Issue 319 of Cycle Source Magazine has already made its way through newsstands, motorcycle shops and subscribers’ mailboxes. Now, 120 days after its original print release, the complete issue is finally available to read online.
This is more than a digital copy of the magazine. It is 116 pages of motorcycles, builders, cross-country adventures, major events, garage-built machines, custom art and the people who continue to push motorcycle culture forward.
SEE THE ENTIRE DIGITAL ISSUE HERE
Over the coming weeks, we will also begin releasing the individual stories from Issue 319 on the Cycle Source blog. Sign up for the newsletter on our home page and we will let you know when each new article goes live.
Until then, here is a look at what is waiting inside.
Vinny: The FXR With a Big Attitude
Brian Korelec bought this 1992 Harley-Davidson FXLR brand new in November 1991. It did not remain stock for very long.
By the winter of 1993, Brian had already transformed it into a long, low and drag-inspired pro-street custom. More than three decades later, the motorcycle is still with him—and it has never been treated like a garage ornament.
Vinny is the story of a motorcycle that has evolved alongside its owner, survived years of hard riding and remained far more than another old custom from the 1990s.
How does one FXR remain part of a rider’s life for more than 30 years? Read the complete story in Issue 319.
TransAm: Century-Old Iron and 3,700 Miles of American Roads
Thirty riders. Two weeks. One coast-to-coast route.
The catch? Every motorcycle at the starting line had to be at least 100 years old.
The inaugural TransAmerican Motorcycle Endurance Run sent riders from North Carolina to Oregon aboard machines built when cross-country motorcycle travel was still an almost unimaginable undertaking. The event followed in the spirit of early riders such as Effie Hotchkiss, who crossed America in 1915 with her mother riding in the sidecar.
Mechanical failures, punishing weather and physical exhaustion were only part of the test. The deeper story is what happened between the riders, the machines and the community that formed across 3,700 miles.
How many century-old motorcycles made it all the way to the Pacific? The answer is inside Issue 319.
Lone Star Rally 2025: The Heartbeat of Texas Motorcycle Culture
For one weekend in Galveston, it seemed like the entire island was running on high octane.
The 2025 Lone Star Rally filled The Strand with tens of thousands of motorcycles, live music, custom bikes and crowds that stretched through the historic heart of the city. Saliva, Montgomery Gentry, Jackyl and Hairball helped provide the soundtrack, but the motorcycles remained the center of it all.
One of the biggest stories was the continuing explosion of the Vicla scene. Long, low motorcycles covered in candy paint, engraving and chrome seemed to be everywhere, turning the streets into a rolling custom-bike show.
See the motorcycles, crowds and moments that made Galveston one of the biggest rallies of the year.
Kahn: Duane Ballard’s Wild Yamaha Digger
Digger-style motorcycles have never cared much about following the rules.
When custom leather craftsman Duane Ballard decided to build one, he did not create a quiet tribute to the past. He built Kahn—a wild, brightly painted Yamaha-powered machine with long lines and unmistakable attitude.
Duane’s history with motorcycles began with a painfully slow Honda scooter and eventually led to a CB750 chopper called Funkenstein. From there, his projects only became bigger, stranger and more ambitious.
Kahn may borrow its shape from another era, but nothing about this motorcycle feels stuck in the past.
Harley-Davidson Homecoming: Where Music, Machines and Milwaukee Collide
Milwaukee feels different when thousands of motorcycles begin rolling into town.
The 2025 Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival turned Veterans Park, the Harley-Davidson Museum and Davidson Park into gathering points for riders from across the country. Chris Stapleton headlined a sold-out crowd, while freestyle motocross riders and stunt performers brought another level of action to the weekend.
But Homecoming is more than a concert or corporate celebration. It is a reminder that Harley-Davidson and Milwaukee have been tied together for generations—and riders still want to experience that history firsthand.
Go inside the machines, music and Milwaukee energy of Harley-Davidson Homecoming in Issue 319.
FAB28 Exhaust Install: From Sportster Nightmare to Raw Power
A bad exhaust system can make even a good motorcycle miserable to ride.
Jenny Lefferts learned that firsthand when the exhaust on her 1993 Sportster forced her leg into an awkward position and made braking feel more like wrestling with the motorcycle.
The solution came from FAB28 and Motorious Speed Shop. Issue 319 follows the removal of the old setup and the installation of a handmade stainless-steel FAB28 system, step by step.
The result promises more than a better-looking motorcycle. It changes the way the Sportster fits, sounds and performs.
Thinking about changing the exhaust on your Sportster? This is one installation worth seeing before you start.
Lil’ Mama: Paper Street Customs Builds a Stainless-Framed Shovelhead
Lil’ Mama began with a text message and a photograph of Billy Lane’s famous chopper, Blue.
Lucky Witherspoon wanted that same feeling, but builder Ryan Gore of Paper Street Customs had no interest in simply copying another motorcycle. Instead, the photograph became a starting point for something original.
Built from the ground up around a stainless frame and Shovelhead engine, Lil’ Mama carries the influence of an iconic custom while standing completely on its own.
Look closely at the fabrication, proportions and handmade details that turned an inspiration photo into an entirely new motorcycle.
Long Time Coming: Abdul Majeed Al-Qarni’s First Bike and First Build
Most first-time motorcycle owners start with something manageable.
Abdul Majeed Al-Qarni built a show-winning custom.
The motorcycle featured in Long Time Coming is both the first bike he has ever owned and the first custom he has ever built. The finished machine traveled from the mountains of southern Saudi Arabia to the 2025 Batabit Show in Qatar, where it earned second place in the Vicla Style category.
What makes the achievement even more remarkable is how many years the idea lived in his imagination before he finally had the opportunity to make it real.
This is what happens when a childhood fascination finally gets its chance to become steel, chrome and paint.
La Madre: A Tennessee Chopper Built as a Surprise
Emily had ridden thousands of miles, owned several motorcycles and traveled to Sturgis seven times—but she had never owned a true custom.
That changed when her husband, a builder and a small Tennessee shop came together on a surprise project.
La Madre is not simply a motorcycle assembled from a good collection of parts. It is a deeply personal machine built around family, shared miles and the memories Emily and her husband created together on two wheels.
The story behind this chopper may matter even more than the motorcycle itself.
Pearl: A Father-and-Son Garage-Built Triumph
Pearl did not come from a famous shop or a massive fabrication facility.
It was built in a garage by Steve Hilpisch and his father, Steven J. Hilpisch, using the same hands-on approach they had applied to cars, wooden boats, home repairs and countless family projects over the years.
The 1965 Triumph Bonneville bobber was inspired by a stripped-down custom Steve saw nearly 11 years before finding the right donor motorcycle. When the opportunity finally came, father and son tore it down and rebuilt it their way.
Pearl is proof that some of the best motorcycles are measured by the time spent together building them.
Red Beard Original: Made by Hand, Driven by Soul
AJ Newsom was only four years old when he walked toward the door carrying an art kit like a briefcase and announced that he was going to work on his artwork.
That instinct never left.
Today, the man behind Red Beard Original blends illustration, tattoo influence, traditional Western tooling, color and storytelling into leatherwork that is immediately recognizable. The path was not easy. At one point, drawing cartoon characters on blank shirts helped his family buy groceries.
For AJ, art has never been decoration. It has been work, survival, identity and a way of building a life with his hands.
Meet the artist whose work refuses to stay inside any one traditional style.
Creature Feature: Alex Higgins’ 1952 Panhead
Alex Higgins is known to many people through his Electric Garbage artwork—a style rooted in the strange, gritty and twisted side of chopper culture.
His 1952 Panhead brings that same energy off the page and puts it on the road.
The build began with a simple idea: Alex wanted a proper Panhead chopper. Not something overthought or overloaded, but an honest motorcycle built with the help of a close group of talented friends.
Creature Feature shows what can happen when the right motorcycle, the right artist and the right group of friends come together.
Motorcycle News From Around the Industry
Issue 319 also includes updates from across the motorcycle world, including a major transition involving Boswell’s Harley-Davidson, the passing of Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum founder George Barber, Royal Enfield’s 125th anniversary and Kayla Yaakov’s historic Daytona 200 podium finish.
Read the Complete Digital Edition of Issue 319
Those are only a few glimpses of what is waiting inside.
SEE THE ENTIRE DIGITAL ISSUE HERE
Issue 319 is now available online in its entirety. Read it straight through, jump to your favorite motorcycle or come back whenever you have time to explore another story.
Over the coming weeks, we will begin publishing the individual articles from Issue 319 on the Cycle Source blog. New stories will be added regularly, along with motorcycle news, videos, event coverage and features from across the custom motorcycle world.
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We will let you know when new articles from Issue 319 appear on the blog, along with the latest Cycle Source news, motorcycle features, videos and event coverage.
