Pureness

The King’s last custom …

- Michael Lichter

Still mourning the recent passing of Arlen Ness, I find myself writing a feature on a bike he built not long before he died. But then, this is part of building Arlen’s legacy. Just shy of 80 years old Arlen touched many people throughout his life. People he met at shows (he made time to talk with everyone that came up), friends around the world, young bike builders he encouraged, fellow bike builders he inspired and the countless thousands of people that read about him in magazines like this one – each person has a story to remember Arlen by.

And then there are his bikes. More than 50 customs in his museum at the shop in Dublin, California and many more that appeared in magazines and books over his long career.

Each bike tells a story and with this new bike, the last he would put his name on, there is an even bigger story as it goes back so far.

Amazingly, Red Magnum existed as a “roller” in the late ’80s. It wasn’t uncommon for him to have several projects going at one time and to shelve projects and come back to them later.

Arlen was a collector of “stuff ”. I wouldn’t say he was a hoarder but if my wife ever saw his storage units she may have something else to say! There were “take-offs” – unused parts from donor bikes – other parts people would drop off and great deals he just couldn’t refuse.

Arlen had a brand new 1946 Harley-Davidson 74ci UL Flathead bottom end that he picked up from a shop going out of business. He could have easily matched it with a 74ci top end but that wasn’t his way. He loved to be different and push the boundaries. He was already aware there were Magnum motors out there (a Sportster top end on a 45in Flathead bottom) but he had never heard of a Magnum based on a big UL 1200 bottom end, so of course, this then was the challenge.