Motorcycles

We are all familiar with the new show ‘American Chopper’ where they fix up and customize bikes. Yet, motorcycle riders everywhere have been customizing and chopping thier bikes for years now. Johnny Doucet, owner of Bad Az Bikes in Carencro, wants to make people understand that, an praise to all the satisfied customers he’s been able to serve, pre-Speedtv.

Of course he’s happy to say that new business comes from these tv shows because of how popular they make the biker culture. “All this exposure, the shows, the magazines, it has made this all available to people,” Doucet said. “The ideas and dreams have always been there. Now if you think it and dream it, there’s technology out there to do it. These TV shows have helped make this happen.”

Around 2,000 motorcyclists from all over the south are going to be arriving in Lafayette around the middle of April for the third annual Blast on the Bayou Motorcycle Rally at the Blackham Coliseum. The rally promoter, Larry Langlinais, stated that the event has become quite popular. Again this is attributed to the popularity of it on tv and in magazines.

“Erik Estrada was here recently, and everyone remembers him as a guy on a motorcycle (from CHiPs),” Langlinais said. Wild Hogs, a comedy about four men bonding during a road trip on Harley Davidsons, even led the box office this weekend with $39.7 million in ticket sales, he added. Among the 287,000 members of the American Motorcyclist Association, more and more are customizing their bikes or wanting to know how, said spokesman Tom Lindsay.

“There has been without a doubt an increase in options for people to customize their machines, an increase in the number of custom bike shops for sure,” he said. “As popular media exposes more people to something that’s been going on for a while, more want to become involved in it, devote their disposable income to it. It feeds on itself.”

Lindsay also stated that the AMA’s magazine, ‘American Motorcyclist’, has been changed to include more information about customizing, which was based on consumer demand. Companies like Cajun Harley Davidson are pricing their bikes more competitively, “making it just so convenient and conducive for someone to participate who has some extra income,” Langlinais said.

Customization isn’t all about fancy lights, flamethrowers or alligator-skin seats. Sales-floor motorcycles often need customizing to better fit the body of their new owner, Doucet said. He can break down a motorcycle to its frame, and manipulate the metal like Play-doh. Original, made-to-order work like this often takes months for each bike Doucet customizes. “It’s nearly impossible to measure my profit margin now, material-wise,” he said. “The investment is my time, and their money. I don’t know how to describe it, I’m not getting rich.”