When you talk about New York,especially Manhattan, you probably don't think of hard-core rigid choppers.Instead you might think of epensive real estate ,taxicabs,and lot of pricy stores. Well,Manhattan is all of those things and home to NYC choppers on West 27th street . Walk in the place and you know it's a no-nonsense shop with bikes and parts at the forefront and everything else second.
The shop is owned by a guy the motorcycle industry knows as NY Nick, and he loves choppers. He doesn't just like them, he really loves them, so much so that it takes him a year to decide what direction to go on his projects, but less than two months to finish a build once he has a plan. That is pretty much the story behind his latest hot-rod bobber, he took forever to decide what it would be and eight weeks later, Nick was rolling around NYC on his new creation.
Once Nick decided on the bobber design, he went to his frame room and didn't come out until he had one of his wishbone-style rigids with 37 degrees of rake and 2 inches of downtube stretch. It so happened that a set of Ceriani 43mm fork legs were in the shop with no bike to go on, probably because there were no triple-trees with them. So, a pair of H-D 41mm trees went on the mill and were opened up to 43 mm, and the frontend was assembled. To make the chassis ready to roll, a pair of Drag Specialties spoke wheels, a 19-inch front and an 18x5.5-inch for the rear, were covered up in Metzeler tires.
Knowing how aggressive people can drive in the city, Nick wanted big power at the twist of his wrist to make avoiding cabs easier. He found the answer to his desires in a 127ci H&L Performance motor. The H&L cases carry S&S wheels and rods, topped with Ross pistons. Cylinders and heads are H&L-made and topped with Ness rocker boxes. The package is rounded out with an S&S cam and carb, an NYC Choppers air cleaner, and a Dyna ignition. Behind all that motor is a five-speed RevTech transmission that gets its input from a 3-inch BDL primary wearing NYC Choppers covers.
This little bike was going to have minimal sheetmetal, so Nick knew his choices better be really good. So his first choice was no front fender. Then, he put a small tank from Tedd's Cycle on the top frame tube, and slid it back and forth until he liked where it sat. From there, the gas filler was moved forward and up to the highest point on the tank, and the mounts were adjusted to let it sit high on the tube. Next, attention went out back, where a Wernimont fender was wrapped around the 200 tire and supported by a very cool one-piece strut that adds a styling element to the rear. Rounding out the necessary sheetmetal is an NYC Choppers oval oil tank. Mike Terwilliger and the crew at Visual Impact handled all the paint and graphics work really quickly, so Nick could stay on track.
Nick mounted Choppers Inc. bars in NYC Choppers risers, then added GMA modified hand controls and a Headwinds headlight to the frontend. NYC Choppers forward controls, a Paul Cox spring seat, and an in-house taillight/license mount were added, so Nick could go out on his maiden pothole-dodging voyage.
When he got back, a number of hours later, Nick was smiling. It seems while out on the ride, he came up with a rough plan for another bike, and he figured he could be ready to start on it in a year.
SpecificationsGeneral
Owner: NY Nick
Year/Make: '03/Bobber
Fabrication: NYC Choppers
Assembly: NYC Choppers
Build Time: Two months
Engine
Size/Type: 127ci H&L
Cases: H&L
Flywheels: S&S
Rods: S&S
Pistons: Ross
Cylinders: H&L
Heads: H&L
Cam: S&S
Carb: S&S
Ignition: Dyna
Pipes: Bub
Transmission
Year/Type: '03/RevTech
Case: RevTech
Gears: Five-speed
Clutch: BDL
Primary Drive: BDL
Frame/Suspension
Year/Type: '03/NYC Choppers
Rake: 37 degrees
Stretch: 2 inches up
Swingarm: Rigid
Rear Suspension: See above
Forks: Ceriani
Extension: 1-inch-over
Triple Trees: H-D modified
Wheels, Tires, And Brakes Wheels
Front: 19-inch spoke
Rear: 18-inch spoke
Tires
Front: Metzeler
Rear: Metzeler
Brakes
Front: GMA
Rear: GMA
Finish
Molding: Visual Image
Painter: Visual Image
Color: Gold over blue
Graphics: Mike Terwilliger
Chrome Plating and Polishing: Mara
Powdercoating: Color Life
Accessories
Bars: Choppers Inc.
Risers: NYC Choppers
Hand Controls: GMA/NYC
Headlight: Headwinds
Taillight: NYC Choppers
Gauges: Nope
Electrical: NYC Choppers
Fuel Tank(s): Tedd's/NYC
Dash: None
Oil Tank: NYC Choppers
Front Fender: None
Rear Fender: Wernimont/NYC
Fender Struts: NYC Choppers
Pegs: NYC Choppers
Foot Controls: NYC Choppers
Seat: Paul Cox