Easy To Envy

Few people can plan a bike design in their heads and accurately translate their ideas into metal. Even fewer people can plan a custom while in the middle of building a totally different bike. But there are folks out there that can, like Terry Lee from Peoria, Arizona. While he was building a Softail featured in our Sept. '03 issue, he was already planning his next build -- a right-side drive rigid chopper. Terry's shop, Envy Cycle Creations, was the location where almost everything took place. With his thoughts fresh in his head, he jumped right into building his Envy Chopper.

The frame was going to be the starting point of the build, so Terry called up Rolling Thunder for a single-downtube rigid chopper frame. It had some aggressive geometry boasting 5 extra inches in the downtube, 3 inches of stretch in the backbone, and a neck raked out to 41 degrees. 12-inch-over Spyke 63.5mm inverted forks were slipped into Thundercycle Design 5-degree triple-trees for a total of 46 degrees of rake.

Between the forks is a 21-inch R.C. Components billet wheel that matches the 18x8.5-inch rear wheel, and both rims are covered in Avon rubber. In the front, an R.C. Components rotor is pinched by a P.M. four-piston caliper, and in the back is an R.C. Components combination right-side drive rotor/pulley.

Terry's last bike sported a 107ci TP motor, but this time he wanted to go even bigger, so he picked up an '03 TP Engineering 121ci monster. Supplementing the beastly engine is a custom Crane bumpstick and Hi-4 ignition system, a 45mm Mikuni carb, a Wimmer air cleaner, and a set of custom pipes called Streetwalkers that Terry designed and built himself.

Obviously, this bike was going to need something other than a standard trans, so behind the motor, a Baker five-speed right-side drive was mounted, connected to an open-belt Billet 4-U primary drive and Primo Pro clutch.

To add to the aggressive nature, Terry went all out on sheetmetal design. His first step was to use some scrap metal to form a perfect front fender that hugs the tire so close, it looks like it almost touches the tread. A Thundercycle Design rear fender was heavily altered and bolted to the frame with hidden internal struts, just behind a custom oil bag that is stretched to wrap the seat tube and flow in the fender.

The W.C.C. gas tank came next and was going to need a lot of work if it was going to match the rest of the sheetmetal. Terry attacked the job with passion and ended up with a ribbed, flat-bottomed tank that mounted high on the backbone. Once all the grinding and welding was finished, the frame and sheetmetal were beautifully molded by Terry before he laid down the Tangelo Orange Pearl basecoat followed by his own tribal graphic treatment to almost every surface. Lastly, Tony Perez pinstriped the outer edges of the graphics before the final layers of clearcoat were applied.

After the paint had plenty of time to dry, he added the final accessories. Ness handlebars with built-in risers went on top of the triple-trees, just above a Headwinds headlight. Thundercycle Design mirrors, footpegs, and taillight were carefully bolted to the bike. P.M. Contour controls went on next, followed by Legends foot controls. Finally, a seat from Guy's Upholstery was placed between the seat rails.

As the last fasteners were tightened down, he realized how great the bike turned out and how much fun he had building it. He then said to himself, "The next bike has to be even better. I need a pencil to sketch this one out..."

In all seriousness, Terry does have another bike in the works, and you can bet you'll see it on the pages of this magazine first.