I'm saddened to see Arlen Ness go,

[JohnnyRingo]

He died a couple days ago and the motorcycle community lost a visionary. He was 79 and leaves his wife of 59 years, Beverly.

Back in the early to mid-70s Ness came up with a custom none of us in the Midwest had seen before. What we called the Bay Area chopper was designed with a drag bike in mind. Ness kept everything low and long, then he chromed everything that bolted on to it. The norm back then were pull backs, highway pegs and sissy bars. Many of my rider friends sniffed at Arlen's design, but I dug it a lot. Owning a Sportster put my mindset halfway there. I still have a thing for chrome.

I don't think he's been active on the custom scene for a while, so it might be appropriate to say he'll be fondly remembered as a true originator and artist.

Here's a short story about him on Jalopnik and part of an interview where he tells about his first and most famous custom, his signature '47 Knucklehead that he continued to modify and retained to the end:

https://jalopnik.com/arlen-ness-legendary-custom-motorcycle-builder-dies-a-1833560468

Edited to include the link.

[NBachers]

1. My brother and I visited him at his shop in the Bay Area. He had nothing good to say about Harley

management when we asked about his relationship with them.

He himself, however, was a gentleman, and took time out from his busy day to spend time with us.

[JohnnyRingo]

2. He sure seemed to have a gentle nature in the interview.

Came off as a class act.

There is a series of that interview on his YouTube channel. I'm glad we have that to reflect on him as a person along with his work. Considering choice of vintage his bikes, it doesn't look like he deals with the current HD company much.

[natheo]

3. RIP to a legend

Truly, he left an indelible mark on the custom bike industry.