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Probably the most famous custom bike in the world, Captain America's chopper from the film 'Easy Rider'. A gallery of custom bikes would not be complete without it. The original Harley-Davidson Panhead chopper used in the film is now believed to be safely stored in the Oakland Hells Angels Clubhouse, but this is a pretty authentic replica, owned by a museum in Germany. There have been a number of limited production 'recreations' from custom bike builders, possibly one of the more faithful ones being from Panzer Cycles, using their own modern replica Panhead engines.
The second bike in the gallery is a German-built Harley softail. The big-inch Evo engine sits in a retro-look rolling chassis, with a paint-job hinting at Harley's agricultural reputation . . .
. . . although its performance is probably a lot less tractor-like than that of the author's '79 Lowrider, with its fairly stock 1200 Shovelhead!
Previously painted in an original-style black and silver, a leaking transmission seal prompted what turned into a complete rebuild, including new front forks, hand-polished cast H-D wheels, and yellow pearl paint with silver, blue, and purple flames.
They say that variety is the spice of life, so here is a custom bike with more than two cylinders. It is based around Suzuki's GSXR engine, and uses a custom-built frame. This blue and silver streetfighter has a gorgeous polished aluminium frame and single-sided swingarm from Martek, and is an excellent example of this style of bike. Most streetfighters tend to be based on old sport bikes, often prompted by damage to expensive-to-replace plastic fairings. GSXR's of all ages are popular, both because of the reputation of the Suzuki engine, and their aluminium frames - good looking when polished, although little can beat the lines of a full custom-built frame like this one.
Right, let's get back to vee-twin engines. Four-cylinder engines are all very well - GSXR and the earlier GSX engines from Suzuki, and Kawasaki Z900 and Z1000's are both good looking and strong running - but 45-degree air-cooled twins are perfect hot rod motors. They look good - especially earlier Harley-Davidson OHV versions - sound good, and offer ample torque for the purpose. This Harley 'shovelhead' chop makes a perfect bar-hopper. With a hardtail frame, low ride height, big dual-throat carb, and megaphone exhausts it wouldn't be much use for touring, but that is not what it was built for!
Trikes come in one of two types, based on either a car or bike's drivetrain. The simpler car based types are rear-engined - usually a VW Beetle's engine, transmission and suspension or from a front-wheel-drive car (with the steering locked, obviously!). Others use a normal front engine / rear drive axle format: any combination imaginable has been used here, from Reliant three-wheelers to V12 Jaguars.
This, however, is a more traditional bike-based trike, being Harley big-twin powered. Hailing from Belgium, it was built using many home-made parts. With most of the rest also designed by the builder, this shows what a bike-engined trike should look like - just the bare necessities tied together in a superb package, long, low and lean. And a simple paint scheme that does nothing to detract from the shape.
The 'Miami Nice' graphics will not be to everyone's taste, but if you look past them you will see a well-detailed Shovelhead Harley. Compare it to the yellow-and-flamed '79 Lowrider above: they are both seventies Harley four-speed swingarm framed bikes, although the blue one has a little extra rake in the front end. They are good examples of how varied a look can be achieved just by mixing and matching parts, and bolting on a few extra details. That actually may be over-simplifying the amount of work involved: the metalwork on the yellow FXS was essentially only restored and repainted, with subtle modifications to the front and rear mudguards, while the 'Miami' bike has a lot more work invested in its stretched tanks, and custom panniers and fenders.
The rise in popularity of choppers in the seventies coincided with the launch of the big four-cylinder engines by Honda and Kawasaki. It is of little surprise, then, that the two were often combined. If you read copies of seventies American custom bike magazines you will find many a Jap-powered chopper, with companies making custom frames and parts specifically for use with Oriental engines. This may be because it was during Harley-Davidson's unpopular AMF-owned period, or maybe just because the Japanese fours were new, were hot, and everyone wanted one. In Europe, Harleys have always been comparatively expensive, making alternative makes even more popular as donors for choppers. This little hardtailed lowrider uses a much newer Yamaha FJ for motivation, with sports bike upside-down front forks and wheels handling the power. Metallic blue paint, enhanced by tribal graphics, covers the bike including the classic Sportster-style peanut tank.
As we are based in the UK, we thought we had better have more British bikes featured, so here is the first of a brace of BSA's. The twin-cylinder 500cc BSA A7 engine is, according to the engine number, only the third one made. This would mean it was made around 1946! The frame uses original plunger rear suspension - this gives most of the looks of a hardtail, without the kidney damage. The front end of the little black chopper is a traditional chromed girder unit, with chrome wire wheels keeping it all rolling. Fuel is held in another Harley Sportster tank.
The second of our bumper Beesa bonanza also uses plunger rear suspension, but with more modern telescopic front forks. The whole bike has a more contemporary look, with alloy wheel rims and yellow and silver tank graphics, the high pipes and the wide 'bars suggesting a 'street scrambler', or flat track racer.
This Harley ironhead Sportster-engined chopper stays true to the seventies tradition: a long chrome girder front end and high apehanger 'bars, contrasting with the low hard-tailed rear. The peanut tank and rear mudguard are home to a beautiful flamed paintjob, while spent gases exit the engine via a pair of kicked up fishtail exhausts. One of the highlights at the South West Custom & Classic bike show in April 2000, it could have been built in this year, or thirty years ago.
Flat-track racing has been popular in the USA for many years. It has also been a form of motorsport where Harley-Davidsons have been more than competitive, even dominant. Of course, English bike fans might suggest that before the demise of BSA and Triumph, they more than gave the Harleys a run for their money, and that the rules have always been biased in favour of the Milwaukee twins. Whatever the arguments, flat-track styling is popular with Sportster riders, as this Seventies ironhead, seen at Surrey H-D in March 2000, demonstrates.
An ElectraGlide - in blue! This FL, with its stroked Shovelhead motor, dark metallic blue paint, and long turn-out pipes, would certainly justify a few moments of celluloid stardom. Although most combinations of Harley frame and engine can look good, a Shovelhead motor always seems to look best in a swing-arm frame. That's probably because it is in its natural habitat: when first introduced in the late 60's, the hardtail frame was long gone. A few '82-'83 FXR's had Shovels, but the engine looked uncomfortable where the new Evolution motors were destined to sit, and no Softail ever left the factory shovel-equipped.
The Evolution engine was Harley-Davidson's first major introduction after achieving independence from AMF in 1981. It replaced the good-looking, but arguably not exactly oil-tight Shovelhead, bringing with it new-found reliability and user-friendliness. It went on to power all of Harley's big bikes - in other words everything but the Sportster - all the way up to the introduction of the Twin-cam motor in 1999 rubber-mount models, finally bowing out in 2000.
This Evo resides in a hardtail frame, rolling on fat sixteen-inch tyres, the lack of front mudguard countered by the full wrap-around rear. While the rider stretches up to reach the sky-high apehangers, and concentrates on riding with a foot clutch and hand-shifted gear change, everyone else can admire the orange flames over green metallic paint, flowing from the fatbob tanks, back over that fat rear 'guard.
After Sportsters, four-speed swingarm frames, and hardtails, this contemporary late-1990's style big-twin custom is quite a contrast. A custom aftermarket frame cradles the rubber-mounted all-billet vee-twin engine and transmission. This in turn is held off the tarmac by billet wheels mounted to an aluminium rear swing arm and upside-down forks, at the blunt and sharp ends respectively. Although most people would call it a Harley, there is probably nothing on it actually made by Harley-Davidson: this includes the custom bodywork and fuel tank, all covered with a very un-factory paint scheme.
While 1950's young Americans were chopping unnecessary bits off their heavy V-twins to create 'bobbers', the youth of England were aspiring road-racers, and were busy swapping handlebars, tanks, and saddles on their BSA's, Triumphs, and Nortons, to build cafe racers. This was obviously well before our time, so please excuse our ignorance as we cover ouselves by saying this could be a 650cc BSA A10 Super Rocket twin. It may even be a rare Rocket Gold Star, although it is not too difficult to build a replica from parts. Whatever the model, we love the acres of polished aluminium on the race tank and engine, and those beautiful gauges on the polished top yoke.
We don't know if the owner of this little Triumph chopper is a Chuck Berry fan, or if there's a more personal reason for christening it 'Nadine'. It doesn't matter though, as it is another example of interesting things to do with a Triumph twin. This timeless transformation, that could have been created in any of the last three decades, is shadowed by that other great Triumph conversion, the Triton.
Popular opinion, back when British bikes ruled the roost, was that the Triumph twin was an excellent engine, but that the frame left something to be desired in the handling department. On the other hand, the Norton 'featherbed' frame was lauded for its handling: the obvious result being the invention of the TRITON - a Triumph engine in a Norton frame. The ultimate cafe racer in its day, this conversion is still popular now, with people building replica frames to accommodate homeless Triumph engines. This one has been taken a step further, by leaving off road equipment like the headlamp - of course, it may actually just be an original race bike.
Another 'Not-Really-A-Harley', this slick soft-tail chopper rolls on 21" and 15" stainless steel rims, the rear one shod with a fat 230-section Avon tyre. The custom-built frame is home to a 96ci S&S motor, fuelled by a Weber downdraught carb. You did notice the carb, didn't you? The front wheel is connected to the raked-and-stretched frame by a set of Scandinavian Tolle 12"-over forks, and all the metalwork is covered in a coat of shiny 'Metallic Rasperry'. And you thought it was pink.
We seem to have featured more BSA's than other British bikes - there is no particular reason for this, other than there seem to be a lot of them about. One thing worth noting is that they have all been different styles of bike. As usual, we're not sure about model or engine details, but this is a very nice, simple, little chop. The front half of the frame, and the front forks, are probably the originals, with what looks like a fresh hardtail section spliced onto the rear. The alloy rims match the engine covers, and show how the right combination can add up to far more than the sum of its parts.
When introduced in around 1982, the FXR was viewed with suspicion by some 'old-time' Harley owners: this new-fangled device was seen as being too 'Japanese', with its triangulated frame (they are probably turning in their graves now, with the recent introduction of a water-cooled V-twin!). It used a rubber-mounted engine and transmission assembly, similar to that of the big FLT, that isolated all the vibration from the rider.
They might be a little more comfortable with this one, as it isn't exactly how it left the factory, although the frame appears stock. We're pretty sure none were originally fitted with wide-glide front ends, and definitely not with ape-hanger 'bars! The solid disc wheels are aftermarket, as are the custom side panels, and tan-coloured seat. Other non-stock stuff includes the lights, exhausts, monster carb, hand and foot controls, and finally the candy orange-and-flamed paint.
Our first side-valve Harley - and it has taken us two years to feature one! This black-and-silver bobber is actually a big twin, probably a 1200cc UL, rather than the more common WL45.
The easiest way to tell a flathead big twin from its smaller 750cc sibling is, in the same way as with newer Harleys, to check the final drive chain: big twins have it on the left, while WL45's have it, like Sportsters, on the right. We have no idea why this is the case for early models, with separate gearboxes, although for the later unit-construction Sportsters it makes sense.
Fast-forward sixty years, and we've got a trick modern big twin. Although we're not massive fans of 'billet-barges', we like this bike as the owner has shown some restraint: the paint is really nice, and none of the aluminium has been chromed (a major crime in our books, and generally a waste of time anyway, as chrome soon parts company with aluminium if the bike gets used). And all choppers should have wire-spoked wheels.
Actually, this ride will soon be seen as 'nostalgic', as the engine is based on Harley's Evo motor, albeit an aftermarket version, and H-D have superceded that with the Twin-Cam, and more recently have introduced their liquid-cooled V-Rod engine.
We've got a particular soft-spot for side-valve Harleys, as we've got one (in bits) in the garage. Will ours look as nice as this one? We hope so, although ours will be a bit more stripped-down. We don't know if this was an original 'civilian' model, or if it started life with the armed forces in World War II. The valanced mudguards were not used on military bikes, and there is obviously none of the extra hardware such as skid plate, luggage rack, and gun holster, that were normally fitted for the army. The front marker light and taillight are also more suited to cruising Main Street than battle lines, but then, if this was a stock-looking 'Liberator', it wouldn't be here!
In 1980, Harley-Davidson introduced what was, at the time, quite a revolutionary concept in motorcycle drive transmission: both primary and final drive were performed by toothed belt. Of course, belt drives were not actually completely original, as many of the earliest motorcycles had used belts, usually leather, until chains took over as the method of choice. And mopeds and funny little Dutch cars used vee-belts in their infinitely-variable drives for many a year.
The new model, the FXB Sturgis (named after the annual biker rally in South Dakota), was based on the normal, chain-driven, Low Rider, but with modifications to the gearbox and starter to make room for the wider belts. To aid its appeal to a slightly sceptical public, the bike was tricked out with black chrome and black paint, with orange highlights. The belts performed far better than anyone, factory or customers, anticipated, and within a decade all Harley final-drives would be by belt, including the Sportsters. The primary belt did not take off for production models, but extra-wide belts are a popular aftermarket addition. This beautiful example, although it is far from stock, still uses the original Sturgis styling cues, the French-built cruiser riding about as low as it can go on its spun-disc wheels.
Is it because of their Viking heritage? Perhaps. Sweden's longbikes are as renowned today as its longships were a thousand years ago. They don't strike quite the same fear into people as their forefathers may have done, but they're no less impressive to look at. Take a hard-tailed frame, stretch the top tube a few inches, rake the headstock by an extra few degrees, then add the longest forks that'll fit, and you are well on the way to your own version. Of course, it is not quite that simple: apart from locating and installing a healthy Harley big-twin for motivation, the front end has to be set up with sufficient trail to make it rideable. And it has to be rideable. It also helps if you're Swedish.
Another flashback to to the early days of British biking, this old BSA sports a Fifties' Grand Prix racer-style full fairing. In time-honoured fashion, what is good for the race track, is copied for the street, but with perhaps not the same effect. Not the most elegant of equipment, the nose was probably quite impressive in the streamlined post-WW2 rocket age. Today, it is more likely to be the cause of some merriment to the casual observer, although we are sure the owner loves it.
The big thing in custom bikes for the New Millennium is BIG back tyres. We're talking 230, 240, even 250-section tyres. You've got a 200? Sooo last Century!
This is a good example of a contemporary fat-tyred bar hopper. The monster rear wheel and tyre are located in a drag bike inspired hard tail frame, with the tail light - a modern version of the ubiquitous cat-eye - mounted to the right (it's a shame that UK law demands a lorry mudflap-sized number plate). The seat tapers sharply from the wide rear 'guard, to form a narrow waist where it meets the stretched fuel tank. The tank, in turn, broadens out as it arches towards the wideglide-style front end, mounting a slightly more modest wheel and tyre. The colour-matched frame houses an Evo-headed big-twin engine, sporting another new millennium trend, curved exhausts, all topped off with a stylised tribal flame paintjob on the sheet metalwork.
Although still a contemporary bike - the photo was taken at the 2001 Bulldog Bash - this Shovel chopper has a much more nostalgic look. The wheels and tyres are traditional 16- and 21-inchers, and the generator-Shovel motor says 'old-time', the only real give-aways to its modernity being the front disc brake and the stretched Sportster tank.
We like!
Another flathead Harley? Why not? This one is fairly stock-looking, but still worthy of a picture. OK, so we're biased.
Rolling on chrome 16" wires with just enough other chrome highlights - parts of the springer front, crashbars, and exhaust included - to accent the white tanks and fenders, the saddlebags would be a definite boon at the swap meet, where this one was seen parked up. As long as the rider wasn't buying anything very big.
Now that the latest Harley-Davidson engines appear to be breaking from the original big-twin bloodline - looking very Oriental in our eyes - the older engines are becoming ever more appreciated. We have no idea how many Shovelheads were built during their nearly two decades of production, but there are still plenty of them out there. They never seemed to have a very good reputation for oil-tightness and reliability, especially compared to their Evolution successor, but they are still affordable, and in even a mildly customised bike like this they look good.
This bike has presence! It's about knee-high to a grasshopper, with a back tyre almost as wide as it is tall, and just oozes menace.
We have made no secret of the fact that we prefer old-school rides, but we're still impressed by this Euro-chopper (looks like a creation from Walz-Hardcore-Cycles in Germany?).
Just the sort of thing Darth Vader would chill out on when he's not blowing up planets, and wreaking a trail of destruction across a universe, far-away.
Ahh! At last! A Honda 750-4!
The first of the Japanese big-fours to invade the rest of the world, at the time the 750 was probably the equivalent to the invention of warp-drive to a world used to rumbling about on one or two cylinders (OK, so warp-drive hasn't actually been perfected yet, but you get the drift?). The early SOHC motors are beautifully cleanly styled, and in the right frame can make a chopper the equal of most twins. There are still many girder-forked seventies' 750-Four choppers around, but this more contemporary one really caught our eye at the South West Custom & Classic show a couple of years ago.
Actually, it was that wild stainless steel snake-pit exhaust that caught our eye first, but even that doesn't overpower the simple, understated effect.
Subtle. Bland. Nondescript.
Just a few of the words that our Super-Primo-Photo-Descriptive-Grammar-Checker (c) device rejected while we were trying to write about this sharp chopper.
This could probably be described as a current West Coast-style chopper, with its tall frame, Frisco'ed tank, wild pipes, and fat-tyre-hugging fenders. In fact it was built in the UK, as a project - a rolling advert - for CCI's custom parts catalogue. And it is probably better that we let you decide on your own adjectives.
HARLEY PICS - great chopper pics, and links to other biker sites
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Probably the most famous custom bike in the world, Captain America's chopper from the film 'Easy Rider'. A gallery of custom bikes would not be complete without it. The original Harley-Davidson Panhead chopper used in the film is now believed to be safely stored in the Oakland Hells Angels Clubhouse, but this is a pretty authentic replica, owned by a museum in Germany. There have been a number of limited production 'recreations' from custom bike builders, possibly one of the more faithful ones being from Panzer Cycles, using their own modern replica Panhead engines.
