They are elite designers whose work trickles down and influences an entire industry.
But instead of Versace, de la Renta and Wang, they go by nicknames such as Indian Larry Desmedt and Billy "The Ladies Man" Lane. Instead of satin and Egyptian cotton, they work in metal and high-tech paints. Instead of runways, their creations are made for the open road.
"Choppers: Heavy Metal Art" (Motorbooks International, $40), by Tribune-Review columnist Mike Seate with photography by Michael Lichter, examines a high-end art form where the finished pieces sell for an average of $100,000.
"It started with outlaw biker gangs with skulls and swastikas, (and got) to where people really express themselves as metal artists," Seate says.
The popularity of television shows such as "Monster Garage" and "Great Biker Build-Off" have made these artisans into stars. Notably, the "American Chopper" father-and-son team of Paul and Paul Teutul Jr., with appearances on "Late Show with David Letterman," has cashed in on the exposure with their custom-designed motorcycles fetching as much as $150,000.
"It's pretty weird considering where the origins of the art form came from," Seate says. "It was really low-end stuff, just kids and World War II veterans hacking stuff off their bikes with hacksaws and welding torches. It's been taken completely out of the hands that this art was started by."
Choppers -- motorcycles with extended front forks that have been chopped, or altered -- might look good and dangerous, but the motorcycles in the book won't be seen on local roads anytime soon. In addition to being stripped of any comfort amenities in favor of art and style considerations, choppers themselves are uncomfortable rides, Seate says.
But most of the designers and artists aren't creating motorcycles for the road. Instead, the goal is to exhibit their work at one of the dozen or so high-end motorcycle shows, catch the crowd's attention, get a write-up in a national magazine and have a company start manufacturing parts based on the design. The only requirement is that the motorcycles must be functional.
"It's become like bodybuilding," Seate says. "The bigger, the more outrageous, the more you look at something and say, 'That's just not possible' -- that's what's catching people's eyes.
The expensive choppers have become a luxury item, attracting celebrities such as Keanu Reeves, Shaquille O'Neal, Liam Neeson and Kevin Costner. But replicas are available for as little as $9,000 for those who would rather make their house payments than live on their motorcycles.
Not that any of these motorcycles are going to be seen on the Parkway West -- or any other roads, for that matter. In addition to issues of comfort, the bikes are built more for prestige than cross-country trips. In that way, they are like the high-end fashion items witnessed at fashion shows in Milan and Paris -- and then seen in modified, mass-produced versions on the racks at department stores. Instead of Yves St. Laurent and Christian Dior, the stars are Arlen Ness and Jesse James.
"The thing that's amazing about the whole advent of this, the motorcycle builder as celebrity, is that it says a lot about the fact that we've lost so many manufacturing jobs in this country," Seate says. "People are very proud of the fact that they're blue-collar guys handcrafting uniquely American vehicles."
