A PG MINI BIKE CHOPPER INSTALL
A PG MINI BIKE CHOPPER SERIES

According to the taste and purse of the owner, chop shops would build high handle bars, or later Ed Roth's Wild Child designed stretched, narrowed, and raked front forks. Also common were many chromed parts (either one-off fabricated replacements or manually chromed stock parts). Many choppers were painted preferably all in either flat black or in shiny metal flake colors. Also, the standard larger front tire, headlight and fuel tank were replaced with much smaller ones. įorward-mounted foot pegs replaced the standard large 'floorboard' foot rests. One of the earliest choppers, built by Wild Child's Custom Shop of Kansas City, Missouri. These machines were lightened to improve performance for dirt-track racing and mud racing. The large, spring-suspended saddles were also removed in order to sit as low as possible on the motorcycle's frame. In the post-World War II United States, servicemen returning home from the war started removing all parts deemed too big, heavy, ugly, or not essential to the basic function of the motorcycle, such as fenders, turn indicators, and even front brakes. Choppers would grow into and explore the dimensions of the space between the stripped-down bobbers and weighed-down dressers. The large and well-appointed bikes exemplified the 'dresser' motorcycle aesthetic and providing a counterpoint to the minimalist bobber, and cafe racers.

A PG MINI BIKE CHOPPER SERIES

Indian Scouts and Chiefs of the time came with extravagantly large, heavily valenced fenders, nearly reaching the center of the wheel on the luxurious 1941 Indian Series 441 while racing bikes had tiny fenders or none at all. An early example of a bobber is the 1940 Indian Sport Scout 'Bob-Job' which toured in the 1998 The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition. The heavily valenced fenders of the 1940 Indian 440 four.īefore there were choppers, there was the bobber, meaning a motorcycle that had been 'bobbed,' or relieved of excess weight by removing parts, particularly the fenders, with the intent of making it lighter and thus faster, or at least making it look better in the eyes of a rider seeking a more minimalist ride.

Well known examples of chopper designs are the customized Harley-Davidsons, the ' Captain America' and 'Billy Bike', seen in the 1969 film Easy Rider. One look that is becoming more popular with chopper designs is a low frame to ground clearance or a low-rider look. These attributes may seem radical to some but are necessary for the look that is desired. This can make handling the motorcycle more challenging and the ride a bit more 'bumpy'. Another unique aspect of a chopper design is that there is usually no rear suspension meaning the frame of the motorcycle will extend from the neck (or front of the frame) all the way to the rear wheel.

A PG MINI BIKE CHOPPER INSTALL

To achieve a longer front end, while the frame is being designed, the fabricator will tilt the neck of the frame at less of an incline and install a longer fork. The main features of a chopper that make it stand out are its longer frame design accompanied by a stretch front end, or increased rake angle.

Peter Fonda rides the ' Captain America' bike used in Easy Rider.Ī chopper is a type of motorcycle that was either modified from an original motorcycle design ('chopped') or built from scratch to have a hand-crafted appearance.

A pg mini bike chopper