In the sleepy hamlet of Kingstree, South Carolina, there is a rumble on the streets thanks to Russell Marlowe.  Russell is the owner and master bike builder at Carolina Custom Cycles, a business that is setting the custom bike industry on fire.  In fact, Russell recently won the first annual $125,000 Bike Build-Off at the Heritage Motorcycle Rally during Bike Week, Charleston!  Not long after that prestigious award, the folks from Corbin’s Ride On had the chance to visit with Russell and learn about his start in the custom motorcycle industry. 

Russell said that he began his fascination about 15 years ago when he bought a Harley-Davidson.  Soon, he tore the bike apart and then put it back together.  He then began to modify the bike.  Others asked him to do the same things to their bikes as well.  Then he discovered that he could make a little money doing it!  Russell now says, “The motorcycle business consumes me.”  He went on to say that he was self-taught when it comes to his designs and his work in sheet metal.  “Sometimes it looks really good.  Sometimes I want to back up and do it again,” he added.  He also said that after he started to modify motorcycles and build parts, it was time to go to shows and “show off what we have done.”  Well it didn’t take folks long to see the light as Russell and his bikes won “13 or 14 Best of Show awards at Easy Riders Bike Shows.” 

As far as his current customers are concerned, Russell says that they “turn him loose” and allow him to build what he sees in his mind.  My goal is to build “a good-looking rideable motorcycle as well as a bike that is easy to look at.”  Russell goes on to say that clean and simple lines are in his vision and that a bike should be a work of art that flows.  “They call me Mr. Clean,” Russell noted, because of the stripped-down nature of his designs.  “I don’t add.  I see how much I can take away,” he said with a grin.  To demonstrate his point, Russell went on to tell the story of a bike that he took to a show that didn’t win an award.  The reason it didn’t win was that judges didn’t think the bike was completed!  Now that is getting it down to the bare necessities!  Russell also cites his environment for his success.  Being in Kingstree allows him to do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it.  He says that it is great to live there.  If he needs something from the hardware store, he can get it in a manner of minutes, unlike if he lived in a city where it might be a long-distance commute from one store to another.  “We only have seven or eight stoplights here, so it makes it real easy,” Russell noted.

When we asked him about his recent project that won the Heritage Bike Build-Off, Russell was proud to tell us about “Half & Half.”  It is a bike that is stretched out to be more than 10 feet long!  This stripped-down, raked-out ride is simply awesome!  In building this bike there is no doubt that Russell sums up his philosophy of “less is more.”  When we inquired about what he was currently working on, his latest project consists of another stretch design built on a custom frame with no front down tubes, using the engine as part of the structural support! 

When we wrapped up the conversation about his own bike designs and ideas, Russell said, “Hard tails are cool, but it took a lot of years to a make a soft tail have a hard tail look.”  He also mentioned that one cool thing about this industry is that there are no rules, and there is no such word as “can’t.”  As far as success goes, he continues to be motivated and driven to do even bigger and better things.  “You’re only as good as your last project,” Russell said.  We have no doubt that each bike will keep being better than the one before it.  After all, as their website says, “It’s all about the way you look when you get there.”  How cool is that?  If you would like to learn more about Russell Marlowe and the bikes, parts, and accessories available from Carolina Custom Cycles, you can visit them on the web at www.carolinacustomcycles.com, or you can give them a call at 843-201-6202.  We enjoyed our visit to Kingstree, South Carolina.  We are sure that if you go there, you will too!  So, until our next ride, “Keep the shiny side up and Ride On!”

Back to Episode CRN10014