Kirk sells the dream like he sells excuses. I want to say Kirk built me a bike but really he built me a liability. Not only a liability that rarely runs and often leaves me stranded and from day one had a wobble no real builder would have allowed out the door. Both statements Kirk cant dispute because he's aware of the wobble and he's also picked me up twice on the side of the road. I spent 60k cash with Kirk on a FXR build. A build in which he chose to reuse old parts when he charged me for new and even worse had an open check book to get what was right. The bike Kirk built has essentially been torn down and built back up revealing mediocre work that most would call a hack job. Motor, trans and rear wheel way out of alignment. Brand new s&s motor leaks. Once opened up it reveals a caulking job of gasket sealer. Original motor mounts and rubber goods reused. Wheel bearing and neck bearings incorrectly installed or didn't have the knowledge of the correct size to install. The high end Italian calipers he had to have both leak, the wheels were chromed then dremelled out so the bearing would fit. Obviously this isn't the correct way to get an exact fit. This bikes never been over 70 mph safely due to the wobble and incorrect parts. The list goes on and on. I've reached out to Kirk through calls and text both not getting any ownership or support. Sadly this is one of many Kirk Taylor builds that's problematic. I understand growing pains with new builds but I don't get or accept hack work, cutting corners and reused parts from a 1990 Harley Davidson. I would have been good with accountability and ownership. This shop doesn't not possess that. Shitty to run Kirk like this but the reality is the product speaks volumes and all he had to do is communicate with me what he needed or a simple apology that he build me lawn art read more

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I took my chopper there and was fixed right away. Amazing customer service and they get the job done... highly recommended.

Took my Harley to a shop in San Rafael because I'm stupid and did not do my homework . Headlight blowing fuses . 1 week later they admit they could not find the short . Kirk quoted 2 hours but he and his crew found and fixed it in 1 hour . 1 hour . Got to admit I was a little intimidated going to a custom shop with all the bright shiny custom bikes (my bikes a little ratty } , but Kirk and the folks at CDS treated me like my bike was the most important project at that time . I was given recommendations on other things my bike needed and will follow their advise because I got the feeling they were not just trying to make a sale but wanted my bike to be safe and dependable. Passion for what you do and experience go a LONG way and they have both in spades at Custom Design Studios. read more

I hate to write this because Kirk seemed like a really nice guy, but I have to because the fabrication work done here is not high quality. I needed to shorten my frame by few inches and weld on a cafe style loop. I picked this place because of the good reviews. The work was done in a timely manner. When I got the frame back upon closer inspection the loop was not straight and was curved out to one side. I notified Kirk and he told me to come back and he would fix it at no cost. I thought great, this place stands by its work. This time it was done even quicker and again I was impressed with the shop. When I picked it up it looked a lot straighter and I thought it might be just good enough. Once I got home and had time to take a closer look I found that now the whole frame was bent! The whole tail section was clearly bent to the right, the rear suspension studs where pointing different directions. When I send the images that clearly show that the frame is bent I was told to "not worry about it, lots of bikes have bent frames"! Now I had to spend another $700 to straighten the frame at a different place. The fabricated loop is still out of whack and I have to cut it out and start from scratch. This place might perform better work in other areas, but I would suggest to stay away if you need any fabrication done. Based on my experience I would not go there for anything. read more

Kirk and his crew are great He got my old sportster running for hundreds less than estimated read more

I've found the last motorcycle shop I'll ever need.Took my bike in for service at Custom Design Studios and met Mike, Lisa and Kirk. These guys are the best at what they do. They did a great job servicing my bike. The folks at CDS are honest, hard working and all around nice people. Thanks for keeping me on the road guys. read more

First time getting custom work done and customer service/care was lacking here. Bike was returned late, totally filthy covered in dust and stencil work came out sloppy. Overall disappointing experience read more

there's not many people i would trust to chop my frame. Kirk Taylor is one of them. brought in my stock '93 softail, and he stretched and raked the frame to fit me perfectly, and it also looks cool as hell. immediately after, i took it on a 5000mi camping trip to minnesota, sturgis, yellowstone, fly fishing in idaho, oregon, etc. i lived on that thing for a month. far and away the most comfortable softail i've ever ridden. the frame work was flawless and solid, and this thing tracks straight and true. excellent handling from parking lot speeds out past 100mph. kudos to Kirk and the crew...this sled is sweeeeet! read more

I can't say enough good things about these guys. Ive know them for years now and even though they primarily do custom built choppers I know can handle anything motorcycle. I bring all my bikes to them and I don't even own a chopper yet. You can believe that when I do get that chopper it would only come from here because not only have they built my favorite choppers I have ever seen (DirtyBoot, and Widow Maker that they built for James Hetfield) but they are also the most down to earth, honest, reliable crew I have ever run across. I am a rare bike collector and have mostly european bikes (Ducati, MV Agusta, Bimota, triumph, norton, etc.). I started bringing my bikes there when I first noticed that they always seemed to be working on some nice collector Ducati or similar. I started out small, as I am very picky and particular and admit I don't trust anyone, by bringing them my collector Yamaha YSR's to have the bodies worked on. Since then I have had them work on everything I own and would not trust anyone else. To cap everything all off they are not expensive and are very fair on price. So whether you want a one of a kind show stopping chopper or have a bike you just need some work on you can trust and count on them to get it done. read more