Okay, so you've got your Harley-Davidson - or indeed one of the other marques now proliferating out of the states - and you want to make it your own ... and lets face it, most of us do, judging by the lack of bog-stock Harleys you see on the road. A bit of billet here, extra chrome there and a set of free-breathing pipes to let the evocative noises out ... but hang on a minute. If it's so simple, why do so many of us struggle to turn out a bike that looks better than the original?

Its really quite easy. There are a number of generic styles, each passing a cursory glance to some period in motorcycling history, and there is a massive selection of aftermarket bits that complement each of those styles but - and here's the rub - which will fit almost anything else in the range.

Hence it is easy to fit a part that is absolutely perfect for a classic-styled Softail onto a Dyna Sport because in itself the part looks beautiful, but it doesn't mean it will suit the bike.

Short of sending the fashion police out to set things right - and after long conversations with people who have explicitly made mention of this blight, we offer a brief history of the background to each range to guide, inform, cajole or even bludgeon the worst offenders into recognising that two beautiful items when combined do not always make one improved whole.

The good news is that the Dyna Retrospective is actually UP, Yippeee. Some of the pics are suspect, and I wish I'd had more of the resources that I left behind at BSH, but that's life.

I'm in a tearing hurry at the moment so the button will have to wait, but until I get chance to sort that our, click on the button below to get access.