Phoenix Risen "Have you ever been working on a project, then three-quarters of the way through, anticipation gets the best of you and you start cutting corners? Me, too! Safe to say, no shortcuts were taken during construction of this outrageous, super-stretched Suzuki Hayabusa crafted by McCoy Motorsports in Pikeville, Kentucky." --Mark Cernicky

Café9 Ducati "Some people tried to like the Ducati 999 when it made its 2003 debut. Others made no effort at all, mostly because they were so put off by the bike's styling departure from the almost universally accepted beauty of the 916. For his part, Robert Steffano just did what any creative bike builder would do: He threw the bodywork away." —Mark Hoyer

7 Minutes of Euphoria "Are you freakin' kidding me?! Once in a while you get asked a question with so obvious an answer that the query is mere formality. October last year, I got the dream call, the Holy Grail of motorcycle-magazine assignments." —Blake Conner

Stunt Man "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the wheelie. Done properly, it is the ultimate act of motorcycle bravura, gravity defied, front wheel pawing the air, levitating on the balance point of unholy disaster, a supreme display of machine control–if you will, a work of art." —David Edwards

Isle of Men When the internal-combustion engine first showed it could move vehicles, it was embraced most passionately by the French. Conservative Germany was offended by the noise, smoke and unconventionality. England–likewise home to structured living–responded with the infamous Red Flag Law, which held back motor vehicle development for years: All self-propelled vehicles on public highways were limited to a maximum speed of 4 mph and had to be preceded by a man on foot waving a red flag to warn oncoming horse-drawn vehicles!—Kevin Cameron