Mild to wild: Customizing your bike can make it new again

With the end of the riding season nearly here, many of you may be thinking about winter projects and some neat new things to add to your bikes.

The fact that most riders store their bikes for the winter anyway makes winter an ideal time to undertake big projects without cutting into prime riding time in the spring, summer and fall.

Many of these projects involve customizing bikes to make them your own. This is one of the key reasons people customize — to make what they already have, and love, new again.

"There are two (main) reasons you customize a bike — you have to because you smashed it up or you have a bike that you have paid for, and you can either buy another bike, or spend (some money) on yours and make it new again," Mike Geislinger of Slinger Cycles in Dartmouth tells me.

Mike is a custom bike builder and self-taught airbrushing artist who has been building bikes since 2005. He started in his mother's single-bay garage while off work with an injury from racing Superbikes, and opened up a full shop in 2007.

In the world of customizing, there really is something for everyone now. You can find a project to fit nearly any budget, and get a variety of effects, from mild to wild. Some of the key trends right now are 'fat' rear tires, air ride suspension, chrome, billet accessories, stereos, custom paint and lights.

"This winter will be a lot more electronics on bikes," Mike predicts. "Not just stereos — full audio, navigation, GPS and screens."

Since Slinger Cycles has been open, Mike has become a go-to guy for custom airbrushed paint, custom swing arms, custom moulding for electronics installations, and he has even cut apart a gas tank to put speakers in it. He also does one 'trike' a year, converting a motorcycle to a three-wheeled machine. This winter he's building an independent suspension Harley-Davidson based trike. He's also in the process of building the fastest street bike in Canada, based on a Suzuki GS1300R Hayabusa, for a shop bike with tons of modifications, including a turbo motor.

Mike also started a trend with 'theme' bikes. He's now done more superhero and movie bikes than he can name — including Batman, Joker, The Incredible Hulk, Wolverine, and one for the Saw movies. The bikes are a complete theme, including paint and accessories.

If you're looking for something a little more 'mild' ride, you can add some accessories like levers, 'slip-on' exhaust pipes, frame sliders, rear sets, and custom paint. There is a huge industry of third-party aftermarket parts for Japanese motorcycles, available through nearly any motorcycle retailer. For Harley-Davidsons, there is even extensive factory support, with Harley-Davidson branded products available for customizing and modifying your ride.

"Paint is always a good first step," Mike tells me. "If you have a $600 budget and you want to make your bike personalized, or you have a $10,000 budget, you can always fit paint into anyone's budget to make it their bike. Just to change the wheels on your bike is twice as much as painting your bike."