This year in Daytona during bike week something went down on 1815 Ridgewood Avenue that forever changed the face of the DIY chopper as we know it.
A group of bike and parts builders assembled an independent co-op that put fashion and the scene aside to showcase what truly is going on with choppers as we know them today. No fancy big rigs, no burnout contests, and no bullshit, just many like-minded people coming together to show their talents and wares in an atmosphere that welcomed one and all.
Companies such as Led Sled Customs, Justified Defiance, Shadetree Fabrication, Sully’s Customs, Boston Mike’s, Garage Company Customs, Hayseed Cycles, Moto Rod Design, Black Sunshine Customs, Deadbeat Motorcult, Fat American Choppers, Factory Metal Works, Showclass Magazine, and others joined the cause. Major sponsors Lowbrow Customs and Biltwell Inc. were also part of the Chop Lot and provided daily giveaways and tons of raffle prizes. The host bar martinis did a great job keeping the crowd sufficed with good food and adult beverages all week and even had great international and local bands kicking out the jams nightly.
On that Friday of the event, Street Chopper had its inaugural bike show, which saw a hundred or so real choppers with awards given for best V-twin, Metric, and Sportster. Expect to see features of the winning bikes in future issues of this magazine.
Next year the Chop Lot will be at the same location for 2013 and from what we hear it guarantees to be bigger and better, if that’s even possible. We’ll see ya there! STC
Winner: Best V-Twin
Winner: Best Sportster