Harold Pontarelli owns a bike shop called H-D Performance in Vacaville, California, and turns out wild custom choppers for his customers all the time.
Since he's around bikes and parts on a daily basis and is always thinking about what he would want on a bike of his own, he finally decided to make the time to build his own bike and invest in his own happiness. Harold's new bike was going to be green, long, and fast, and not necessarily in that order.
The build started with an H-D Performance frame using Harold's version of ideal chopper geometry. Unfortunately, Harold has a special combination of rake and stretch that he doesn't like to reveal, but the dimensions won't let you mistake it for anything but a chopper. Lying around the shop were a pair of 24-inch-over tubes, which Harold slid into Boyd's legs and bolted to the neck with R.C. Components trees. Legend Air shocks take care of the rear suspension and the lowering chores. Harold chose PM Monaco wheels for the chopper -- a skinny 21-inch for the front wrapped in a Metzeler tire and a beefy 18x8.5-inch in the rear with another Metzeler, a 240.
Both rims are complemented by matching PM rotors and calipers, with the rear being a drive-side conversion. Motivation for the chopper came in the form of a polished 124ci S&S Evo-style motor. Mixing the air/fuel charge is dual 44mm down-draft Webber carburetors sporting velocity stacks. Spark comes from a Crane Hi-4 ignition, and the gasses are expelled by a custom exhaust made by Pontarelli himself. A Hi-Tech 4-inch open primary and Barnett Scorpion clutch transfer power to the polished CCI six-speed transmission.
As a chopper, sheetmetal would be limited. Starting from the gas tank, Harold mounted an Independent gas tank to the backbone, then spent some time underneath the seat modifying, and stretching an H-D oil tank to flow into the rear section of the bike. The oil tank's style lines continue into the H-D Performance rear fender, which is just long enough to keep road debris on the rear tire from flying up on his back.
Next, Harold's attention was focused on getting the bike colored green. He broke the bike down and covered the frame, sheetmetal, and carburetor body in toxic green paint and then painted a skull and crossbones graphic on either side of the gas tank, all in-house. Then, he coated it all in thick layers of clearcoat. Once all the paint had dried, he began the final assembly.
The last parts to go on the bike were H-D Performance handlebars equipped with PM hand controls, along with a Headwinds headlight. PM foot controls and pegs, a Hi-Tech taillight, and a seat from High-End were added, and Harold was ready to ride.
While it took about a year to get the bike finished, the actual building time only took about three weeks. He's happy to have it finished, because now he has a bike to ride that rivals the quality of his customers' bikes.