A midwest style swingarm chopper that would be 100% rideable and ready to go anywhere
I had been leisurely riding an Evo ultra classic for a few years, and prior to that I had several old choppers which I had sold to make the down payment on my house. I was bored, I wanted to get back on a chopper and had piles of parts laying around from old bikes so I started looking for basket case to build into something. When a local friend offered a roller with a fresh S&S crank in it I scooped it up and cut it apart.
There’s really nothing crazy going on here. It’s a bolt/weld together bike with some nice period correct parts. I shaved a few things off of the frame, welded a bunch of bungs into the frame to mount things where I saw fit, and shaved the triples – I wanted to keep the 9-spoke mags so I had to ditch the plans of a narrowed front end and shaved the stock lowers. I love the seat and fender struts made for me by Jeff at BNC cycles out of Canada. I get a lot of compliments on the seat.
I feel like the bike as whole is very well matched. The patina is appealing to me and nothing looks out of place. Everything has matching amounts of grunge and grime. I am more of an engine builder than a bike builder and the engine is a 93” stroker filled with forged S&S internals and everything has been hand fit. It has a high lift short duration cam. I modified the E-carb so that I could tune it for long drags. The valve-train is quiet and it starts decent for a big kick-only shovel, and it leaves most twin cam bikes in the dust.
Most people seem to love it. Some people tell me the bars are too tall, or to wash it, to ditch the oil cooler, and get some paint. I just say “thank you” when I get compliments, or say “I’ll take that into consideration” when people offer criticism. The truth is that I believe that any bike only needs to look good to one person. If you’re looking at big windows to see your bikes reflection as you ride down mainstreet – even if no-one else is looking – you did something right.
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