Bermudian Nathan Mapp has proved that you don?t need to own a $100,000 souped-up bike to feature in a top custom motorbike magazine in the US.

He has used his own skill and the expertise of friends to turn his 12-year-old Honda Shadow 1100 into a head-turning dream machine on the roads of his adopted home in Massachusetts.

And readers of the V-Twin Motorcycles magazine have been able to see for themselves the results after Mr. Mapp and his bike were given a six-page glossy spread alongside the work of famed motorbike customisers.

What makes the Bermudian?s inclusion all the more impressive is the fact that his backyard hobby project has been done on a limited budget next to the other machines featured in the magazine, and it was done as a natural progression from his love of riding around the Island in his youth on a Motobecane.

A cousin of current Mayor of Hamilton Lawson Mapp, he has been living in the US for the past 20 years and uses his customised bike as his regular transport except during the worst of the winter months when it is safely covered up in his garage.

?A lot of the guys who customise their bikes don?t use them but just put them in showcases,? said Mr. Mapp, 36. ?I built this bike to be the perfect blend of form and function ? and most importantly to ride.

?The customising bug has always been in my blood and it all started when I was a kid in Bermuda riding a Motobecane.?

His love of motorbikes led him to purchase the Honda Shadow and he set to work on improving it, firstly with ?bolt on? additions but he soon discovered that there were relatively few ready-made add-ons available for his model of bike.

So he helped his long-time riding buddy George customise his bike, then finished his own having painter Bill LeBeau balance out the chrome work with the distinctive crimson paint job, and added further ?smooth and flowing? details inspired by customiser Matt Hotch.

He was given welding and fabrication help from friend Bruce Barry and has dedicated his bike, named ?Simply Redd?, to his late father Ivan who ?was a great dad and mechanic who taught me all I know.?

The six-page special is the second time that Mr. Mapp?s bike has featured in V-Twin magazine, having originally been included as a small ?readers? rides? article.

Once the work on the bike was completed Mr. Mapp approached the magazine again and pitched the idea of a full article.

?Many of the bikes featured have cost $60,000 or more to customise but mine is under $10,000. I spoke to the editor and said you?ve got all these fancy bikes but the reality is that no-one can build them in their backyard but mine was something that could be done by a regular reader,? he explained.

?They reviewed the initial pictures and were glad to do the article, the only requirement was that I had to get the bike to their photographer Dino Petrocelli in upstate New York. I trailered the bike there for the photoshoot (see picture).

?Dino also shoots much of the Orange County Choppers customs as seen in the Discovery Channel show OCC.?

After being featured in the magazine Mr. Mapp, a consulting project manager for a major software company, said it was an honour to be given full coverage alongside some famous and respected names in the custom bike building world.