Anyone here ever owned/ridden a chopper?

[ampm7]

I see about one a week here in SoCal on the road. Some are quite nice and some are atrocious. Not my cup of tea. As I was heading up to Anza a couple of weeks ago I saw a guy on a rat chopper doing 80 mph in a 55 zone around some corners with just a german helmet and sweatshirt on and he had those super narrow high ape hangers. Incredible!

[TheHungarian]

Wow. In the late '90s I traded my VFR for my buddy's Honda Shadow for an afternoon. I could barely make it around any curves, such was the the difference in the rake of the two bikes. Almost ran off the road a few times.  I couldn't even imagine riding an actual chopper, but my hat's off to those fellas.

Best,
Mike

[larrys]

Still have my rigid Bonneville that I bought in '74 and built the way it is in '78. Now I gotta go dig it out and post a pic or two...
I built a few Brits and a Pan for myself in the '70's. Finished many chopper projects for others. Made many custom wiring harnesses, fuel lines, oil lines, tuning and final assembly stuff. None of 'em ever handled for s#!t, but some were beautiful to look at...
Larry

[Ncdan]

No but I’ve watched Easy Rider 13 times🤣🤣🤣🤣👍

[LowRyter]

I've ridden two chopped 650 Yamaha twins.   My cousin's bike was extended but not raked.  It was tipsy and I was high, I changed my mind when I got on it.  Later, I was working a summer laborers job when going to college when one of the permanent guys had one the was raked and extended.  I was a little nervous when I got on it due to my previous experience but it drove just fine. Really nothing to report.  Just rode like a normal motorcycle.

[bodine99]

Loved Hopper's Pan!!! I have both Franklin Mint model bikes

[oldbike54]

 I delivered a Frisco style Shovelhead from Wichita to Weatherford OK in '77 . Had to rise it because it was too long to fit in the truck . The entire trip was uncomfortable and a bit scary . This was during an oil boom , guys had money to burn on silly shyte , the new owner rode it once and parked it on his back patio , for all I know it is still sitting there .

  Was somewhere South of Wichita on I35 , bombing along at about 55 when a car load full of young ladies pulled up beside and started doing what teenage girls do , I couldn't even wave back in fear of the damn thing spitting me .

 Dusty

[Dirk S.]

Is it a chopper? I guess no. maybe bobber? No, but front fender is mandatory here by law.
Just customized.
Runs fine, some luggage OK, long trip OK, even handcrafted in Germoney.

[janguzzi]

In 1987 I bought a new Yamaha XV750. A perfect touring bike (air cooled V-Twin with cardan shaft too).
After I have ridden it to the North Cape I decided to convert it to a chopper.
It looked cool but of course it was not a Harley and riding it became very exhausting.





I owned it until 1992 ...and then the Guzzi virus struck.
I was searching for an air cooled bike and it had to have a cardan again.
BMW was also an option but the 1000S just looked too sexy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJJSayaN0SU

[lucian]

Is it a chopper? I guess no. maybe bobber? No, but front fender is mandatory here by law.
Just customized.
Runs fine, some luggage OK, long trip OK, even handcrafted in Germoney.

  Now thats a very cool custom, well done.  I would say it's a chbobber. 

[Tkelly]

My brother built one out of a pan head back in the mid 70s.I rode it down my Dads driveway and it almost flopped over when I turned into the street.When constructing it with the raised front he noticed that the carb was not Level any more,which led to the explosion and nenaming of thePhoenix.Luckily he was warming it up and got off to close the garage door when it went up like Hoppers in easy rider.Almost burned Dads garage down.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Way back when choppers were invented, they were heavy weight Harleys that had much stuff removed to make them handle better.
Then (slight fork extensions were added and properly done, they too helped improve handling.)  These were done in he late forties and up through the fifties.  In the sixties came the fork extensions for style and the handling went to shit.
A chopper was originally chopped for the reduction of weight and handling improvements.  It was only when it was done for style that the handling went to hell.  My first was a 58 panhead and my second was a 49 flathead 45" that Inused to ride in the woods and on trails.  Both handled better than stock.  In the eighties I did a shovelhead and rode it across country between Washington state an Illinois.  It too handled better than when it was new.  None of these were done for looks, but they all were done as choppers.
 I never had any liking for any bike that couldn't handle and didn't consider them real choppers, just show bikes.

[cliffrod]

Around painting my V7 Sport frame Dellorto SS1 argent and reassembling it, I helped Marcell (pictures, at Bike Week)  build this BSA A65-engined chopper over the winter of 99-2000. It was 100% Y2K compliant.  Sitting in forever traffic at Daytona Bike Week, not so much....

So we pulled over into a parking lot to wait for the bottom end to heal enough so we could get back to the campground.  Some 100% in-shape woman, dressed in a not really there lace catsuit/leotard, asked if she could pose on it for her husband (a $$$-looking non-biker guy) to take some pictures.  She did.  He did.  It was quite the performance.  It was probably good that neither of us had wives at the time that would have asked for an explanation of our evening. 

At least it helped lighten the mood.  The engine got a full rebuild after we got back to TN.

[Tkelly]

We want to see the picture of the model on the bike it will pass the censors.

[John A]

Deb and I were cooking across Kansas, doing about 80 mph when we were passed by a guy on a chopper like we were standing still.  His arms were straight up in the air with some very tall ape hangers and no shirt on.  I think of that sometimes, it impressed me.  I was on a Cal2 and she on a trusty Ambassador.  I was thinking of a highway patrol nicking us in that flyover country but he sure was moving along so we picked up the pace but never did see him again.  I thought that’s the way to get across Kansas but if he ever had to stop in a hurry there is not a chopper I’ve seen that was built to handle the leverage that those handle bars would put on their mountings.

[tazio]

Great  photo !!

[cliffrod]

We want to see the picture of the model on the bike it will pass the censors.

You'll have to find the bling-looking husband and his fantasy-bent (no pun intended but it works here..) smoking hot wife.  He had a plain film camera with a flash, not the typical Polaroid thing.   When we watched them strut down the street afterwards, we figured it was more of a personal fantasy/bucket list thing between the two of them.  Looked like his night was going to go well...  We did actually watch the adult-oriented biker magazines over the following year  to see if any of their pics happened to be submitted. Nope.

Sometimes it's hard to remember or imagine pre-phone/camera days, just like no internet.  We sure didn't carry a camera.  Around the more serious 1%er crowds, it's not the thing to do.

More chopper stuff- Another time, not far from here in SC, I was about 16-17.  Dad and I were driving home in our 1959-60 GMC snub nose log truck with a silage forage box on the back. It held about 3 tons of silage, two days of feed for our dairy cows.  Roadworthy & legal were relative terms back then, especially with a farm tag.  We Turned a corner and heard this funny squeak-crunch sound behind us.   it wasn't a normal truck sound.  We stopped to check.  Bubba redneck was picking up his cb750 chopper (fairly long front end, cheap but looked like fun to me) while picking asphalt gravel out of his raw thigh and butt.  There was a 20+foot gouge in the pavement.  He was wearing overalls, maybe a tshirt and barefoot.  Nothing else.  One of the pegs dug the gouge while he apparently kept his feet up.  One leg of his overalls was near split in two. He  must have been flying as he came up behind us, but at least he didn't hit us or get seriously hurt as we turned.

He and his bike were probably less legal than we were.  We set him up, he said "nope, I'm fine.  Didn't see you turning" and we all went our own way asap.

[MMRanch]

I had a SX650 yamaha with a worn-out swing arm bushing.   The swing arm axel wouldn't come out to replace the bushings ... so ... I cut the swing arm off and replaced it with a hard tail .   Well , the hard tail didn't fit with-out extending the frame 8" so the bike grew - 8" .
Then
I found a 10-10 kit for it (10" over + 10 deg. rake).   So , the bike was really long , but not any taller.   

You might think it would be hard to drive , but you'd be way , way off .   It handled like a dream  !   The "Drifting" effect going around curves was wonderfull !!
Best I can figure , the extra length gave leverage to help the rear drift.    I ran 15# of air in the 400/18 rear tire and bumps under 2 inch were no problem either.

The alternator developed problems and suffering form sticker shock at fixing the alt. I sold it .   It was 40,000 miles old by then anyway and I had my eye on a RD250 that was really impressive .   The SX650 never got over 40 mpg and I was tired of it too.  So away it went !

[bacongrease]

  Was somewhere South of Wichita on I35 , bombing along at about 55 when a car load full of young ladies pulled up beside and started doing what teenage girls do , ....

 Dusty

Care to expend on that?  For science. 
Please,  thank you...

[oldbike54]

Care to expend on that?  For science. 
Please,  thank you...

  The picture in my head is blurry , ever ride a Frisco style shovelhead ?

 Dusty

[Ronkom]

Back in the early 1970's, I had a small shop w/2 partners in Norfolk, Va. We were dirt bike specialists but also got street bikes in to work on. I had a day job, (Ladies dress shop manager) & came to the bike shop in the late afternoon. I came in one day to find my partners had left me a Ducati chopper parked next to my table.....(yea sacrilege...I know). I got the thing running & decided to take it for a run around the block to check it out. I came to the first turn...the front wheel(waaaay out there) flopped over & the thing finally started to turn...took the whole street, fortunately there wasn't a car parked at the far curb. I got it back to the shop in one piece....First & last time on a chopper, never again!
Ronkom 

[moto-uno]

Some time in the early 70's . Exhaust system was quite the labour of love , hundreds of small notches cut
in the tubing and acetylene welded , not too sure I'd do that again ! Peter

[moto-uno]

30 years later , this one took me 3 years to complete and have ridden it for 12 years . Dependable beyond
all expectations and was dead stable on the highway .For those that may of heard of this road in B.C , it's
done the Duffy Lake road a number of times . Sure got peoples attention  ( colour maybe ? ) Peter

[bobrebos]

Me on my 1971 Honda CB 750 Chopper (Which just went up for sale this week), at the 2019 Distinguished Gentleman's Ride!  Choppers RULE!

 

[Rough Edge racing]

To me, a chopper has a long front end.The frame may be custom or altered to make the bike sit level.Like the 750 Honda in this thread Or a long front end on a stock frame so the bike looks way jacked up. And choppers often have other custom features.
  A bike stripped of unessary stuff for better performance was called a Bob Job. Now it's  a styling thing and called a Bobber. Generally speaking, a bob job has a stock length or slightly extended front end and is less showy, not considering chrome, than a chopper. The sharp looking Shovelhead shown a few pages back is a bob job in my opinion.
  I don't care for bikes with long front ends.

[Lannis]

To me, a chopper has a long front end.The frame may be custom or altered to make the bike sit level.Like the 750 Honda in this thread Or a long front end on a stock frame so the bike looks way jacked up. And choppers often have other custom features.
  A bike stripped of unessary stuff for better performance was called a Bob Job. Now it's  a styling thing and called a Bobber. Generally speaking, a bob job has a stock length or slightly extended front end and is less showy, not considering chrome, than a chopper. The sharp looking Shovelhead shown a few pages back is a bob job in my opinion.
  I don't care for bikes with long front ends.

Stripping unnecessary gew-gaws off a bike, or adjusting the suspension to get a little more clearance for the primary case, or tuning up the engine all sound like reasonable ideas for a motorcyclist.

REMOVING the suspension, removing 75% of the braking ability, and destroying the handling so that you can look like something from an EasyRider cartoon all sound like unreasonable ideas done by someone different than ... a motorcyclist.   Like wearing a patch over your eye or having your leg surgically removed below the knee so that you can be a pirate and make life more difficult for yourself.

Never have understood the motivation.  Still don't.

Lannis

[Rough Edge racing]

 Me ,about 5 years ago on a 650 Triumph that was a long fork chopper..A friend's bike, I shortened a 70's aftermarket springer fork so the bike sits level. I replaced the no brake front wheel with a 21 inch Honda dirt bike wheel with a reasonably effective brake..The bike handles ok if you are aware of the limits...The ugly styling was not by me,LOL
   
              

      A 60's Triumph 650 bob job I built from a pile of mismatched parts. The bike handles good for a rigid and stops well. It's  about 340 pounds and be hustled along a good rate on smooth roads until the rough ride wear you down...My race bike rider has it now...

       

    53 Triumph 650 I owned for many years. Original rigid frame and front end. It's a mild bob job and ride and handling coments from above apply...

     

    My first true love, 67 Triumph 650, photo is from about 1975 when I first got the bike....It had 8 inch over forks when I bought it ...I scrapped the long forks and got stock length tubes...Stripped off unecessary parts, Japanese bikes of that era couldn't keep on the backroads if they were on tow rope, lol ...Daily rider for 5 years...

   

[LowRyter]

Great looking bikes, RE.   

[Rough Edge racing]

 thanks LowRyter
 And this is the only bike I wish I had back....In 2004 I decided to give up bikes to concentrate  on hot rod  trucks.I was 57 then and thought too to ride, LOL ..I sold This BSA and the 53 Triumph. A stupid move and to this day I search hoping to find the BSA for sale in the New Orleans area.
  It's a 55 A10 650 with a high performace engine parts.Bike was build from Ebay and swap meet parts..I tried to recreate a 50's Brit bike bob job...Mustang tank and so on..The all welded frame was better than Triumph ,it could be pushed hard into the turns...37 Chevy truck in the background..

         

[bacongrease]

 Almost....never do I see a chopper on the road. 
What happened to all the OC choppers?
I do see the same ones for sale, over and over.
I see some old school shovels parked at a bar,though.
For that matter, all I see being ridden are HD's.
Or clones.
I haven't seen a Brit bike in years.

.