Anybody ever build their own chopper?

[VectorPat]

I have been toying with the idea for sometime about building a chopper. I went to bike week and got some ideas also saw some customs that were way over priced for what they were. Just some of the lack of attention to detail on some of them I couldn't believe for a $50000 bike. I know I dont want to do a full custom piece by piece. I have looked at kit bikes that I like but I dont like some of the drive train packages they come with. I would like to use an S&S engine of atleast 110ci. Preferably a right side drive and a 300mm rear tire. I like the soft tail pro street style bikes and most of the kits are priced around 16-18000 which for what it is still seems alittle high to me. Just asking to see if anyone has any experience with any of these kit bikes or any other options I might have.

[gw1250]

What is all included in the kit? If you don't like the drive train, just find a rolling chassis somewhere. Making a tubular chassis without jigs and some special tools would probably prove to be fairly difficult, making it perfectly straight at least. I'd say your best bet is to get yourself into at least a pre- fabed frame and go from there. I think the frames by them selfs will run a couple grand, maybe more for a soft tail. Then do your wheels, engine, forks, sheet metal your own way. You could probably get your own very custom bike for about the price of a new Harley. I had thought about building one a while back but, even a rat bike was out of my price range at the time. I'm sure you knew most of this already but good luck with whatever you choose!

[VectorPat]

Most of the kits I have seen come with everything. Just needs assembling. I really want to see one complete first. I have considered the rolling chassis and build it from there. I am also looking for a local dealer and find out if they have optional drive trains. I may be wrong about the drive trains they come with its just that I have never heard of some of them. Ultima seems to be popular one.

[Hottrucks]

I have done a few and the BIG BEAR kits are pretty good??? There frames are great but they buy there parts just like anyone else ( as far as goodies go) If i was to do it again i would buy a rolling frame ( frame/fenders, tires, forks, bars,Seat, trans & motor w/ 2.5" open primary and brakes) AND A 6 SPEED stay away from the 300 tire and go for the 280 they ride and handle alot better..I have also found that if you want it to handle try to stay around the 42* Total RAKE and go for the inverted forks..also the new chains are not like the old ones so I would use that to keep the offset closer

When your done you'll have something sweet to ride and drive with out breaking the bank..I will say that Big Bear also is the only one that would help you out with info if you needed it.......as far as your goodies ( grips cables, mirrors, chrome) look on line or the big guys like Caryaken (Spelling) they will give as good a deal as anyone and you can make it yours

http://www.bigbearchoppers.com/bikes/venom/chopper.htm

Hope this helps

[RNM018]

Ha Ha , Pat went to Bike Week . Now he's got the Bug . It's Ok Pat , It will pass . Rich Martin 018:D

[VectorPat]

Big bear was one of the kits I was looking at and there are some dealers not too far away. The 300 tire is mostly for looks, if handling was an issue I'll ride my Yamaha. I did notice that some kits came with 250s. Some of the bikes I looked at with 300s on them were actually rubbing the belt($50000 bike:rolleyes: ) I mainly want something for a project and to cruise to Hooters or Winghouse on which is about 5 miles from my house and the occasional bike night.
Rich, I have been thinking about it for sometime, bike week just kicked it in the ass. Just seeing what these guys get for these bikes blew me away. I figure if I research what I want long enough the urge will either pass and I will stick with my Yamahas or I will get what I want.

[VectorPat]

This one is about what I want. http://bigbearchoppers.com/bikes/devils_advocate/prostreet.htm#

[Hottrucks]

just remeber there only worth what you can get for them ....I bet a quick scan on ebay may change you mind on that ....let me know...

[VectorPat]

Oh I know that, I did look and its worse than boats:eek: I thats why its needs to be exactly what I want. I dont want to get one and then want to sell it a year later.

[Hottrucks]

you might conside buying a used one and tearing it down and making changes..it might be cheaper and give you more time to think about what you want........It will also give you a chance to ride it before you build it, giving you an idea if your going to like the way it rides and handles before dumping a pile of cash and time to have something that you hate to ride

[FAST RALLY SPORT]

The Pro Street Look Is Cool, Really Don't Like The Long Chopper Look. Bobby

[VectorPat]

I had thought about doing just that with a used one if I can find one cheap enough. One thing is I am in no means in a hurry so I might just keep looking around.
Bobby, I saw some in daytona that where so freakin long i dont see how they turned them in parking lot. I am also not a fan of the high gas tank open frame look, I love the low tight look of the pro streets.

[Hottrucks]

why don't you send me a pm with where you are down there ( or post it) I'm going to be down tommorow night and I have a coulple of friends that you might like to talk to...lets just say I'll be riding some of his work while I'm down there.....http://www.ewdcycles.com

[RONNIE]

Youmndon't know sitttthhhh hot chocolate

[VectorPat]

I live in lakeland but work all over Florida, just depends on where they send me. I will be in the Clearwater area thursday and friday and Fort Myers sometime next week. Where will you be? I checked out his sight, very nice!!

Ronnie, See warning in my signature:D

[Talon2.5]

hey pat i'm a dealer for mid-usa cycle parts and paugcho so if ya see anything from those companies let me know i can get ya a good price break!!

[Talon2.5]

this old bike of mine gets more looks at the bar than most customs, any time i ride it to the bar it seems like theres always people around it ;)

the market is flooded with store bought customs and the overpriced fad created by TV shows is fading in the REAL world

the home built rather than store bought bikes get more respect :cool:

start with a good frame and build it to your personality rather than following a trend


we had a chopper in the harley store that the general manager built and he followed the fad, we had so many idiots asking .....is that an orange county chopper? geez i asked them to please put it in the store room to stop the festoonery, the mechanics all took it for a ride at one point or another and said it was a beotch to control and ride, the guy that built it wants it sold, it looks good but he hates it

[Hottrucks]

Youmndon't know sitttthhhh hot chocolate


Jackass you know i know alot I just don't have friends

My bad I forgot about the GodFathers new habit's...I'll talk to Eric and see what he's doing towards the end of the week he's in Tampa...
do you commute??

[VectorPat]

Skip, is that the same bike you had down here? I'll check out the links you sent me and let you know.

HT, I sent you a PM

[Talon2.5]

no it's not the same one i had down there, the one i had down there is now running around in pike county kentucky with a new owner

this one is an old project bike i picked up in florida last winter around new years eve and brought back on a trailer, spent last winter cutting and welding :D

i have a dyna glide that i use to get to work and cruise the mountains with :D

[VectorPat]

Thats kinda my plan too, have a bike for longer rides and one to play with.

[Talon2.5]

We have an old honda chopper straight out of the 70's we are re-doing right now, been working on it in the evenings

made our own forward controls for it and did some frame welding, fun project so far

we worked on the springer front end last night till jose cuervo got in the way ;)

[VectorPat]

Thats cool!!! Got any pics of the controls?

[Talon2.5]

yep, they arent done yet we still have stuff to do to 'em but we have 'em finger tight on the bike so we could get a look at how far a peg would stick out because of the width of a cb750 engine, and get ideas where the gussets will go, when they are tightened down they arent crooked like in the pic

all home made since there is nothing available for this frame, we did use some leftover harley parts (the plates and peg mounts), pics are kinda lousy but by the time ya finish a 12 pack and half a bottle of jack your photography skills are lacking :cool:

we took 5/8 round stock and i bought a lathe and turned it down to be inserted in the frame and welded in place with flat stock welded in between and the other end drilled and tapped for the peg plates then we turned down some more round stock for the shifter arms to slide over after we welded the slots and blended them, then we drilled and tapped the ends for the peg mounts and turned down and threaded the other ends to bolt to the plates

it will all be powder coated black when it's done

we still have to make the arms off the bottom of the shifter and brake to conect the linkage to but we have to fabricate the pipes to go around the forward control mounts first (they dont fit now) then get the linkage around the pipes

but before any of that gets done we have to get the springer done and on the bike, he has pics of what the bike looked like before they tore it apart and it has the old look ... the front of the frame high due to the length of the springer....definately an early 70's late 60's look, i asked if he wanted to cut the frame and get the rake and trail right for the long springer and he said no he wants it to look like it did back then

the last pic is proof he shouldnt be drinking when doing this, i tease him about printing this pic and posting it at work :D

he is going to bring over a tig welder for us to move the kickstand mount to the back out of the way of the pipes, the old mig is great but i think thye tig is the way to go on the kickstand mount

[Talon2.5]

here is a custom that came to me for a starter repair, i told him it would be around 350.00 to fix it, he said he had six kids and a wife and no money right now i said well call me when ya have the money

it's been here for around 9 months and i havent heard from him :eek: dont even know if he's still alive :eek: still sitting in the same spot

[Hottrucks]

I hate to tell you Skip but the metic stuff is makeing a big come back...and your going to see alot motr of what your doing happening to tnew stuff

[Talon2.5]

doesnt matter to me, i wont be on one ;)

this honda is a suprise for his stepdad, he knows we have it but not what/how we are re-doing it

the guy sitting on it owns an ultra classic, one night he came over to work on the honda and when he got the beer out of the saddlebag the damn thing fell over on it's side, it was hilarious the look on his face while he held the beer looking down at the bike

[VectorPat]

I'm surprised Skip even has any metric tools or maybe thats what he uses a crescent wrench for:rolleyes: Now that I got a boat that I dont have to screw with everytime I use it I need a new project. I was just looking at welders and trying to decide if a Mig or Tig would be better. Its been a long time since I welded and then it was with an old lincoln stick welder.
I am a long ways off from even beginning to start with this just doing alot of research right now trying to figure out what I really want to do. I really like seeing how everyone fabs things differently. Keep the pics coming on the project :)

[Hottrucks]

hey pat pm me your # looks like tuesday I'll be at the shop it's in north tampa
Jeff

[Talon2.5]

i have metric tools to :D look into a water cooled tig with a foot pedal for heat control ;)

[ken medendorp]

Heres my bike I built

[VectorPat]

Ken.. Was that a kit or did you piece everything out?

[Talon2.5]

here's a website that you can ides and info from...

http://clubchopper.com/

[VectorPat]

Thanks Skip, I already found that one, lots of info too.

[ken medendorp]

Ken.. Was that a kit or did you piece everything out?




No Kit,I peiced it out. It was a lot of work.

[VectorPat]

Very nice... Just not sure if I am ready to do that.

[mikesufka]

I have a buddy that built a Big Bear Chopper a few years ago. He really enjoyed it, but will openly admit he had a lot more fun building the bike than he did riding it. He never had any problems with it, but he sold it after two summers and is now riding his other bike, H.D. Road King.

I can say about the same thing for myself. In 2004 (during the chopper craze), I ordered a very expensive Bourget Low Blow Chopper. The motor was a 124 S & S and the tranny was the Baker six speed. Fantastic bike if you like choppers. The first summer, I put 7000 trouble free miles on it. My other bike, a Harley FatBoy, never got touched. The following spring, I shipped both bikes to Scottsdale, AZ, for bikeweek. After a buddy and I got back from riding them to Tombstone, AZ, I decided to sell them both. I honestly believed both were "perfect", but both were useless for how I wanted to ride. Neither one was overly comfortable and neither one was suited for travel. I am now back to one bike, a Harley Davidson Road King, and couldn't be happier. Great for long distance travel ( I drove it last summer from Las Vegas, Nevada to St. Cloud, MN.........2500 miles in one week) and easy enough to drive around town.

If you want a bike to "bar hop" and ride 30 miles "here and there", a custom would be a great bike. Personally I like the look of the Bourget the best. Just be careful that that's all that you want it for. For myself, the thrill of owning the BAD AZZ chopper wore off in about three months.

Good luck.

Mike Sufka
St. Cloud, MN
Spectre 30 w/Twin 300 Mercs
Allison Grandsport w/200 ProV Yamaha

[GP-1]

I think there are a lot of people that think like Mike does. The "custom bike" market became so saturated that I believe it's now possible to buy a custom bike for what it might really be worth as opposed to what a bunch of dreamers just knew their junk was worth. People bought these things and expected them to be motorcycles -- they're not. The truth is that a "custom" bike is never going to be as good a motorcycle as a Harley is -- and unless you have really good mechanical skills building one yourself is pretty difficult. I watched and laughed as people tried to build bikes on the TV show (what was that called?).. 75% of them couldn't even lace a wheel. I'll be the first to admit that it's nice to have something unlike everybody else's, but I like to ride and something like that would require me to spend more time wreenching and less time riding.


Hey Mike, I still think you should've kept the F4 too.. :D

[mikesufka]

GP-1 -

I don't think I put 200 miles on that CBR. It was fun looking for one though. If I'd sell one of the boats, maybe I'd have some more time. Here's how dumb I am, with no extra time to play, I'm now in the hunt for a Jeep Wrangler to go "wheelin" with.

Mike

[Hottrucks]

People bought these things and expected them to be motorcycles -- they're not. The truth is that a "custom" bike is never going to be as good a motorcycle as a Harley is -- and unless you have really good mechanical skills building one yourself is pretty difficult.

I watched and laughed as people tried to build bikes on the TV show (what was that called?).. 75% of them couldn't even lace a wheel. I'll be the first to admit that it's nice to have something unlike everybody else's, but I like to ride and something like that would require me to spend more time wreenching and less time riding.
:D

If you look everything is a kit...even HD, you can use alot of the same parts ( look @ Thunder Mountain bikes made and wanrentied by Hd but not manufactured by them) when you start running big bore bla bla bla race parts ...well i guess we all know what happens......

Now as far as the TV guys go all they are is bike assembles.... most all the parts where manufactured for them then they put them together and send them out for fancy paint......