You Read It Right! We're Building A Custom 2009
Road Glide For Arlen Ness!
It's been a busy year for us here and we've
all been very focused on moving forward
and conquering new challenges in the
custom bike world. We've tackled a lot of
new and exciting projects and have always
been very satisfied with the results.
Recently, we were given the opportunity to
take on another challenge. A very big
challenge, in fact. We were contacted by
Arlen Ness and asked to build a completely
custom bagger for the V-Twin Expo in
February! We will be purchasing a 2009
Road Glide and doing a complete
tear-down and rebuild. The project will
begin on Monday, January 12th and we will
have until Thursday February 6th to
complete the build. This bike will feature
many of the new products from Arlen
Ness's Products for 09 baggers (many not
on the market yet) and have that unique
flare that we bring to all of our bikes. We
will try to update this page as much as
possible throughout the build to keep you
all updated on what's going on and we hope
to have a public viewing of the bike either
right before or right after the V-Twin show
in February. Thanks for your support and
check back often!
**UPDATE**
1/9/09-
We have purchased our 2009 Road
Glide and it is in our shop now! It was
delivered to us with only .5 miles on it and it's
already torn down! No warranty left on this
baby! Parts will be showing up this coming
week and all hell is about to break loose!!
**UPDATE**
1/12/09-
We have just been contacted by
American Bagger Magazine and will be
featured in an upcoming edition with this
bike! Keep Checking back here with us for
publication dates and how to get your copy!
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Ken's Custom Paint & Graphics    2245 N.E. Jefferson Ave.    Peoria, IL 61603        (309)682-2453
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**UPDATE**
1/13/09-
The Journal Star visited us today
and will be covering the build in tomorrow's
Business Section of the Paper. We will also
be featured on their web-site in video clips
and can be seen at
www.pjstar.com. Make
sure you go get your copy of the Journal
Star on your way to work tomorrow!
Here is the actual bike we started with. Looks great
right? All of the pictures to the right is what's left of this
bad boy! Just a shelf full of parts and a stripped down
frame! Keep an eye on this page, things will be moving
very fast this week!
Big Thanks To Jeremy from Image Innovations for shooting the before pictures on
such short notice. If you need photography...visit
www.imagei.net
Here is a video clip from the Journal Star covering the build
Thanks Journal Star!
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**UPDATE**
1/13/09-
Well it turns out that we are not in
today....We're on the FRONT PAGE!! Make
sure you get todays paper, and don't forget
to check out their web-site at
www.pjstar.com to read the story, view
pictures, and leave comments.
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**UPDATE**
1/14/09-
The first round of parts made their
way into the shop this afternoon and the build
is going pretty smooth. The entire front
should be ready to go on late this evening or
early tomorrow which includes the never
before seen 21" chrome front wheel! All of
the remaining parts will be received
tomorrow and the build will be moving
forward very fast. Check back here
tomorrow for the update of the day!
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**UPDATE**
1/19/09-
Sorry it's taken so long to get you
all up to speed! Things have been
EXTREMELY BUSY!! In the short time that
we have not updated this page, we have
been contacted by
Dealer News Magazine,
(
a motorcycle magazine that caters to
dealers of all makes of bikes updating them
on  the hot new things in the industry) and
are now featured online and soon in print of
their publication. You can read the full article
at the following link:
http://www.dealernews.com/dealernews/Brea
king+News/Custom-Bagger-Dripping-With-Ne
ss/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/575778?cont
extCategoryId=2704

The custom fabrication of the bike is almost
complete and will be going back to paint
today or tomorrow. Check out the pictures of
the bike in primer (pictured on the right.)
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**UPDATE**
1/19/09-
Bassani Exhaust has just contacted
us and is engineering a custom exhaust
system for this bike. This will not be in
production and will be custom fit to this bike!
Also, Bikers PHD will be down here today
and will be doing what they do best with the
heads on the Ness bike...BIG
HORSEPOWER GAINS!!! This bike WILL
BE FOR SALE after the V-twin show. We
are hoping to sell it locally, but are not
opposed to any other locations. If you want a
one of a kind, it doesn't get much better than
this! Check back with us tomorrow for the
scoop on what's happening!
Here is the bike as of January 19th...We're ahead of
schedule (fingers crossed!)
Get your Ken's Custom "RetroNess" T-shirt!
We're taking pre-orders now, so call or send a contact email to get on
the list before they're gone!
Click Here To Contact Us
(make sure to fill out the form completely!)
Take a look at the progress we're making as of
January 22nd. It's finally starting to look like a bike!
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**UPDATE**
1/22/09-
A lot has happened in the last few
days. The bike is coming together very
quickly and with no major hang ups. In the
have a lot of news to talk about! We have
been contacted by WEEK News 25 and will
be appearing on the "Postcards from Home"
segment within the next few days (check
back for date and time.) Our phone lines
have been flooded this week with calls from
around the country getting in line to have
everyone that has given us the opportunity to
work on their bike from the customers that
have completely customized your bike to the
customers that just needed a light bulb. You
are our highest priority! We also want to
thank Born Paint for all of their help with
everything throughout this project, and all
projects for that matter. And a big shout-out
to Scott "wants an autograph" Weistart from
Busey Bank for providing us with lunch this
week so that we didn't have to stop working
to get food! (We are always accepting food
donations...we're not picky,and our address
is at the bottom of this page!!) Well that's all
for tonight and we'll update you as soon as
we get a chance.
Kathy is our book keeper and handles all
of the everyday things that goes on
behind the scenes at the shop. She's a
huge part of the team here and we
couldn't do what we do without her!

Click Kathy's Picture to leave a comment
for her and brighten up her day!
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**UPDATE**
1/25/09-
Well I know I'm in the dog house for
not updating this page everyday, but here's
what's going on. We ran into our first minor
issue yesterday, but we're working it out.
happen! The fairing is back on the bike and
the wiring has begun. We will have the heads
back on tomorrow and begin with the braking
system. There are still a ton of parts that
haven't shown up yet, so you can bet this
build will come down to the last second.
WEEK News came in on Saturday and
conducted their interview with Ken and will
be making a 2nd trip to the shop tomorrow to
finish up. You can look for the segment to air
on Feb. 13th or 14th.

We are still looking for sponsors for the
build, but the cut-off is coming up real soon.
If your business is interested in sponsorship,
contact Tony at
tony@pimpmybagger.com
Check out the pictures as of the 24th to the
right and let us know what you think!
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**UPDATE**
1/26/09-
IT'S CRUNCH TIME!!! A lot went
down at the shop today. We made a lot of
progress on the bike overall. All of the body
has been clear coated and (God willing) will
be buffed and polished tomorrow. Some
much needed parts finally came in this put
back on the bike and buttoned up. Thanks to
Bikers PHD for all your help on such short
notice! A lot of the smaller parts and chrome
accent pieces were put on, but we're still
waiting on a good amount of pieces to finish
it off. WEEK News came back in today and
gave us a definite date of the segment they
will be running. It will air on February 13th,
so make sure you're around a t.v. that day.
Our custom made exhaust system from our
friends at Bassani showed up late this
evening and is on the bike! We are beginning
to see the light at the end of the tunnel on the
build and though it will be very hectic the rest
of this week throughout the shop, we are
expecting to have the bike complete by the
end of this coming weekend. That will leave
just enough time for American Bagger to
take their photos for the magazine and allow
me to clean the hell out of the bike, making
sure that every nut & bolt sparkles for the
show. Check back tomorrow for more news!
Thanks to Gary Cave from Biker's
PHD for doing what he does best
with the heads on the bike. We
appreciate it! Gary's dog Star was
a huge help too.
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**UPDATE**
today. Between waiting on parts, which has
become a regular event, and waiting for paint
to dry, there wasn't much we could get done.
We are hoping that tomorrow the braking
system will be complete and we will be able
to start assembly of the rest of the bike. Our
hopes are still high on completing the build
and check back tomorrow!
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**UPDATE**
1/28/09-
What a day! Thanks to Nate, who
buffed, and buffed, and buffed some more,
all day today...we now have the body parts
parts came in today which allowed us to
finish up on the brake modifications. The "to
do list" is decreasing more and more and it's
getting to the point that we can start focusing
on the fit and finish of the bike. We have
confirmed that the final round of parts will be
arriving on Friday, which means the bike
WILL BE FINISHED this weekend. That will
leave me plenty of time to wash, wax, &
polish 5 times over before American Bagger
comes and the bike is unveiled at the V-Twin
show. Take a look at the most recent
pictures to the right and let us know what
you think! See you all tomorrow.
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**UPDATE**
1/29/09-
Stressful doesn't even begin to
describe the day we're having today at the
shop! This morning, WEEK News 25 had a
complete studio set up in the shop to get
some really good footage of the bike being
finished up and a relatively large crowd
showed up to watch the filming take place. It
looked like a Hollywood studio in here! We
have been putting the bike back together
piece by piece and have noticed a few
fitment issues that need to be addressed.
What most people haven't really thought
about is the regular day to day operations of
the shop that has still been taking place while
this build is happening. We are still involved
in quite a few projects that have deadlines of
their own and have not neglected our regular
customers as we know they are the reason
we are here in the first place! So thanks to
really appreciate it. It has been a very busy
really appreciate it. It has been a very busy
day, full of phone calls, interviews, day, full
of phone calls, interviews, advertising, and
oh yeah...that other thing we advertising, and
oh yeah...that other thing we do
here....BUILDING BIKES!! Check out the
cool pictures we have for todays update and
I'll see you all right back here tomorrow!
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**UPDATE**
2/3/09-
Well, the V-Twin Expo is breathing
down our necks! The bike needs to be on the
trailer and hitting the road on Friday morning
around 5:00 a.m. The good news is.... WE
HAVE COMPLETED THE BUILD!!! That's
that's left to do now is shine up the chrome
and strap it down in the trailer. There have
been a lot of bumps in the road to get to this
point, but we overcame every issue and the
bike looks great! There were a lot of
changes that were made during the build that
were not part of the original game plan, but it
all came together and we wouldn't change a
single thing. The Journal Star stopped back
down this morning to cover the end of the
build and we look for that to hit the news
stands tomorrow or the day after....we're
hoping for the same feedback as we had the
last time we were featured. Also, WEEK
News 25 stopped back in this morning to
wrap up the final few things for the special
segment that will be airing on Friday,
February 13th on prime time news and again
on Monday, February 16th on their daytime
segment. American Bagger Magazine is
scheduled to be in here this afternoon to
shoot the photos for our feature spot. We
can't thank everybody enough for all of the
support they have given us throughout the
process. Thanks to Brad Grimm for his
amazing work as usual, Biker's PHD,
Performance Dual, Born Paint, Peoria
Journal Star, WEEK News 25, Image
Innovations, Busey Bank, Meadows Tap,
95.5 WGLO, Bill Martin Insurance, Addy,
Bush & Associates, Bill & Sue Engelke, Cady
Oil, T.D.I., and of course Arlen Ness.  We
will be updating more pictures after the
V-Twin Expo of everything that goes down
over there. We will also be posting a new
products page to let you know what's new in
the bike world so that you are all in the loop
with what's happening. Make sure you all get
your orders in for the "RetroNess" T-shirts.
Supplies are limited so get your name on the
list. You can either call in, or send us an
email through our contact page. Be sure to
include your size, how many you want, and
the shipping address. Once the shirts come
in, we will be calling you to let you know they
are here. Thanks again everybody for
checking back with us everyday to see the
progress! Spring is just around the corner, so
be sure to contact us with all of your service
needs to get your bike ready to ride!
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**UPDATE**
2/3/09-
Just wanted to let you all know that
you need to get a copy of the Peoria Journal
Star. We will be in the Wednesday, February
4th edition. If you can't pick one up, follow
this link to read the article and view the video
segment they have posted on their web-site.
The link to the article is
PJ Star's "Pimp My
Road Glide" Article
We've Got A Lot In Store For You All!
Ken's Custom Paint & Graphics has a lot of huge projects coming very soon. We can't talk
too much about what they are, but trust us...it's going to be huge! Keep checking our site for
more details on our future projects!
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**UPDATE**
2/9/09-
We survived the build! The trip to
Cincinnati was the end of a stressful but
enjoyable project and we had a great time
showing it off to the thousands of dealers at
the V-Twin Expo this weekend. The bike
received a better response than we ever
could have asked for and the Arlen Ness
team seemed very pleased. We met a lot of
great vendors and dealers that are offering
some great products that we hope to be able
to bring to you very soon and we picked up a
lot of work from other businesses as well.
The bike generated such good feedback,
that Arlen asked for it to be the feature bike
in his booth at the Indianapolis Bike Show
this coming weekend. The show is open to
the public and is from Friday the 13th through
Monday the 16th. If you have time to take a
day trip to Indianapolis, we would love to see
you there! We also wanted to let you all
know that the RetroNess will make it's first
public appearance in the Peoria area on
Friday Night, February 20th at Meadows
Avenue Tap. It is sure to be a great time!
Stop down for some drinks and get your
picture taken with the bike!! Well, take a look
at the short slide show I put together of the
weekend in Cinci and let us know what you
think! Thanks everybody!

Click the RetroNess to sign our Guestbook
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**UPDATE**
2/10/09-
Well it's official, the RetroNess will
be featured in either the April or May edition
of American Bagger. I just got off the phone
with them and they are pumped to push this
project. But don't think that this is it for us
here at the shop. We have some very
exciting things coming! This Ness project was
only the beginning for us and we are very
happy to be able to bring Peoria some
amazing custom projects. We have a lot of
things cooking down here and just as soon
as we can let you all know what they are, we
will be sure to post it for you! Also, don't
forget that we now have a forum for you to
leave comments, questions, and whatever
else you want to leave for us. Just click on
the Guestbook link on the home page.