Arlen Ness

1967, Arlen buys his first motorcycle, a 1947 Knucklehead®. Working in his own garage armed with only a spray gun and a vision Arlen stripped his motorcycle and gave it a full custom paint job. Shortly after, Arlen entered his first custom bike show and took first place; the first of many to come. Spending the nights in his garage working on an ever-growing list of customers' bikes Arlen realized it was time to quit his day job working for a private contractor and open a store. Renting a store space on East 14th in San Leandro, CA Arlen opened Arlen's Motorcycle "Ness-ecities". In the beginning the store was only open at night giving Arlen time to paint and work on bikes during the day. Soon demand for Arlen's "Ness-ecities" became too great and the store had to be opened full time. Following in his father's footsteps, Arlen's son Cory designed and built his first bike in his mid-teens. Together they made Arlen's Motorcycles “Ness-ecities” a hug success throughout the eighties and nineties resulting in several relocations into progressively larger stores.

Arlen Ness History