As people get older, our minds and bodies change over time. There's nothing wrong with living life young at heart, as long as the mind catches up and still doesn't think it's cool to molest Barbie dolls. Over time, people's tastes also fluctuate, and when they find something they like, they tend to stick with it. However, preferences can hinder new and undiscovered possibilities.
Joe McMahon, owner of the custom spread across these pages, grew up riding sport bikes. His colorful collection spans imports from every Japanese, Italian and British bike manufacturer, including a Triumph Speed Triple with a design only a speed freak could love. In fact, he's been riding something like 25 years and never owned an American-made bike-until now. How his newly acquired taste for choppers came about started with that Triumph Speed Triple.
A mutual friend introduced Joe to Bill Nigro, a bike builder for about 30 years and owner of American Motorcycle Parts (AMCP) in Albany, New York, who offered to hop up the power on the Triumph-after some time passed when the bike finally grew on Bill. During that time, Joe started hanging out at Bill's shop when a rigid chopper rolled across his path. "What kind of fool would ride something like that," Joe first thought. After hanging out on the other side of the grass, his tastes changed-in fact, he sold the Triumph to fund his new chopper build.
The build started with a rolling chassis from Ultima, which Bill originally purchased because the sales guy gave him a deal too good to pass up. Afterwards, many design meetings were held at local pubs where Joe and Bill poured out ideas and brew (the stale napkins with bike sketches have recently been recovered). It was decided that a stripped down, hot rod look would be the basis of design for the build. Bill took into consideration the engine's size, and the bike's handling and weight, estimating it would weigh in about 400 lbs, in addition to the sky-high apes and Joe's six-foot five-inch stature. He went with an 80ci Ultima motor, but where things get more interesting is how the mill is ignited.
Bill used a Capacitive Discharge Ignition (CDI), which if you're familiar with dirt bikes, also use the same ignition. For the CDI system to work, he replaced the battery with a capacitor, which is charged by the alternator and used to store a small amount of power for a short time (we're talking microseconds), which is then transferred to the ignition. With the absence of a battery and the bike being kick-start only, this is one of Bill's "cool chopper things," and some "simple engineering"-this of course coming from a former Aeronautical Engineer.
With the battery issue, or lack there of, outta the way, Bill rounded out the bike's design with hidden electrics, no key switch, and a custom foot clutch/jockey shift setup. The rest of the build fell into line with ease, except for the paint scheme and the painstaking hours spent discussing it back at the old pub. Since Joe had an affection for hot rods since youth, a classic speed points paint scheme came into the guys discussion. After more pouring, Bill sketched a speed point gas tank on a napkin and mentioned the idea of going with a '60s style metal flake silver, which pretty much became the tank seen here. For paint, Bernie Godbout laid down his Killer Kustom Red on the sheetmetal and completed the hot rod look.
Joe's reaction to his first American-made bike is nothing but satisfaction and his gratitude to Bill is carried on every ride. I wonder if Joe still thinks that only a fool would ride something like a chopper? Maybe that will be up for debate between the guys at the pub.