There are 8.4 million motorcycles registered to be on the road. You don’t want to look like everyone else on the road. Your bike should be an expression of you, and that means customizing it. Whatever your budget you can find custom motorcycle parts for your bike.
Keep reading for ideas on how to customize your motorcycle and stand out.
Accessories
The easiest and most basic way you can customize your bike is to buy accessories. You can buy these directly from manufacturers like Harley® or from aftermarket custom motorcycle parts companies.
Handlebar Accessories
The most basic of accessories is a cell phone holder. You don’t want your phone slipping out of your pocket to 50 miles per hour. Many cell phone holders clamp right onto your handlebars for a 2-minute installation.
Drink or cup holders are great while your traveling. Bring your coffee or water bottle with you and take a sip at the red light. It’ll be quick, easy, and no more digging around in the saddle bar.
Many new touring bikes come with an instrument panel that has GPS included. If you have an older bike or bought a used bike it may not have GPS. You can buy a bracket that puts your Garmin right on your handlebars for easy access.
Trim
Both Harley and aftermarket companies offer trim kits for every inch of your bike. They most often come in chrome. The all blacked out look has become a huge trend lately and you’ll often find trim in it. If chrome or black isn’t your style you have other options such as gold, brass, machined, nickel, aluminum, granite, or stainless steel.
Buy as little or as much trim as you want to customize the look of your bike. Simply peel the backing and stick on or use the screws that come with it.
Bags
If your bike didn’t come with saddle bags you can add them on. Choose from leather, plastic, or painted to match your bike.
If you are planning on traveling a lot you can add the passenger luggage rack also. This can be customized with a quick release making it pop on and off with the flip of a switch.
If you want more storage space for small items you can buy bags that mount along the base of your windshield. They are great for holding your cell phone, garage door opener, and other small items.
Aftermarket Custom Motorcycle Parts
Most aftermarket custom motorcycle parts are made to be what is called “bolt-on”. This means you can buy the part and install it yourself in your garage.
Looks
Just like cars you can buy custom wheels to fit your style. They come in a dizzying variety of size, spoke count, and color combinations.
The cheapest and easiest option for custom paint is to have pinstriping added to your bike. This can be done at almost any bike event you go to.
Your second option is to have the bike custom painted. You won’t have your bike for the time it takes to be painted. It can also be quite expensive depending on the type of paint you choose.
Your third option is to have the bike vinyl wrapped. The vinyl trend has been growing in popularity as more people start to like the flat black look over glossy paint.
You can change your headlights, tail lights, and turn signals out for LED. The look of LED is more modern, brighter, and they last longer.
Add a flasher controller and you can customize how your brake light pulse when you apply them. Flashing lights are more readily noticed by other drivers.
The windshield is an important component when buying custom motorcycle parts not just for looks but also comfort. You can choose short and low or tall. Then do you want clear or dark tinted?
Performance
You can make changes to the performance of your bike by changing out a few custom motorcycle parts yourself. These can be bought from the manufacturer or aftermarket companies.
Change your air intake and exhaust for a boost in performance. A better air filter changes the amount and cleanliness of the air entering the engine.
The exhaust will allow for more efficient expelling of fumes from the engine. Essentially helping your engine breathe better. Plus it changes the sound of your bike.
Get an ecm tuner for do it yourself performance tuning. All you have to do is buy the tuner and download the software.
It will walk you through the options and help you tune your bike for optimum performance. Once you’ve picked all your options you plug the tuner into the bike.
If you have a large touring bike, take your bike in and have reverse installed. This is easily the best addition for those who love traveling long distances but the large bike is getting difficult to maneuver.
Creature Comforts
You have two options when it comes to seats. Either buy a seat from a custom motorcycle parts dealer or have your stock seat redone by a custom seat maker.
The custom seat will be more expensive. The advantage is they will use the cushion of your choice such as memory foam or gel or a combination of both.
The memory foam will be carved to fit your body and rear. This means you’ll have the most comfortable ride possible.
Other items can be easily changed out to give your bike a custom look but also add comfort. Items like highway pegs can be added. Your stock pegs can be changed to floorboards for you and your passenger.
You can change the grips on your handlebars for something that is more cushioned or sized to fit your hand better. There is even an option to add a palm rest or cruise control.
Full custom build
If you’re looking for a completely custom look you can choose to go the complete custom motorcycle parts build route. You’ll want to start by finding a bike builder that customizes in the style of bike you want.
Take into consideration what type of riding you want to do. Decide what style or combination of styles you want to do.
Chopper
The bike that everyone knows. Even people who aren’t into motorcycles know what a chopper looks like.
This is one of the popular customs builds on the market. Look for front forks that are extended to extreme lengths. You’ll also see enlarged front tires.
The rake angle will be expanded. The entire frame of the bike is often extended. All this enlarging results in a very long bike.
Many shops customize in turning your stock Harley into a chopper with custom motorcycle parts. If you are looking for a custom build, but not from scratch then this is the way to go.
Bobber
The bobber originated in the 1930’s. It resembles old-school racing motorcycles. The front fender is removed and the back one is shortened.
The seat is the easiest way to recognize a bobber, it’s only for the rider, no passenger. The handlebars are higher, the gas tank is smaller, and the exhaust pipes
Rat Bike
This is the one type of custom bike where the whole idea is to spend as little as possible on custom motorcycle parts. Look for a bike that has rust.
The hallmark of a rat bike is the parts, often coming from many different motorcycles and not initially designed to be put together.
Think Mad Max or junkyard and you are on your way to having a rat bike. A favorite is to use a Jack Daniels bottle as the radiator overflow container.
Cafe Racer
The 1960s brought rise to the cafe racer. Another stripped-down bike inspired by racing motorcycles of the day. You’ll find the handlebars are really low on these bikes.
The gas tanks are low and long making the rider have a race style leaned forward stance. This reduced the wind resistance and improves the handling and speed.
Scrambler
The scrambler is experiencing a rise in popularity these days. They have a distinctly retro feel with aggressive looks and rugged knobby tires.
The bike originated in the 60’s with the cafe racer. Racers back then would take shortcuts through the brush and dirt. Since dirt bikes weren’t a thing yet, enter the scrambler.
They have long and low gas tanks, large seats, and high exhaust. You’ll find the handlebars tend to be higher on the scramblers than the cafe racers.
While manufacturers are entering this market, most people prefer to have a full custom build. There is a distinct retro or vintage feel
Go Customize
Whatever your budget you can find options for custom motorcycle parts for your bike. You can go for simple clamp-on items to make your ride more comfortable.
You can go for more of an investment with bolt on custom parts. You could commit to a full-on custom bike build.
Whatever you do, you need to show it off. Head to one of these bike rallies where you can show off your bike and get ideas for what to do next.
