15 Years Of Hot Rod's Bike Works Magazine - Our Coolest $h!t Ever

Star Power

Bike builders aren't the only famous folks that dig two-wheeled action. We ran into more than a few celebrities over the years and kidnapped some of them for bike features.

August '97 Mr. Blond Rick Diaz wrote up this story on Mr. Blond, AKA Michael Madsen, and his yellow Pan/Ahovel rigid.	June '99 Paul Tracy We double-tapped racer Paul Tracy-first in '98, then in '99 with this two-girl cover featuring his Simms Softail bike.	June '03 Chuck Zito & Mickey Rourke Chuck Zito/Mickey Rourke. John "Cap'n Crunch" Sullivan took over editor duties in 2002, and near the end of his tenure shot Chuck Zito and Mickey Rourke at their shop, Hollywood Choppers, in, well, Hollywood.
June '06 Steve McQueen Erin Boyd brought us coverage of the Steve McQueen tribute display at the Petersen Automotive Museum. The exhibition was a great peek at the cool cars and bikes the actor enjoyed over the course of his life.

Representin'

We ran a lot of cool bikes over the years, built by veteran masters like Arlen Ness and Donnie Smith along with up-and-comers like Matt Hotch and Roland Sands. We don't have space to list them all, but here's a cross-section from our history.

February '00 Denver's Choppers "Way back in 1967, when the custom/chopper movement was headed for the stars, one shop set the standard for quality choppers." Frank Kaisler summed the old school shop up that quick at the start of this bike feature.	March '00 Matt Hotch Young gun Matt Hotch built this long chopper in the clean style that became his trademark and brought him to fame later on.	August '00 Ed Roth Interview We were extremely fortunate to interview Ed "Big Daddy" Roth before his untimely death. The backyard builder and racer rose to fame through his cartoon characters, wild custom cars, and his influence on the American chopper scene.
April '01 Ron Finch Interview Every creative endeavor has its reclusive artists, and for the last thirty-plus years, motorcycling's has been Ron Finch. The custom builder blurs the line between form and function with a passion, and was good enough to let Keith Ball interview him for us in 2001.	February '03 Roland Sands The cover bike for this issue was Roland Sands' first ground-up custom bike-a red and black Softail based around a Kosman Racing frame. He's built a few other bikes since then...	February '05 Roger Goldammer His frontends are his signature, but in 2004 Roger Goldammer built this modern board tracker and took first prize at two of the top shows in the country-Artistry in Iron in Las Vegas, and the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building in Morgan Hill, California.