It was easy for Chad Wigger to trick out this stock bike, but even easier to fool some people into thinking it was a full-blown custom. Was it the likelihood that most of the parts probably came from a catalog? Better yet, was it the idea that you have to tear a stock bike down to make it look completely different? According to Chad, the answers are "no" and "no."

Every year Chad takes his traditional stroll along the beach somewhere in or around Madison, Wisconsin, and he contemplates the design of only one bike for the year. It was an Electra Glide Standard for 2004, a Paul Yaffe Original the following year, but the bike for 2006, well, Chad had a little point to prove. Designing one bike a year has become customary for Chad, not so much as a side business. He owns a motorcycle dealership called Black Jack Powersports, so it is easy for him to keep an eye on fluctuations in the industry. The bike seen here best describes one of Chad's observations. Simply, it is a tricked-out Night Train, but according to Chad, "the simplicity of this bike made it different."

It's no revelation that bike builders and owners want their bikes to be different, and rightfully so. The point is that some people go to extremes to achieve "uniqueness," and may end up with a bike people snicker about at the next motorcycle rally. "I wanted to show people what you could do with a stock Harley-Davidson," Chad said, "and how to make it look different without tearing the whole thing apart." And Chad wanted to do all of this without breaking the bank. With two quite enduring feats on his hands, how did Chad plan on pulling this off? He selected inexpensive parts, but chose not to use any from Harley-Davidson because he had a particular look he was after with this bike. Chad then took his design and the parts over to Ryan Fielding at Paragon Customs in Sauk City, Wisconsin. Chad believed, most importantly, the best way to make this bike look different without tearing it down was by concentrating on the small details.

For the complete story, pick up the Febuary 2007 issue of Hot Rod's Bike-Works, on newsstands now!