When Bob Brown saw a green New York City Choppers bike with Dita Von Teese on the tank during Biketoberfest 2005, he knew he had to have a similar one. He talked with Nick, the owner of the (obviously) New York City, New York-based shop, and was promised a six-month build time for a bike that would be painted red with Bob's favorite pin-up girl painted on the gas tank: Marilyn Monroe.
The New York City Choppers (NYCC) team started Bob's bike with a NYCC wishbone rigid frame with 35 degrees of rake and 2 inches added to the downtubes with no stretch in the backbone. H-D 39mm narrow-glide triple-trees were bored out to fit a set of polished GCB 43mm legs and secured to the steering neck. A pair of NYCC spoke wheels was fitted to the frame and frontend with an NYCC Trucker Girl rotor in the front and an HHI sprotor in the rear for stopping power.
Driveline components were next, and the buildsheet called for a panhead. NYCC built a 103ci pan with S&S cases, flywheels, rods, pistons, cylinders, oil pump, and carb, with STD heads, an Andrews cam, Mallory ignition, Velva Touch pushrods and lifters, a Goodson air-cleaner cover, and Paughco exhaust. Backing the motor is a BDL 3-inch open beltdrive and a polished Baker "6-in-a-4" transmission.
Skin for the chopper would not require much metal; the NYCC design is pretty simple. A modified Paughco gas tank was bolted to the backbone, along with an NYCC oil bag and a Russ Wernimont rear fender. Visual Impact painted the gas tank, fender, frame, and Drag Specialties headlight housing. Per Bob's request, the Visual Image crew also painted Marilyn Monroe on the gas tank in a likeness from the movie The Seven-Year Itch. Accenting the bike's custom leather seat-tooled by Duane Ballard-is a pair of martini glasses from Some Like it Hot, another Marilyn Monroe flick.
Once the graphics had dried, the bike was assembled and topped with the necessary accessories. PM classic hand controls were secured to NYCC's Whisky Bar handlebars and NYCC iron-cross grips, Drag Specialties cables and mirrors, and an NYCC taillight.
Well, the bike was built on schedule and ready for delivery during BikeWeek 2006-unfortunately, just a few weeks prior to the event Bob broke six ribs and was ordered not to ride. But when the bike was pulled out of the NYCC trailer, Bob was too excited to mind his doctor's orders and rode the bike throughout BikeWeek anyway. He still had a smile on his face, and if you asked him whether he was in pain-riding a rigid with broken bones-he'd tell you loud and clear, "It's worth riding, no matter what!"