2003 Custom Chopper - Angry Chopper

When you think of things that make you so mad that you see red, choppers should not be one of them. Bob Bolognese has owned and run an auto body shop in Revere, Massachusetts, for more than 10 years. In that time, Bob and the crew have worked on just about everything out there in the car world. Bob even raced super comp cars for a few years, and the shop has been the pit stop for a small race team.

One day, the crew at Bob's shop did a bike paintjob for a friend. When it was done, the paint got a lot of attention and before they knew it, the shop was working on more bikes than cars. This is why Bob was a little angry. Since he had been working on all sorts of bikes for everyone else, he didn't have time to work on one for himself. Well, that was about to change: he made up his mind that it was going to happen no matter what.

Bob wanted a classic chopper look with all the goodies, like a big motor and a long stance. He was at a bike show and saw a bike with a Paul Yaffe frame and had to have one. When it got to Massachusetts, Bob called longtime friend Mark Rowe of Rowe Chassis. The two started working on the frame, and when it was done, it had a whopping 46 degrees at the neck, 4 inches added to the backbone, and 6 inches of upward stretch.

To accommodate a wider tire, the swingarm was widened 1-1/2 inches and had an extra inch added to its length, then he bolted up a set of Works Performance shocks to absorb all the bumps. Bob was looking for a way to kick out the frontend, but everything he liked didn't look quite right. The shop built a frontend with Perse triple-trees, 10-over tubes from Forking by Frank, and a set of Deuce lower legs. Bob was looking through some STREET CHOPPER magazines when he saw a set of Performance Machine's Seville wheels; they were exactly what he was looking for. A 21-inch front and an 18-inch rear were ordered, along with a matching rotor for the front and drive-side brake setup for the rear. Both wheels are wrapped in Avon rubber - the rear is a big 250.

In keeping with the don't-make-me-angry thinking, Bob felt that a fast motor with plenty of power would make him happy, so he ordered one of TP Engineering's complete 107-inch motors. The polished powerplant was shipped out with a Crane Hi-4 ignition and a Mikuni 42mm carburetor, and he added a Redneck Enginuity velocity stack. To finish up the motor, a set of exhaust pipes from Grumpy's Customs was installed.

Bob figured a five-speed transmission would suit this ride perfectly, and with that in mind, a TP Engineering five-speed was coupled with the motor via a Primo Belt Drive. A PM slave on this chopper hydraulically operates the Primo clutch.

Bob has been in the body shop business for a long time and felt that this is where the bike would shine. He likes the way Fat Katz sheetmetal can be worked, so two fenders and a gas tank were shipped out to the shop. The front fender was simple - all it needed was to get bolted to the frontend - but the rear fender was a lot more work. Bob wanted the fender to be bolted to the swingarm so that it looked like a rigid, but found it was better to trim the sides and hide the struts, then weld all the lines of the sheetmetal to look like one piece to move with the tire. The gas tank fit the frame really well, but Bob stretched it back a little more to fill in the space from the tank to the seat.

We did say Bob owned a body shop, so the paint was the smoothest thing on this bike. With a little help from Bruce Deveau, all the sheetmetal and the frame were molded, then a base of House of Kolor Laser Red Pearl was laid on. Bruce then topped the pearl with some black and silver graphics inspired by Bob's old racecar. It looked great and brought back a lot of old memories.

The final assembly went quick and easy, due to the simple bare-bones styling. Rowe Chassis made a set of one-piece handlebars with both hydraulic lines routed inside the bars. A set of Hurst hand controls and a Ness headlight were added to the frontend, and Ness foot controls and pegs were put in place. The back of the bike will can be seen from the glow of a Joker Machine taillight, and a Danny Gray seat made of black stingray was placed just behind the gas tank.

Bob got just what he needed: a clean chopper that made him happy to be out on the open road. With all his friends asking him to build one for them, he is thinking of turning the car shop into a chopper shop that builds angry choppers only.

Specifications
General
Owner: Bob Bolognese
Year/Make: '03/Custom Choppers
Fabrication: Rowe Chassis
Assembly: Bob Bolognese
Build Time: 10 months

EngineSize/Type: 107ci TP Engineering
Cases: TP Engineering
Flywheels: TP Engineering
Rods: TP Engineering
Pistons: TP Engineering
Cylinders: TP Engineering
Heads: TP Engineering
Cam: TP Engineering
Carb: Mikuni
Ignition: Crane Hi-4
Pipes: Grumpy's Custom

Transmission
Year/Type: '03/TP Engineering
Case: TP Engineering
Gears: Andrews
Clutch: Primo
Primary Drive: Primo

Frame/Suspension
Year/Type: '03/Paul Yaffe
Rake: 46 degrees
Stretch: 6 inches up/4 inches out
Swingarm: '03/Paul Yaffe
Rear Suspension: Works Performance
Forks: Forking by Frank
Extension: 10 inches
Triple-Trees: Perse