When Roger Bourget, owner of Bourget Bike Works in Phoenix, Arizona, told us about the first Retro Chopper he built, we were pretty stoked. Just as Roger described, it had all the essential elements of a classic '70s chop, with every piece of today's technology possible. Each weak spot that Roger could remember from those days gone by was upgraded to the level of bikes he builds today.
As our test bike rolled out of the trailer, we were blown away by its stance. Long and low, the Retro screams for attention. As we started taking inventory of the bike, it became very clear this was a bare-bones chopper. There's not a thing on it that it doesn't need to get down the road.
By far, the coolest part of the Retro has to be its one-piece frame. Look closely at it, and you will see that from the start of the steering neck to the tip of the alleged rear fender, it is all one piece. The coffin-esque gas tank is stretched from the neck to the dropped seat and seamlessly worked into the frame. Down below, the lower framerails also do duty as the oil tank. The filler is between the downtubes, and a cleverly hidden dipstick in the seat post lets you know the oil status.
Just forward of the downtubes rides a cool-looking spoiler that houses the oil filter and mount. Finally, the rear section of the bike -- which consists of the seatpan, rear fender, and lower subframe -- is a single, flowing section of tubing bends that are welded together.
Next on the cool list is Roger's Springer. It's Roger's because he designed, engineered, and fabricated the 18-inch-over monster. The Springer has beefy tubing and billet trees to add strength along with shapely lower rockers to position the wheel in a good place for proper trail. The frontend is the perfect match to the frame's 47-degree rake and 6-inch-up and 3-inch-out geometry.
Rolling the long machine around are a pair of Bourget wheels, 21 and 15 inches, wrapped up in a Dunlop front and Avon rear. Stopping is made possible by JayBrake calipers and BBW rotors.
In stark contrast to the multi-piston calipers, a powerful 113ci S&S motor -- built in-house at BBW -- provides brutal acceleration. The all-S&S motor is polished to shine in any light and gets topped off with a pair of specially bent BBW pipes that scream for attention when you crack the throttle.
A Rivera open beltdrive with BBW cover drives a polished six-speed trans-mission that spins the Bourget-designed jackshaft for the final chain drive. Yes, jackshaft. In order to make the chopper more fun to ride, BBW centers the driveline and uses a jackshaft to offset drive past the big 230 tire.
The rest of the Retro chopper is simple: BBW hand and foot controls, a billet headlamp, a BBW taillight, and a coil mount with a marine-type key switch. What you won't find are turn signals, a horn, warning lights, a speedometer -- basically you get nothing but what it takes to get down the road.
And, since we are talking about getting down the road, riding a Retro is a good experience. The incredibly low seat height positions you well below the long tank and reaching up to the pullback bars. One thing that really impressed us is that from the time you raise the bike off the side-stand until the time you hit the freeway, steering is light.
The trail is matched to the rake perfectly, making the bike feel like it has power steering -- instead of the traditional chopper flop and muscling the bars around. Out on the highway, the Retro is happy rolling along in the vicinity of 80 mph (no speedo, so we are not sure) in Sixth gear. The chassis is solid, and the Springer does its best to sort out the little imperfections in the road.
Thanks to the aligned powertrain, one-handed cruising is easy. However, all is not happy when the bumps get big. A pretty serious bounce comes from the front end -- it can be stopped quickly by opening the throttle -- but be sure the back tire has cleared the bump first! The Retro is best to ride on a nice two-lane road, just winding through the country, putting all your stress away for a while.
In town, with its light steering and powerful motor, the Retro is easy to ride, but its long wheelbase and slow turning radius mean no quick traffic dodging. The Retro is happiest with a soft hand and mellow input, rewarding the rider with an overwhelming sensation of coolness. You can't help it; the Retro gets looks, stares, and thumbs-up from everyone who sees it -- all you have to do is ride.
Putting a Retro in your garage will run about $50,000. It's certainly not a budget bike, but few bikes that you could buy off the showroom floor -- or have specially built -- are this custom.