cross/Maltese cross logo while founder and "master marketer" Jesse James was finishing high school, packaging the accoutrements of the chopper lifestyle long before any actual West Coast Choppers customs had been ordered or sold. Even after the company did begin building custom choppers, 60% of revenue still came from sales of WCC-branded marketing tie-ins such as clothing, beverages and tools. Yearly sales of approximately 12–15 motorcycles at prices of around US$150,000 each actually lost money for the company, but attracted positive attention. Publicizing the names of celebrity clients, including Shaquille O'Neal, Kid Rock, Keanu Reeves, Ty Law of the Denver Broncos, wrestling star Bill Goldberg, actor Tyson Beckford, and NFL running back Jamal Anderson, was a central feature of the WCC marketing strategy. The other key to this strategy was the star power of Jesse James, presented mainly through television on the Discovery Channel in the Motorcycle Mania series and the 2002–2006 series Monster Garage.
David Mann was a California graphic artist whose paintings celebrated biker culture, and choppers. Called "the biker world's artist-in-residence," his images are ubiquitous in biker clubhouses and garages, on motorcycle gas tanks, tattoos, and on T-shirts and other memorabilia associated with biker culture. Choppers have been built based on the bikes first imagined in a David Mann painting.
A sissy bar, also called a "sister bar" or "passenger backrest" is an addition to the rear of a bicycle or motorcycle that allows the rider or passenger to recline against it while riding. Alternatively it can serve as an anchor point or support for mounting luggage or equipment that is not part of the bike. They can serve as one of the main mounts securing the rear fender to the motorcycle. Over the years the sissy bars have been a focal point of expression for the bike builder. Custom sissy bar designs can be simple or extravagant. They can be built for comfort, purpose, style or a combination of all three.
The Honda VTX series is a line of V-twin Honda cruiser motorcycles inspired by the Zodia concept shown at the 1995 Tokyo Motor Show. The Honda VTX 1800 was launched in 2001 as a 2002 model. At the time this bike was introduced the Honda VTX engine was the largest displacement production V-twin in the world, but that distinction would be short-lived as the VTX1800 was superseded in 2004 by the 2.0-liter Kawasaki Vulcan 2000. Nevertheless, the VTX 1800 still produced better 0-60 mph and 1/4 mile times.
Roland Sands is an American motorcycle racer and designer of custom high-performance motorcycles. In his career as a professional motorcycle racer has won the 1998 AMA 250GP National Champion road racer championship. Sands is a designer of custom performance motorcycles, and owner and founder of Roland Sands Design.
Arlen Darryl Ness was an American motorcycle designer and entrepreneur best known for his custom motorcycles. Ness received acclaim for his designs, most of which are noted for their unique body style and paintwork.
A bobber, originally called a 'bob-job' from the 1930s through 1990s, is a style of custom motorcycle. The typical construction includes stripping excess bodywork from a motorcycle; removing the front fender, and shortening the rear fender, which is "bobbed", and all superfluous parts removed to reduce weight.
Mark Whitney Mehran is an author, business owner, land speed racer, Hot Rod and Chopper builder and Pinstriper. Born and raised in California, Mehran attended Eaglebrook School and Cate School, and graduated from Brown University with an honors degree in English and American Literature.
Roger Goldammer is a Canadian motorcycle builder most known for winning the World championship of bike building three times.
Lou Kimzey (Sr.) (1928-1997) was the creator and publisher of the biker magazines Easyriders and Iron Horse.
The Honda Fury was the first production chopper from a major motorcycle manufacturer Honda. In a break with tradition, the Fury was the first chopper to have an anti-lock braking system The Fury's styling has been likened to custom-made choppers from Paul Teutul Sr. or Arlen Ness. The Fury has been sold not only in North America, but internationally as well, although in some markets Honda eschewed the Fury name and offered the bike simply by its model ID: VT1300CX.
Roy Suarez Garcia (1945–2003) AKA "Chicano Roy" was an American motorcycle builder and inventor. He is credited with developing the idea of molding shapes and designs from the frame to the gas tank, and he designed the first pop-off gas tank, a significant improvement for motorcycle safety and repair.
Throttle Junkies TV is a reality television series. The series centers on three entirely different genres of motorcycle builders. V-Force Customs builds custom choppers and is located in Rock Tavern, NY. RetroSBK builds high-performance motorcycles and is located in Camarillo, CA. 2Xtreem Motorsports builds motocross bikes, located in Riviera Beach, FL.
Back Street Heroes is a monthly UK custom bike magazine that helped to popularize a "new breed" of custom motorcycle, distinct from previous choppers because they combined rat bike-influenced utilitarian and minimalist design with greater use of high tech gadgetry, but catering to an upscale buyer in the Robb Report demographic.
Ron Simms is an American custom motorcycle builder, operating his business, Simms Custom Cycles, in Hayward, California. Simms has been building custom motorcycles for over 47 years. He has been featured in Easyriders magazine, and the photo essay book Art of the Chopper, where his work was compared to Arlen Ness as epitomizing the East Bay Style. In 2017 appeared in American M.C. Season 1 episode 1.
Victorious 22 (V22LA) is a Los Angeles based fashion line specializing in denim and leather jackets, pants, purses and accessories. V22 was started in 2010 by Frank Rodriguez and his wife Angela.
Zach Ness is a third-generation American motorcycle designer and entrepreneur. He is the grandson of motorcycle customizer Arlen Ness, and son of Cory Ness. In 2013 Zach teamed up with National Geographic Channel for the television series Let It Ride. The series followed Zach as he and the Ness crew built custom bikes for clients.