ARLEN NESS
Hall of Fame Inductee

Arlen had wanted a motorcycle in high school, but his father always said no. After graduating, Arlen moved out and got married. His wife Bev unfortunately agreed with his dad, so Arlen turned his natural talent to cars. After days of moving furniture, Arlen would spend his evenings customizing his cars and those of his friends. Friday nights they would cruise East Fourteenth Street. Arlen checked out the other cars, but the machines that really caught his eye were the two wheelers, the Harley's, Triumph's and BSA'S. In 1967, Arlen found a Harley-Davidson Knucklehead for sale for $300 and bought it with money he won bowling. He didn't know how to ride; a friend had to drive the bike home for him. Eventually Bev realized this wasn't just a passing fancy. In between riding lessons, Arlen stripped the Knucklehead and began experimenting with his spray gun. Soon there was a growing list of people asking Arlen if he could do a nice paint job like that on their bikes. In 1970, Arlen and Bev opened their first store on East Fourteenth Street. Arlen kept his day job and worked on bikes at night. One year later Arlen quit his day job and began concentrating on his passion, custom motorcycles. Years later his business is thriving, and his talent, creativity, hard work and cutting edge ideas have earned him the international respect of his piers and one of the few to own the title Master Builder.

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Sturgis Museum and Hall of Fame - Sturgis, South Dakota