The Texas Chopper from American IronHorse created quite a revolution in the production custom market when it was introduced. It grabbed the basic attention-getting chopper look and tossed in production numbers that made getting insurance and registration handled easily.
But, as cool as it was for a production bike, it still had some edges that could be smoothed. These edges were pretty glaring issues to Don Lindfors, the guy who runs Lifestyle Hot Bike/Street Chopper of Anaheim, California. Don bought one of the first Texas Choppers he could get his hands on, and we covered the build up over the past six months. Now, finally, the Anaheim Texas Chopper Don envisioned can be revealed.
Don started the project by pulling the motor out to do some hot rodding; after all what good is a chopper if it isn't fast? Starting with an S&S 107, he drew from the experience of Lifestyle Performance Techniques and Larry Hardy to rework the heads and upgrade the valves to match. Don had the cylinders and heads powdercoated before Hardy started the reassembly, in which he substituted one of his cams, Joker Machine rocker boxes, a 45mm Mikuni, a D&M Custom air cleaner, along with a Daytona Twin Tec ignition.
To take advantage of the extra (like a 107 needs more) performance, Don rounded up a JIMS six-speed transmission and BDL open beltdrive. The BDL clutch would handle all that was dished at it regardless of how abusive he was. The final piece of the power package that was ready to be installed was a pipe from Martin Brothers which was modified by Altered Images. All Don needed to do was finish the bike and he could test things out, but magazine publishing deadlines prevented him from moving forward.
We were finally able to get some free time and get back with the Anaheim Texas Chopper project as Don yanked the stock frontend off. A set of 5-degree Pro-One trees went on and the 12-inch-over tubes went away to make room for longer 16-inch-over pieces. Out back, the stock oil shocks were replaced with a Progressive Suspension Air Tail setup, allowing Don to raise and lower the rear and fine-tune the comfort level with the push of a button. Wheels, tires, and brakes stayed on in their OEM capacity, but that's not a bad thing when you look at how nice the AI Coyote wheels are.
Don wanted to keep the original gas tank, but also wanted do some slight changes in the fender department of his chopper. A Milwaukee Iron (MI) front fender was drilled to fit as close to the 21-inch tire as possible. To show off the big 240 rear tire, another MI fender (strutless of course) was modified by Altered Images to be long enough to keep some rain off of Don's back, but still barely cover the tire. The gas tank was treated to a HotMatch pop-up gas cap before the whole project was handed off to Rock N' Roll Paint in Orange, California. There, black was applied as a base to create a palette for the pagan gold and candy brandywine flames.
Getting the reborn production custom on the road was started by putting the AI bars and risers back on, adding Joker Machine hand controls and a Lazer Star headlamp. Next, a set of Joker Machine forward controls, a Choppers Inc. taillight, and a High End seat were added. The bike was finished taking only three months longer than it should have if our darn cameras weren't following along.
Anyway, as you can see, this production custom gives you a very good idea as to what you can do with a showroom chopper if you have a little imagination and some free time on your hands.
SpecificationsGeneralOwner: Don LindforsYear/Make: '03/Texas ChopperFabrication: Lifestyle/Altered ImagesAssembly: Don LindforsBuild Time: A little longer than necessary
EngineSize/Type: 107ci S&SCases: S&SFlywheels: S&SRods: S&SPistons: S&SCylinders: S&SHeads: S&S/Larry HardyCam: Performance TechniquesCarb: MikuniIgnition: DTTPipes: Martin Brothers