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Q-
What
is your definition of a "chopper?"
People
forget that the real reason for choppers coming around in the first
place, and that the term "chopped" came from when our boys
from the 2nd world war came home with flathead Harleys and
a need to blow
off all that steam and pent up frustration.
They started racing these
machines. But the Brit bikes were blowing
our doors off on the street and strip be cause they were lighter.
So, being
the innovative people that Americans are, they started "chopping"
off the unnecessary parts that were not functional so that we could
compete with the Brit bikes.
The artists and ChopperHedz took over from there.
Guys began chroming, painting, stretching, and raking their bikes. It
used to be a sort of contest between bros during the winter months to
see who could customize their choppers the cheapest and wildest. Ideas
and techniques were a close guarded secret, only shared with the closest of
bros.
To me, it is simple. If I build a chopper
and i pull up to a stop sign and someone pulls up next to me with the exact
same scoot-- I'm pulling over to the nearest phone booth and
calling a bro with a truck to come pick me up so I can get right back to the
drawing board.
Custom to me means that
no one has one like mine. I don't
manufacture scoots, I build masterpieces...its an art and a
way of life and no one can put a price on that. It still remains true-
some things you just can't
buy." the blacksmith
<Amen!!
-:) Mark>
"Choppers
came from thinking outside the box. There's a mechanical component and
there's an artistic angle too. Fusing the two can be an awful
challenge.
Rugged
individualism ought to be the driving factor in fringe biking ; not
conformity. Conformity ought to be deliberately stamped out. Conformity
makes the whole deal look too much like a fashion show for butch boys.
Conformity stifles the creative component in biking. Is that why all Hogs
look the same even though the pride of the industry is that they are all
different?
Why is that a problem? Consider two guys talking about their latest chopper
project and listen to them deliberately excluding superior technology
because it ain't Harley technology. I call that being stuck in the mud. I
call it narrow-mindedness. Isn't it funny how rugged individualism has
become regimented? Who's flying that flag anymore?
I'm an independent and always will be. And the main reason for that is that
real bikers are too scary to hang out with and their imitators are often
just playing dress-up on bikes. I don't want to take the time to sort out
who's for real anymore. I have all the time in the world to chat about bike
related stuff with anyone who'll share that with me but as soon as I see
that they are into it like some kind of religion, I'm out of the
conversation. And if that makes me look like a wannabe or like I don't
belong to this movement I'm OK with that. Rugged individualists don't need
affirmation or support to proceed on their own paths.
Isn't that what chopping Hondas is about? Isn't that more important than
simple style?"
Buck
The
meaning of "chopper" has taken a radical change over the
past few years. The original idea was to eliminate the
extra weight, bulk and cluttered appearance of a stock bike. The basic
chopper idea was originally loose enough to give room for individual
expression in design. A scooter generally got an exposed frame, narrow front
wheel, small fender(s), custom seat and a minimum of exposed wiring. By blending
these elements, an intimate relationship between design, form and
function was maintained. Add some chrome, fancy up the seat, extend
and rake a little, and you're closer to having a good-looking custom bike,
though I maintain it still isn't necessarily a chopper.
If you check out the street traffic or magazine stands, you will notice an
explosion of pseudo-choppers and their magazine counterparts. In typically
American fashion, we may have gone overboard.
Those who prefer the quickie chopper park it out front of their
favorite saloon because they haven't learned to ride it very well, if
at all. It's a perfect scooter for them if it just barks at passing
pedestrians and gets some long looks. How
many of those looks are going to reflect admiration? Do they care?
Widespread acceptance of the chopper, and the
underlying concept is great, but this mass-produced mess of tack-on
goodies doesn't bring the biker closer to his
machine.
My main complaint is against the "Instant Chopper" are the people
who forget that the original idea of a chopper was a
functional, clean-looking form of transportation based on a strong-running
mill. All common sense seems to have
disappeared and the sport is lost.
So run your bike down to the nearest custom parts shop and buy some chrome
things and some metal-flake paint. Add a high-back seat, sissy bar, big
pipes and go putting off down the road. You've got a chopper now, right?
Maybe some dudes will buy that shuck.
Don't you be one of them. John
Huetter
"Choppers are of one's creation, to be of a
different breed. The chopper guys are the ones who plan and put their dreams and
ideas to work for them and create a motorcycle separate from the rest, to
identify themselves, through their work and creativity. Never looking for
acceptance, but just to be left alone and enjoy their lives their way."
Thanks
to D.DAWG
"I am not sure if you have
ever read the puke that oozes from the pages of "The
Horse" but...it would certainly appear that they are the only ones
who have the slightest idea what a chopper is and ain't. Hell, they go as
far (in the role of self-appointed chopper judges and jury) of hanging "coontails"
on bikes that don't fit their undisclosed and perpetually contradicting
terms of what constitutes a "chopper."
I agree with D.Dawg's
definition . But each of us dream in different ways and also within the
means of different financial constraints. Some actually have the skill to build
their own from end to end while others must commission skilled builders to
realize their visions. A man's bike is built HOWEVER he likes even if he
wants it painted by Leonardo DaVinci and engraved like a Browning Renaissance.
There certainly are things I wouldn't do but, I don't expect everyone to dig
my scooters.
So, I say to each his
own and pick your own poison! I'm not here to judge your bike even if
I know I can do better! This is the reason I have no subscription to the
aforementioned rag. I doubt many readers of "The
Horse" agree with the editors' non-stop blasting of other
folks dreams and "art".
Hackasaw,
http://bikesnbits.homestead.com/BIKESnBITS.html
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