Good things often come in small packages, and STREET CHOPPER's May '75 issue certainly held true to this saying. With only 84 pages to work with, the editors put together one mean issue, with 10 bikes and an assortment of technical articles, product reviews, and the regular magazine departments. If the issue left us wanting anything more, it was to see everything - instead of a select few pages - in full color.
And speaking of color, we're pretty confident that if you were to open up a recent STREET CHOPPER, you wouldn't find two purple bikes gracing its pages. But that's exactly what happened when we came across the May '75 issue. The cover bike, painted in multiple shades of purple pearl, came to life in the Bay Area, a place at that time known for its performance bikes. If you attended a lot of shows on the West Coast in the '70s, you probably caught a glimpse of our other featured purple gem, a '55 Triumph. The owner described it as "low and out-of-control." This type of bike, the pre-unit-construction 500 twin, used to be the favorite type of machine for flat tracking.
With eight other bikes in the magazine, we had to pick and choose our favorites to talk about. We loved the pair of Shovelheads basking in the California sun, both owned by members of Paughco's staff and incorporating a variety of Paughco products. We also got a kick out of a crazy chopped-out creation owned by none other than Paul Revere from Paul Revere & The Raiders. The pipes stretched all the way up its super-long sissybar, and an ultra-long AEE springer frontend completed the chopper look.
Aside from bike features, we had an article discussing what was new with seats for 1975, and the consensus was that comfort was the key. A tech piece on sponge painting outlined how to get unique flame patterns or other designs using masking, an ordinary sponge, and some special paint from a spray can. Another article, "Instant Horsepower From a Bottle," discussed how to give your bike some extra go with the power of nitrous oxide. We also featured a cool product, a biker camera case, that we'd like to get our hands on today.
There you have it, a condensed version of the May '75 issue. From purple bikes to a guy named Paul Revere, you just never know what the strange world of STREET CHOPPER may toss your way.