Even before the bike "died" I had dreams of owning a chopper, but Penang being Penang, customizing your bike meant making it fast. Nothing else.
The process of planning how I wanted this bike started for some time now. I was always at magazine stores looking at imported US bike magazines where they have choppers, bobbers and even stretched out sportsbikes.
After owning Grim, I realized that this bike was considered a pickup truck in the world of motorbikes. It was way longer then the average joe bike and slightly wider. Yet, when I sit on it, it still made it look like a moped. As mentioned, after reading many many magazines and doing a lot of online research on bikes, I realized that I liked many different "styles" of choppers. Here is what my dream bike would be like (initially)
Frisco style: originally cooked up by the Hells Angels branch in San Francisco, this bike was built for practicality in mind. The bike was not too stretched out behind, not too raked in front, the tank was designed to maximize fuel consumption and the bike was raised high for the bad road conditions. Perfect for Malaysian roads.
Low Rider/stretch: the thing about this is that the low rider is almost the opposite of a Frisco chopper. Its low, stretch out and you can barely turn without scraping your pegs or the frame on the floor. The parts I would take from the low rider is the stretched frame, with flowing body from front to rear usually incorporating a rigid or suspensionless swingarm. Real hardcore riders don't even install springer seats and just stick the seat to the frame. Though looking great, these are real backbreakers.
Modern/Techno/Technoid style: Modern or "Technoid" bikes are a debatable type of choppers. Designed by most new school designers like Paul Jr etc, most who stick to old school call these bikes non choppers as they are heavy and too "kitted" to be considered a chopper. These bikes consist of LED lightings, Air Ride systems, ECUs and a lot of electrical gizmos and doodads.
Dragger: A dragger is a "no nonsense", "what I need to win will be on the bike", "don't want to look nice", "race only" style of bike. Generally modified to racing, this sort of chopper has gained popularity and is starting to show up a lot. Looking very close to a low rider, this chopper is build usually for racing and has a lot of raw power. More like the muscle car of the bike world so to speak. The handlebars are unique in a way where they don't need to bend an awful lot and is designed to ensure steering response is maximized hence the term "drag bar" (duh). There are several styles of drag bars ranging from those bolted directly to the fork arms to some that are using risers from the tree.
Taking all these styles that I like (most of them contradicting each other, I started cracking in my head many a year ago on how I wanted it built. I was then given a race bike from a friend who had retired biking due to a knee cap issue (it gave way). And this bike was FAST. After restoring what I could of it, I ran it down the highway twice but the gearbox, not being designed for the speeds it could handle gave way. Right after this, I relocated to Kuala Lumpur. It was then that I decided to take the parts of the sports bike and meld it with Grim to make it into a chopper. Thanks to Mr B from BKB who lit the flame of biking back into my life with a flame thrower, we got to know my current mechanic: Toinkers (also known as Alip). Many people I had spoke to couldn't understand my design because I can't draw for shite. But the crew that ran with Toinkers had some very creative people who saw what I was trying to tell them. They then started to sketch it out. The following is the list of what I wanted done (which many could not understand and most said it wont work)
- High fork (frisco style)
- Reverse the sportsbike tank (looks like a frisco style tank)
- Stretched rear swingarm (low rider style)
- Custom rigid frame (low rider style) Note: due to a major spinal injury, my wife, Toinkers, Mr B, and the head of the crew rolling with Toinkers somehow convinced me to go with shocks, so I did
- Drag bars directly bolted to the forks (drag style)
- Stretched out riding position (Drag style)
- Sport rims
- Fat rear tyre
- Under carriage lights (Technoid)
- Rear swingarm lights (Technoid)
- Custom hidden LED indicator lights (Technoid)
- Fully custom rear/brake lights (Technoid)
- Custom Gauge (Technoid)
- Hidden warning lights (Technoid)
- Barbecue set (if I can take a picture of it when its ready, you will see)
the rough sketch of what it will will look like when completed
By Vy
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