In the last few years, the popularity of custom made, high dollar motorcycles has skyrocketed.  Custom V-twin powered choppers where no expense is spared and money is no object have hit the main stream, thanks in part to television shows featuring the works of West Coast Choppers and Orange County Choppers.  The custom parts market is overflowing with bolt on billet and chrome like never before.  This craze, while impressive to say the least, has cast a shadow on the original idea of the chopper itself.

After World War II, surplus motorcycles were plentiful and soldiers returning from the war bought these bikes up for a few dollars.  Many of these early “bikers” customized their rides not by adding accessories and equipment, but by removing unnecessary things. Front fenders were removed altogether and rear fenders were cut, or “bobbed”, which made them shorter.  Many bikers of the day took pride in the amount of equipment that they could remove from the motorcycle and yet still make it function.  This type of customizing evolved over the next 20 years into the chopper craze of the 1960’s where extended front ends, coffin tanks and other non factory items were added to motorcycles.

by Hunter S. Thompson

There are some things nobody needs in this world, and a bright-red, hunch-back, warp-speed 900cc cafe racer is one of them - but I want one anyway, and on some days I actually believe I need one. That is why they are dangerous.

Everybody has fast motorcycles these days. Some people go 150 miles an hour on two-lane blacktop roads, but not often. There are too many oncoming trucks and too many radar cops and too many stupid animals in the way. You have to be a little crazy to ride these super-torque high-speed crotch rockets anywhere except a racetrack - and even there, they will scare the whimpering shit out of you... There is, after all, not a pig's eye worth of difference between going head-on into a Peterbilt or sideways into the bleachers. On some days you get what you want, and on others, you get what you need.

BORN AGAIN

Written by John Kerfoot

In 1957 Harley-Davidson introduced the "Sportster" name. It was 883cc's of long, lean, low and manly bike; it exuded power and strength. This formidable image had a Walter Middy effect on anyone that rode it, transforming ordinary people into "Sonny Barger". 1959 Triumph introduced the Bonneville 650cc twin carb high performance motorcycle with classic looks and stylish lines. It was a perfect blend of form and function and offered an intangible quality that the average enthusiast might not be enough of a rider to notice - handling.