If you're looking for a story about a couple of guys who ordered a bunch of catalog parts, slapped them together, and shelled out serious coin for a paintjob, go read another bike feature.
Jonathan and Jimmie Lee Coen, owners of Three-Two Choppers in Dallas, created this machine, and since they designed and fabbed many of the parts themselves, it's truly their own. And no expensive paint scheme was hurt in the making of this bike.
The two brothers have spent 15 years building bikes as a hobby. Like many other builders, the pair has enjoyed enough success customizing rides for themselves and friends that they made the leap into the pros. They opened Three-Two Choppers a few years back and hit the ground running, pouring their hearts and souls into bikes like the "Huri" chop you see before you.
It's a unique, industrial design that bucks trends and illustrates what the Coens' shop is all about: being different. "If the industry's going one way, we like to think we're going the opposite direction," they told us. Named after their buddy, George "Huri" Santillan, the chopper is all business and little fluff: no gargantuan rear tire, no molding, and no elaborate paint scheme.
But the differences don't end with the word "no." While it's pretty easy not to do something, the brothers had some ideas for this ride that took ambition and determination to realize. Case in point: the Mooneyes oil sack mounted outside the frame on the right-hand side. Although that's a pretty interesting idea in its own right, Jimmie Lee and Jonathan took it one step beyond by bending pipes that weave in and around the 93-inch S&S shovelhead motor (the front pipe also parallels the top of the primary). This not only hides the exhaust on the right side but also minimizes pipe-side clutter. That way, the oil tank isn't lost when viewed in profile.
Not all of the custom pieces were confined to Huri's right side, however. Take a look at the primary side and you'll find a suicide shifter mounted to the frame's single downtube instead of in its usual, much lower position.
The gas tank is also anything but normal. With the vertical tube topside for loading fuel and another one on the right side meant to provide cool air on the rear cyl, the fuel holder is truly a unique animal and that's exactly what the Coen brothers intended.
We said earlier that Three-Two made the Huri industrial-looking and that's clearly evident in two areas: the finish and the absence of molding. They kept the color scheme simple, using black, gray, and silver; raw and angry like an old crime film from the '40s and '50s. Rather than hiding all the bolts that hold the bike together, the shop left them showing to add to its machine look. The only parts hidden on Huri are the cables and the Coens are proud of that fact. Everything else on the bike is on display for the world to see and that's how they like it.
All of which is really important when you think about it-building the bike you want and not necessarily what's trendy. For some, this means going with the flow if that's your bag. But for others, like Jimmie Lee and Jonathan Coen, swimming against the "in" current is what bike building is all about.