Lucky Numbers...

In the case of this SGV Super 66 chopper, how the bike was built is pretty standard, so we won't bore you with the details. This time we'll tell you a little more about the story behind the bike, it wouldn't be a bad time to break out the cooler either.

The build started out because Joe Warren, a.k.a. Joe Fabulous, had a friend on the city of Azusa's chamber of commerce. They were throwing around ideas of what they could raffle off as a grand prize that would make them a nice wad of cash. The squares were thinking car, a Saturn actually, but Joe's friend got them on the right track with a motorcycle -- not a Fatboy like every fire department in Southern California raffles off for Christmas, but a custom chopper like the stuff people have been seeing on Discovery Channel. And that is how SGV got commissioned by the city of Azusa chamber of commerce to build a custom chopper to be the grand prize given away at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California. To serve its money making purpose, the bike had a to be the kind of chopper that appealed to the masses, cashing in on current popular trends. Being the savvy businessmen they are, SGV owners Joe and Buck knew what the ride needed to be to get people's heads turning while reaching into their wallets. The whole theme if you will, is to commemorate the city of Azusa's history with old-school Route 66, which is why the bike is called Super 66. Nostalgia is a big part of its campaign appeal, along with a fat 250 back tire, right-side drive, a smooth metalflake paintjob, and an old-school retro look. It also had to be rideable. Joe refused to make some lame show bike that after just five hours into a long ride would be gasping for a tow truck.

So now you know why the chopper exists. It's a mildly interesting reason -- maybe exciting to history geeks. What makes this chopper more than just a well-built beauty queen is that it's the last bike SGV Joe and Buck, now owner of Buck Wild, worked on together. All of a sudden, this bike is a lot more than just a well-made machine, it's a final collaboration.

Not to get you all fired up only to hit the kill the switch, but let's get one thing straight right off the bat here: Yeah, the guys have now gone their separate ways, but there are no hard feelings, no black eyes or busted lips, and no bruised egos. Joe and Buck are still friends -- sorry, no mafia hits put out on each other. There's the boring stuff like mutual respect, lasting friendship, and who knows the possibility of reuniting in the future. It's not the backstabbing, wife-stealing, profit-scamming, drug-smuggling, high-stakes, bloodthirsty, Quentin Tarantino vendetta you were looking for. We'd rather stick to telling the truth -- the story of two guys who decided that their combined talent was worth a gamble along with a lot of hard work. No seed money with this operation, no trust fund, no investors or sucker family members to help them get a cushy start or make some beginners' mistakes. They got enough money together between the two of them to get their original space and a piece of plastic to keep the paint off the metal before it was ready. Other than that, it was just hard work when they weren't at their day jobs. Three years later, SGV Joe and Buck ended up with a business that needed room to grow. It's that simple: SGV Choppers had become too successful for its cramped 500-square-foot workspace. The painter and the designer/fabricator now found themselves with enough business for two separate shops. They had their own employees, their own equipment, they offered several different services within one shop, and there just wasn't enough room for all of it. Buck decided stayed in the original space and fleshed out his painting side of the business to Buck Wild Design. Joe got his own space and is still alive and well at SGV Choppers, but he wants to focus more on designing his own line of products too, stuff like frontends, pipes, fenders, tanks and all the things he's worked on as he built the bikes that rolled out of his shop for the past three years. He would also like the ladies out there to know he's a Leo and enjoys long walks on the beach. Anyway, there you have it -- a decent garage story to tell your buddies when you're sitting around staring at your bikes. And to whoever gets to own the SGV Super 66 chopper, appreciate the fact that you've got a bike that pays homage to two talented guys who earned their success on honest hard work and raw talent. Not bad for a, "Nice, well-built chopper."