Arlen Ness
Encyclopedia
Arlen Ness is an American
entrepreneur and motorcyclist, who is best known for his customized chopper
s and hot rod
s. Ness is internationally recognized as a master builder.
, but by the early 1970s he had moved to a storefront on East 14th Street. Ness was recognized for his unique painting style and for developing a line of custom motorcycle parts. His popularity grew as he built new custom bikes and then had those displayed on the bike show circuit and featured in motorcycle magazines.
After more than three decades of custom bike building and developing his business to the point that it supports a several hundred page parts catalogue, Arlen Ness, Inc. moved to a Dublin, California facility that included a museum featuring more than 40 of his custom motorcycles. The museum displays his famous Untouchable, the twin motor Two Bad, the antique inspired Ness-Tique, Blower Bike, the Italian sports car inspired Ferrari Bike, the '57 Chevy sports car inspired Ness-Stalgia, the Bugatti
-like Smooth-Ness, the Discovery Channel
's Biker Build-Off
bike Top Banana, and his jet-powered Mach Ness.
The Mach Ness is a motorcycle Ness built in 2005, inspired by Jay Leno
’s turbine
-powered bike, that incorporates a jet-powered helicopter engine as its power plant. The design, concept, paint, and graphics were created by Carl Brouhard and the hand-made aluminum body work was by Bob Monroe.
Arlen has received recognition and awards including Builder of the Year, induction into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Lifetime Achievement Awards. His son, Cory Ness, has worked with Arlen for more than 30 years, and now runs the day to day business operations at Arlen Ness, Inc. Cory has himself been recognized as a top custom bike builder and even defeated his father in a 2004 episode of The Great Biker Build-Off
. Carrying on the family tradition to a third generation, Cory's son, Zach, built several beautiful high end customs before finishing high school in 2006.
Ness received a patent for the Big Shot, a method of altering the motorcycles fuel injection
system, is used to personalize a motorcycle's performance.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entrepreneur and motorcyclist, who is best known for his customized chopper
Chopper (motorcycle)
A chopper is a type of motorcycle that was either modified from an original motorcycle design or built from scratch to have a hand-crafted appearance. The main features of a chopper that make it stand out are its longer frame design accompanied by a stretch front end...
s and hot rod
Hot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. One explanation is that the term is a contraction of "hot roadster," meaning a roadster that was modified for speed. Another possible origin includes modifications to or...
s. Ness is internationally recognized as a master builder.
Career
His first customs were made in the garage of his home in San Leandro, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, but by the early 1970s he had moved to a storefront on East 14th Street. Ness was recognized for his unique painting style and for developing a line of custom motorcycle parts. His popularity grew as he built new custom bikes and then had those displayed on the bike show circuit and featured in motorcycle magazines.
After more than three decades of custom bike building and developing his business to the point that it supports a several hundred page parts catalogue, Arlen Ness, Inc. moved to a Dublin, California facility that included a museum featuring more than 40 of his custom motorcycles. The museum displays his famous Untouchable, the twin motor Two Bad, the antique inspired Ness-Tique, Blower Bike, the Italian sports car inspired Ferrari Bike, the '57 Chevy sports car inspired Ness-Stalgia, the Bugatti
Bugatti
Automobiles E. Bugatti was a French car manufacturer founded in 1909 in Molsheim, Alsace, as a manufacturer of high-performance automobiles by Italian-born Ettore Bugatti....
-like Smooth-Ness, the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
's Biker Build-Off
Biker Build-Off
Biker Build-Off is a reality television series for the Discovery Channel. Created and narrated by Thom Beers, the series was originally conceived as a single special called The Great Biker Build-Off...
bike Top Banana, and his jet-powered Mach Ness.
The Mach Ness is a motorcycle Ness built in 2005, inspired by Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
’s turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
-powered bike, that incorporates a jet-powered helicopter engine as its power plant. The design, concept, paint, and graphics were created by Carl Brouhard and the hand-made aluminum body work was by Bob Monroe.
Arlen has received recognition and awards including Builder of the Year, induction into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Lifetime Achievement Awards. His son, Cory Ness, has worked with Arlen for more than 30 years, and now runs the day to day business operations at Arlen Ness, Inc. Cory has himself been recognized as a top custom bike builder and even defeated his father in a 2004 episode of The Great Biker Build-Off
Biker Build-Off
Biker Build-Off is a reality television series for the Discovery Channel. Created and narrated by Thom Beers, the series was originally conceived as a single special called The Great Biker Build-Off...
. Carrying on the family tradition to a third generation, Cory's son, Zach, built several beautiful high end customs before finishing high school in 2006.
Ness received a patent for the Big Shot, a method of altering the motorcycles fuel injection
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
system, is used to personalize a motorcycle's performance.