[68grandprix]

The headlight is from an old tractor (some things in common?). My friend had it laying around his farm shop and I made a bracket an slapped it on so I could ride the bike around his house in the dark(I had just finished making the axle spacers an rear caliper mount, and was ready for the maiden voyage. The timing was off and the thing was shootin foot long flames out the open pipe. It was great). The bike had a hand shifter taht I made out of an old hurst shifter (free).

I was going to take off the front disc, and do a lot of other things, but I never got to finish it. I moved to Utah and sold the chop to a guy in Texas who I still occasionally talk to over the internet. He had a pretty badass new Bonneville cafe/streetfighter. This last pic was to prove to my autobody instructors that I got it running

Jimmy

 

[Quicklimegirl]

Ugh!! My eyes!!

When the F*ck did this become a Chopper forum??!!
I want to see Cafe Racers.
If I wanted to look a Choppers I'd be on a Chopper forum.
WTF do people see is those hideous things anyway??

 

[kenessex]

I'm agreeing with Quicklimegirl on this one. It is a good thing that Rat isn't needing my approval on this thing cause he isn't getting it. I'm all in favor of creativity, but I don't see it on this one. I don't see anything in the rendering that looks remotely like what the real bike could possibly end up to be. The tank and the frame tubes don't match up and the front end needs to have the rear raised to get some rake back in line.

Good luck with it but it won't be cafe.

Keep us updated.
Ken

AHRMA 412
Vintage racing - old guys on old bikes

 

[Geeto67]

I think it is cool, but nobody listens to me

 

[68grandprix]

In my defense, that's what was in at the time. What would you do with a $50 XS650 that was cut in half? I sold it for more than double what I had in it. Also, at the time I had an 82 XS Heritage Special, and I saw some pics of a cafe'd XS, and wanted to go that route with mine. I showed the cafe pics to kids in my collision class and they said it would be dumb to make my bike look like that. Well, now I've got a Cb750 that I'm building into an endurance racer replica, and no plans to hardtail it . Jimmy
P.S. Here's a pic of my old XS (unfortunately had to sell it to move back to Iowa-My first bike, bought for $200 and paintball gear when I was 18-That bike was the nicest thing I ever owned)

 

[texmawby]

jimmy,

it's cool. ken is just bitter (literally) from being in alaska, and lime girl can only consider 2strokes as a motorcycle. betcha if it was an rd chopper she'd of been less critical, but who the fuck really cares.

i dig the fact that you built something, rode it a bit, and sold it for a profit.

all these malcontents can go pound sand.

texy

 

[Quicklimegirl]

quote:
and lime girl can only consider 2strokes as a motorcycle. betcha if it was an rd chopper she'd of been less critical

Well, I've actually seen abortions, AKA RD-based Choppers before, which, after puking, I considered potential motivation for violence against the guilty party who so desecrated them...

I also happen to have two 4-strokes in my garage (not vintage, a '95 250 Ninja--my nephew's learner bike, and a '03 Z1000) and I have a particular fondness for late '70's KZ's, so that kind of throws your presumptions out the window.....The mildy Cafe'd one below was among my favorites of the KZ's I've owned, it handled really well for a fairly heavy bike.

I still fail to grasp what people see in Choppers...and never will.

 

[rat]

Different strokes...

I fail to see what people "see" in modern power cruisers, or 800 pound fully faired garbage wagons... or fuel injected plasticized sportbikes.

I like vintage bikes... period bobbers, garage built chops, homebuilt cafes, stock vintage bikes (some of 'em...)

Homemade Chops are cool because they're unique. Not all chops are ill-handling, underpowered pieces of crap, and many have as much effort put into their performance as Cafes... an off the shelf "chop" (factory custom) is a lump of overpriced ass-jewelry

At the end of the day, it's two wheels and an engine. Some can lean further, some are more comfortable, some go way too fast, some lump along at a sedate pace. They're all fun.


One man's story
is another man's shame,
Ain't bound for glory
I'm bound for flames

 

[Geeto67]

this is my chop:

 

[LiLBull]

Id have to agree with the chopper,bobber cafe racer as being appealing, in the garage built sence.The fact you can get on and ride what your mind and hands has created is really THE DRIVING factor of it all.
I remember putting so much energy and detail and imagination into a custom car scale model one day ,after years of building them.And realizing that after all my efforts it wasnt going to go down the street and i couldnt ever ride it .I hung up scale model building and found an old Bugeye austin healey sprite when i was 16 ,and rebuilt and drove it and never looked back at model building and moved onto what ever was cool to build in my garage or basement or carport , something anything i could build modify and drive down the road. hey not every one has good taste, but everyone that trys and gets the thing back on the road deserves my respect be it Cafe ,bobber or chopper..and does it in thier style without spending dump trucks loaded with money at it .

Its the barrett jacksons and the high end chopper and custom rod craze that yanks slaps and jerks the fun out of the hands of the creative so they have to look in other directions for a creative outlet.

I love looking at anyones homemade mechanical ride just because I ussually find a new idea or twist on an old idea .
Its all good!

Im so far behind ,that I think Im in first.

 

[kenessex]

Damn right I'm bitter. How would you like to be 5000 miles away from your bikes. I'd pound sand except it is buried under 6 feet of snow too. Just like everything else out here. I had to take my wife 2 miles out to the airstrip yesterday on my snowmobile with the wind blowing out of the north and a windchill of well below zero. I frostbit my ear in 4 miles. Hell yes I'm bitter.

Ken (freezin and bitter) Essex

AHRMA 412
Vintage racing - old guys on old bikes

 

[krapfever]

Geeto and 68: props to any homebuilt bike. Hardtail XS and CB choppers have a long and legitimate history. Remember the early 70's when Harley was so destitute they sold the name to a company that outfitted bowling alleys? I love Jap econochoppers because to me they represent a hearty and proper "fuck off" to the pathetic dog and pony show "custom" bikes represent today.


If I ever built a chopper it'd be a hardtail with a cackling, nasty ass dirt bike two stroke in it. Maybe an old YZ490....

Honda go sideways!

 

[Geeto67]

quote:

If I ever built a chopper it'd be a hardtail with a cackling, nasty ass dirt bike two stroke in it. Maybe an old YZ490....

Honda go sideways!

JT from confederate showed me a really cool chop he built using an sr500 motor and one of those OIF triumph chopper frames that BCS sells. I have an old laydown drga frame for a kawi triple that I plan on making a street legal digger/chop.

That being said I am also goinna build some bad ass caf racers that will donkey punch your grandma.



Edited by - Geeto67 on Mar 27 2007 8:06:03 PM

 

[rat]

The coolest chops in history come from bratstyle in Japan.

www.bratstyle.com

those sr500s are the shit.

One man's story
is another man's shame,
Ain't bound for glory
I'm bound for flames

 

[Geeto67]

quote:
The coolest chops in history come from bratstyle in Japan.

www.bratstyle.com

those sr500s are the shit.

One man's story
is another man's shame,
Ain't bound for glory
I'm bound for flames

I wouldn't exactly call them the "coolest chops in history" but they are pretty bikes and most of them border on being halfway between cafe racer and low budget chops. Compared to some of the other japanese built bikes I have seen they are kind of plain but then again that is the point.

Japanese bikes always have amazing detailing and an intracacy that bikes anywhere else seem to lack. They really have an understanding of the look of old world processes.

 

[rat]

Like I said.. different strokes.

I love the simplicity of Bratstyle bikes...nothing says mechanical masturbation more than overworked custom bikes.

Their bikes look like the perfect ride for ripping through town... to me.

and "donkey punch my grandma".... eeww.

One man's story
is another man's shame,
Ain't bound for glory
I'm bound for flames

 

[FR]

quote:
The coolest chops in history come from bratstyle in Japan.

www.bratstyle.com

those sr500s are the shit.

One man's story
is another man's shame,
Ain't bound for glory
I'm bound for flames

Man, I haven't been to that website in a long time. Those bikes just look tough. Interesting that a lot of 'em use the stock wheels and frames, just doing some nice mods along the way to get that look.
Very cool.

FR

 

[Geeto67]

that is my point, that they are simple tweaks, and small custom stuff and a lot of it is doen to keep the bikes functional. There are soem talented guys working there for sure but one just has to look at zero engineering or Chabott engineering to see there is a whole 'nother level to japanese chops that as americans we are probably only exposed to in small doses. It is not just a matter of different strokes, it is just that our view of what is out there on foreign shores is very small. The sweedes used to be the best chopper builders in the 70's but you hardly hear anything about them.

http://www.zero-eng.com/zeromainnew.html

http://www.chabottengineering.com/page/frameset.html

I mean look at this, it is a pure sex injection with no masturbation:

Edited by - Geeto67 on Mar 28 2007 11:21:23 AM

 

[JB]

www.13choppers.com is the only chopper stuff i like, sort of.

CB650, FauxCatiFT500

 

[Geeto67]

ducati based choppers with tubular frames are always gonna be badass. Motocreations I think takes it one step further with their lowriders and the fact that they redesing the trellis frame which is as much a signature part of the duc as that 90 degree motor.

DesmoDevil:

with superbike bodywork:

motospeedster (in the mockup stage - they killed this project)

they also build these duc modern cafe styled bikes :

I don't know what to call this but it is hella cool:

hey quicklime - I think at this point even you'll agree that the line between chopper and cafe racer can be blurry. There is a big difference between the ignorant "let's chop everything" wannabe meathead and real motorcyclists who are inovative and expiremental with a lot of things and border on being artists.

Edited by - Geeto67 on Mar 28 2007 12:34:48 PM