After seeing the new 3-D Liquid Flames graphics in a MidWest catalog, Bill Orentas from St. Louis, Illinois, thought they would look great on a chopper he was about to start building. His shop was slowly starting to fill up with parts for the bike, so adding a few extra wouldn't hurt anything. He was planning on powdercoating almost every surface of the bike that is normally painted - he owns Custom Paint and Powdercoat of St. Louis - and thought the raised surface of the Liquid Flames would give the bike a different look.
Bill had recently picked up a Kraftech 240 rigid frame and brought it to Easton Custom Frames so it could be converted from its Pro Street dimensions to something more chopper-esque, like a neck raked to 42 degrees and downtubes stretched 6 inches, with 3 more in the backbone. When the frame returned to his shop, Bill powdercoated it gloss black. Next, he assembled Deuce lowers with 16-inch-over tubes and Midwest 5-degree triple-trees, then mounted it to the steering neck. An old 21-inch 40-twisted-spoke wheel that Bill found in one of the storage rooms of his shop was polished, wrapped in a Metzeler tire, and put into the forks, along with a Deuce rotor and a chromed Deuce four-piston caliper. For the rear, an 18x8.5-inch Hallcraft 60-spoke along with a 240 Metzeler tire and an Exile sprotor fit the rolling needs of his chopper.
There was never any doubt about how he wanted the chopper to perform - Bill wanted it to be fast. He ordered a complete unassembled 124ci S&S, and for a different look, had the cases powdercoated black, polished the cylinders and heads, and re-assembled the motor with Paul Yaffe pipes, a Compu-Fire ignition, a Dyna coil, and an S&S G carb. A BDL 3-inch open primary transfers power to the polished six-speed Finishline transmission.
Sheetmetal for the chopper was taken care of with a Deuce front fender, an 11-inch-wide rear fender, a barrel-style 4-quart oil tank from Midwest, and a heavily modified gas tank from W.C.C. Instead of fender struts, Bill built a sissybar out of cold rolled steel, then had it chromed at Brown's Plating. To give the bike a really cool look, Bill used a four-step process to get some color on the bike once all the sheetmetal was molded. First, he used a cinder-red powdercoat on the gas tank and the fenders. Second, he sanded the powdercoat smooth and then applied the purple Liquid Flames to the gas tank - you saw this process happen in STREET CHOPPER February 2004. Third, both the fenders and the gas tank were shot with multiple layers of House of Kolor Kandy Apple Red. Finally, the three parts received numerous layers of clearcoat for a deep shine. The end result was a blood-red burgundy color with an endless shine.
The chopper was bolted together again, and the final accessories quickly found their way onto the bike thanks to Bill and his friend, Joe Trupiano, wrenching away. They secured a MidWest headlight to the bottom triple-tree, and a MidWest bar and risers with H-D hand controls were added to the top. A MidWest oil cooler rides on the leading edge of the downtubes, and Thunderheart foot controls were attached to the framerails, with an LED taillight license mount positioned on the right side of the rear tire and a Le Pera seat located between the gas tank and the rear fender.
As the last bolts were tightened down, Bill and Joe put their wrenches down on the shop table and stepped back to look at what they had created. They decided the burgundy finish and raised flames really set the bike apart, and it looked like it would be a blast to ride. There was only one way to find out, and Bill was on the road with the chopper first.
SpecificationsGeneralOwner: Bill OrentasYear/Make: '03/Special ConstructionFabrication: Owner and friendsAssembly: Owner and friendsBuild Time: Four weeks