2004 Pro-One Chopper - Anodize This!

It's a pretty common practice for parts manufacturers to make showcase bikes crammed to the gills with all of their latest parts to show the world how great their gear is in one collective package. Although such is the case with the Pro-One chopper seen here, the company spent a lot of time and effort to make this a clean, elegant bike in its own right. And, they avoided chrome like a leper.

Pro-One started off with one of its own 250 Fat Chassis roller kits. It's a pretty sweet setup centered around a Softail frame with 40-degree neck rake and 5 inches of stretch in the backbone. Pro-One's new Sinister wheels with matching brakes were added to give the bike sharp styling; Progressive Softail shocks and Pro-One's 41mm Wide Glide forks take the bump out of the road.

When it came down to power, the company went big on the motor, but not too big. It put together a 105ci package with an S&S bottom end topped by Pro-One billet barrels, heads, and pushrod tubes. Pro-One wouldn't tell us who made the pipes, but whoever the mystery maker is, they certainly got it right for the look of the chopper. Pro-One also made the primary drive for this machine, but used a Barnett clutch and Baker six-speed tranny to send power to the Pro-One final drive.

We mentioned earlier that this bike was built to be clean and elegant, and this becomes really apparent when you take a gander at the sheetmetal and controls. From Pro-One's rounded one-piece gas tank to the close-fitting, strutless rear fender, the skin package on this bike makes the profile flow smoothly from front to back. The bars were designed with smooth curves and are made to carry internal wiring for minimum clutter and maximum style. They are topped off with PM hand controls and Pro-One forward controls at foot level. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find cables or wires anywhere on this baby since the company took great pains to hide them internally wherever possible.

The other big attention-holder with this chopper is the near-absence of chrome and polish in the finish. Silver powdercoating was used on the motor to give it a flat finish, while the frontend (and all the other black parts, except the seat) were black anodized for contrast. Buck at SGV Choppers zapped the sheetmetal with a combination of metallic silver and purple metalflake paint to give it some color so it wouldn't look like it was made in a black-and-white art film.

Once it was topped off with a Pro-One seat, the bike was ready for the rally circuit. Since then, it's not only modeled for the Pro-One catalog cover, it has also been the headliner at the company exhibit on the road. And although all of its metal parts are available chromed or polished as well as anodized, the bike gets even more attention for its absence of the shiny stuff. But, it's far from dull.

If you like what Pro-One has to offer, check out its selection at www.pro-one.com.