It was the first year of the new century and Nick Johnlikes was not leading an eventful life. He lived outside of St. Louis, Missouri, in a small town called Belleville, located just inside the neighboring state of Illinois where he worked as a car salesman. He made a decent living, but everyday seemed to melt into the next with barely a remarkable event worth noting. Nick wasn't a boring guy, but his life lost the thrill it used to have, and he wanted to get it back.
As a car salesman, Nick met many different people, but none turned the wheels in his head more than the divorced woman who traded in her ex-husband's '96 H-D Softail. Not because of her, but because Nick hungered for that Harley. It was a nice bike, but in need of some work, so he snatched the bike up. Nick had owned bikes before, but he knew that this bike needed just enough to become an opportunity to create an aspect of his life worth mentioning.
There were two shops in St. Louis that Nick had heard good things about - Vicious Cycles and D&C Cycles. After visiting the shops and witnessing the work first-hand, he decided to have Vicious perform the fabrication duties and have D&C assemble the bike. He wanted to go radical and build a chopper using his recently acquired Softail as a starting point. A short time later, he dropped the stocker off at Vicious Cycles so they could begin construction.
The first step Vicious Cycles made was to tear the stock 80ci Evo out of the frame so they could rebuild it with a few upgraded compon-ents. They kept most of the H-D parts: using the cases, the flywheel, the rods, the cylinders, and modifying the heads. They used Weisco high-compression pistons, a Crane cam, and a Hi-4 ignition system, along with a Mikuni HSR 42 carburetor and high-flow Samson Street Sweeper pipes to evacuate exhaust. For the transmission and primary, Vicious went with the tough, original H-D components, but refreshed them to handle the higher-performance motor they were connected to.
Nick wanted a chopper, so Vicious started on the frame. First, all the ugly tabs and mounting brackets were shaved off. Next, they added 5 inches to the downtubes, and to match the backbone to the steering neck, they stretched it 5 inches as well. The H-D rear suspension was retained, but the chopper had to have front suspension too. The neck was cut and kicked out to 40 degrees so that the 6-inch-over tubes could be mated to the H-D lower legs.
To get the chopper mobile, it required some wheels. Nick wanted some spoke wheels to keep true to the chopper look, but wanted something cooler than plain-old spokes. He picked up a pair of Hallcraft straight-laced 80-spoke wheels, 21-inch in the front and 18 in the rear. Wrapping those rims with rubber are a Dunlop in the front and Metzeler in the back. Working with the H-D calipers, front and rear P.M. floating rotors bring the chopper to a halt in a hurry.
With most of the major components accounted for, the sheetmetal work remained. Vicious Cycles had performed plenty of metalwork in the past, and pounded away to make this chopper unique. Its initial project was the gas tank, which was elongated to form a smooth transition into the seat. The next order of business was a hidden-strut rear fender that was built to match the lines of the custom oil tank mounted under the seat. To cover the front wheel, and keep road grime off the bike, a W.C.C. front fender was massaged to hug the tire as close as possible.
Vicious Cycles employs the help of a painting shop called War Dogs, also in St. Louis, that assist in finishing the amazing bikes Vicious Cycles produce. Nick thought that the entire bike, with the exception of the wheels, should be brought to the War Dogs shop. He wanted the sheetmetal coated in an orange and white metal-flake two-tone separated by a jagged-edged pinstripe of green. Setting the bike apart from the crowd is the powdercoated cases and cylinders that match the orange on the body.
When the layers of clearcoat were dry, the motorcycle was delivered to D&C Cycles for the final assembly. The major elements of the bike were bolted together quickly, but it was still lacking a few necessary parts. To complete the motorcycle, Carlini bars were installed in D&C risers, with hand controls and a headlight from Harley-Davidson. Vicious Cycles constructed the tiny taillight that marks the rear, and forward controls from BDL and a seat from LePera were installed. Finally, it was time to ride.
As soon as Nick's chopper was back from D&C Cycles, he rode it as much as possible. He was so impressed with the bike that the very next weekend he entered it into the Belleville Ride-In Bike Show and was awarded Best of Show. Now when Nick rides into work, he gets the thumbs-up sign and "great chopper" comments everywhere he goes. Everyday is a little more exciting.