If there's one thing that reflects the aesthetic of Biltwell Inc., it's the El Diablo Run.

The Biltwell crew (from left), Bill Bryant, Harold "McGoo" McGruther, Chris Collins and an unidentified dog that seems a little camera shy.

Just past its third year (and possibly its last, depending on who you talk to) the EDR ( http://www.eldiablorun.com/) is a balls-out run through southernmost California, across the border and into the wilds of Baja California (aka Mexico). It's a run-what-you-brung, low-expectations deal where new meets old, rust meets primer and motorcycle parts meet the highway. As the organizers of the EDR say on their Web site: "The EDR is no place for pussies or chrome polishers, and douchebags and dumbasses are also not tolerated. If you think you meet these low standards for high times, please read on."

But mostly it's about riding motorcycles. New bikes. Beat bikes. And those restored to grandeur. The common theme is the DIY ethos behind them.

"I think we're all into just bikes, period. Whether it's a dual sport, a sportbike, a chopper, anything with two wheels," says Chris Collins, one of Biltwell's founders. "From when I was really young, when I started liking bikes I was always drawn to Harleys. Back then, I didn't have a lot of money. My first Sportster was 500 bucks. So all the stuff you got you either came by at a swap meet or knew someone who could make things."

Biltwell's parts include workaday goods like these clubman bars, exhaust tips, Sportster struts and a built-it-yourself exhaust kit.

While he and his partners, Bill Bryant and Harold "McGoo" McGruther, are into all kinds of bikes, it's the stripped-down, bare-bones look they gravitate toward with their parts line of handlebars, forward controls, open-face helmets, exhaust tips and exhaust pipe kits.

REBIRTH

Their parts also point to a larger trend. While some might say that the custom V-twin industry is dead — and maybe it is on the grand scale — it's very much alive in the world where companies like Biltwell, Nash Motorcycles and Flyrite Choppers dwell. These are guys who already have a lifestyle: they don't need to finance one from a big manufacturer.

The idea here is that not everybody can buy or even wants to buy a brand-new $20,000 motorcycle or one of those $30,000 production customs that now seem kinda passé. Instead, it's like the rebirth of the original chopper scene.

These are the riders who look to the past, to The Horse and Cycle Source for inspiration, which is then carried out via swap meet runs, friends with machine shops or a garage welder. It's the same thing that drove these crowds in the days before Harley's first chrome catalog or the term production custom was ever used.

Collins says his company caters mostly to younger riders and garage builders. "I think the newer styles are more garage-built, where a guy can slowly build at his own pace and not have to go into the big dealerships to be part of something that doesn't cost him an arm and a leg," he says.

Like many other builders and entrepreneurs in this surging niche, Collins and his partners draw from their past for inspiration. For some, it's skateboarding and punk rock, for others it's minibikes and dirtbikes. For Biltwell it's the BMX world and a general love of motorcycles.

Collins, Bryant and McGoo mostly come from BMX — racing, manufacturing parts, the whole deal. In fact, McGoo has done everything from edit BMX-related magazines to managing freestyle BMX teams. Collins grew up in Oklahoma riding BMX freestyle in the 1980s, later moving to the business side of bikes.

"It's just kind of our evolution," Collins says. "As you get older, you're not going to ride a BMX bike forever."