I'm saddened to see Arlen Ness go, [View all]

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