Cars and motorcycles were born in the garages of determined individuals looking to make something new. Likewise, every custom started with a shade tree mechanic taking a hammer and wrench to their ride to make something no one else had. Eventually people started making a living out of custom work, turning their unique creations into a brand and a style with names like chopper and bobber. Each of them of course have their distinct touches, an aficionado can distinguish between a chopper made by Arlen Ness or Jesse James.

For those who have a little mechanical know how and a lot of creativity, the path to a unique ride still stops in their garage. In their garage they are limited only by the tools on hand and the image of the perfect bike in their heads. No negotiating someone else's vision or practices, no answering to an 'expert' on design. Just pure passion and elbow grease to create a ride that perfectly reflects the rider. Not only do they come out with a completely distinct bike, but they have the pride knowing that they are the ones who built their ride. They laid hands on every inch of the bike and made a decision about what it should be. Sure the build quality might not always be pro or win a Riddler award but it still has the pride of not only ownership but craftmanship. It is their bike. No one else.

We celebrate the garage builder with twenty garage creations that carry the self made flag high and proud. Here are 20 garage built choppers.

20 Naked Drag Bike

via garagebrewed.com

Drag bikes of today are long fairing covered affairs with extended rear forks and wide flat rear tires with no indication that the bike was ever intended to do anything but shoot down a quarter mile as fast as possible. Drag racing in its infancy as created by Wally Sparks and the NHRA was inherently garage born, it was an attempt to give hot rodders an outlet that wasn't public roads. T

his naked bike with its meaty rear tire is a throwback to that era with hints of a flat track speedway bike thrown in as well.

19 Simple Hardtail

via garagebuild.com

The principle behind the chopper was to strip the bike away of clutter and unneeded elements, any nod to convenience or comfort in favor of a simpler, cleaner, and ultimately meaner look.

One of the ways to truly clear up the clutter was to get rid of the complex rear suspension connections on the back and instead weld a solid rear end or 'hardtail' to the back of the bike.

Riding a hardtail is not for the faint of heart or those with a bad back, but for some it's a small price to pay for the clean look.

18 Long and Low

via garagebuild.com

Famed GM car designer Harley Earl's design concept was summed up as 'long and low,' reaching its zenith with the iconic 1959 Cadillac deVille. Choppers themselves often go for the long and low look like this purple monster with its lowered seat and hard tail and cut down handlebars.

Shortened and wrapped pipes ensure that the legs stay warm and neighbors stay awake with the full sound of the v-twin exiting unhindered through the exhaust.

17 High Bar

via garagebuild.com

Handlebars are a big element on any custom bike and philosophy about where they should go runs the gamut. Some prefer handlebars that come to them in a relaxed laid back riding style, some want them to be unobtrusive to the lines of the bike, and others think that they should accent the rake of the front wheel.

High bars or even 'ape hangers', bars so high that they hands rest over the head of the rider are a common choice. This one also features a spring seat to offset the loss of rear suspension.

16 Fairing Trike

via hotrod.com

Opinions are split on the nature of the trike. For some it's too close to a car, you can't lane split and lose some of that freedom that comes on two wheels. For others it's the perfect compromise of open air riding and stability.

Plus it has the added convenience of more space to put their stamp on their ride. This one features a water cooled car engine and some rather ingenious reversed wheel covers off a late thirties or mid-forties ride to give this trike a unique rat rod look.

15  British Beef

via knucklebusterinc.com

Convention has it that US built choppers and the British built cafe racers. Both styles have a similar aesthetic in that they strip down their rides, the split being that cafe racers are built for speed and choppers are built for cruising.

The custom bike scene grew largely out of returning World War II vets looking for an outlet for the stress they took home from the war, so 'allied' bikes were early customs. Marlon Brando's bike in The Wild Ones was a Triumph, so this BSA chopper fits right in.

14 Green Machine

via knucklebusterinc.com

This 'sissy bar', a long tall loop on the back of the bike, serves a few functions. For some it's something for the passenger to hold onto, like on this bike that has a second cushion on the fender in addition to the solo saddle.

More often than not, though, it was used to strap bags or cargo on for people who were going on a long cruise. This also features the 'hiboy' look with the frame rising up at the front to lengthen the front fork and give the bike a high front low back look as if it was leaning back.

13 Tubular

via pinterest.com

Frame modification is usually as far as most garage customs go, but for this Yamaha powered bike that simply wasn't enough. This one has taken the minimalist feel to its logical ends with its one tube frame design.

It even eschews a regular gas tank, commonly with such designs the frame pipe is oversized to hold any gas the bike needs.

Small LED lights where the gas tank usually goes keeps the minimal look alive and the solo seat precariously suspended over the rear tire means this bike is not for the feint of heart.

12 White Wall Trike

via pinterest.com

Just because you can add more to a trike doesn't always mean you have to. Just like the trike with car fenders, this one borrows from the early hot rod look with white wall radials and features ape hanger handlebars.

Everything else on the bike, however, is completely minimal, even going so far as to remove the drive casing. Don't ride this bike with boot cut pants unless they are stuffed in your boots. Any sort of rear compartment that is usually included on trikes have also been removed for a naked rear axle.

11 Salute to the Classics

via tcbroschoppers.com

This builder has gone back to the roots of the US chopper with this bike featuring bent in handle bars, a hard tail, sissy bar, and a very 70s paint job on the peanut style gas tank. The biggest break with tradition on this bike is the Japanese powerplant, featuring a Yamaha engine where a Triumph or BSA one would have been in an early 50s chopper.

Yamaha's bulletproof 650 engine resembled early Triumph engines but were easier to work on and more reliable.

10 Wasteland Special

via the-rocketman.com

Some people start with a regular bike and cut it down and out to fit their tastes. Some people start with the idea of a motorcycle and assemble whatever they have on hand to piece together something that resembles a motorcycle.

This car engined patchwork ride is the latter, ending up looking like a Model A that has been channeled all the way down to two wheels. Complete with square frame rails and an old style engine hood it's a completely unique looking bike. Safe to ride might be another issue, however.

9 Gondola Trike

via the-rocketman.com

This might actually be another completely custom frame creation. At one point a gondola or rickshaw was a way to get someone of means around a crowded city, either a symbol of status or a way to get tourists to spend a little extra to go a few blocks away. After a while bicycles were used to move these two seater boxes around.

This builder added one to their trike for a truly stand out ride. It's unclear whether or not they can see those side mirrors from inside the cab and wind limit how fast you could comfortable go, but it's definitely a stand out ride.

8 Power Ride

via the-rocketman.com

The advantage a bike has in performance over a car is its weight to power ratio. It's dramatic enough that engines don't need to be much bigger than 1 liter to provide face peeling power. Just because you don't need more doesn't mean you can't do with more.

For some placing a small car engine in their bikes is the ultimate expression of high horsepower with low relative weight.

With a small V8 saddled between two elongated wheels this cruiser probably eats stop light starts.

7 Triumph Bobber

via thebullitt.com

A bobber is a style of chopper that values the lower cut look. Rather than tall handlebars and a long raked front end, they are cut down or 'bobbed' to look simpler, smaller (mostly) and cleaner. This Triumph is a clean example of the bobber philosophy.

No front fender, only enough rear fender to keep the rider from getting a 'skunk stripe' on their back from road gunk kicked up on the rear, the bike is simple and stripped down, even including clip on handlebars to keep the profile low.

6 Springer

via waltpix.com

The long front fork is one of the most recognizable elements of the classic chopper. Early choppers utilized a 'springer' front fork to get that long and low look for their leading tire. It uses two forks, one long lower fork that sits under the hub and a second spring loaded fork over that that provides for shock absorption on the front wheel.

This gives the fork not only a longer look but an under hang that makes the bike look like it's sitting even lower. The 'two up' seat allows for the passenger to see past the driver.

5 Super Rake

via waltpix.com

For some chopper builders, the length of the rake is the badge of honor on their bikes, the longer the better. Long rakes are harder to ride but give the bike a dramatic look, and being something only the builder could ride is a a matter of pride.

The extra touch here on this long chopper is the matching rake on the exhaust pipes.

Long pipes are a common touch, usually shooting straight out the back, but bending them up is not uncommon and having them match the angle of the forks gives this bike a complete look.

4 Bare Yamaha

via xs650chopper.com

The Yamaha XS650 of the 70s is a favorite among custom builders. It essentially was a copy of earlier British bikes but without the special tools required to wrench on the often enigmatic Triumph.

Both cafe races and chopper builders have flocked to the popular Japanese bike to build custom creations. With a custom frame and simple black paint job this is a perfect example of the versatility of the XS650 bike. For taste that front wheel is a little fat for a raked chopper but home builds are all about the builders preferences.

3 Beach Bar Bobber

via xs650chopper.com

Another Yamaha XS650 with a completely different look underlines the versatility of the platform. This bobber features another style of handlebar, the beach bar. Beach bars are maybe the most comfortable cruising option putting the riders arms just outside shoulder width at a relaxed wide stance, though they can sometimes limit lane splitting options.

With this wider stance the bigger front tire doesn't look as out of place. The builder has gone for the unfinished 'rat look' meant to evoke the early hot rods.

2 Naked Yamaha

via xs650chopper.com

Finally another completely different take on the venerable Yamaha, this naked bike has the high fork look with bobber and hardtail simplicity. The gold frame with the unpainted tank give it a nice raw look and the proportions allow for modern tires to not look completely out of place.

Forward controls, a staple on choppers of all shapes, give the bike a relaxed looking seating position with the rider's legs extended to the edge of the frame.

This one opts for straight bars putting the rider's arms over their feet for a classic cruiser position.

1 Wood Chopper

via ibtimes.co.uk

For most people who make custom bikes it's about bending and welding steel to their will. Some people are better with other materials, like wood. This Eastern European creation was made by such a person.

Wood is not an unheard of element in builds, early cars often incorporated wood in their designs.

Morgan company still makes their cars with wood as part of their chassis. Few if any have gone so far as to make the majority of their rides out of wood making this home creation a real stand out.

Sources: xs650.com, the-rocketman.com, garagebuilds.com