David Yonan's Custom Chopper - Paradise Found

A couple of years ago-right around 800 B.C.-the Assyrian Empire was kicking ass and taking names all over Asia Minor. They could do this because they were a badass warrior culture, and they knew how to work a little thing called iron, while all their neighbors were still using bronze.

Modern Assyrians know a thing or two about iron as well. Case in point: David Yonan of Burbank, California. A fire captain with 27 years of service under his helmet, he made his first foray into metalworking with iron of the two-wheeled variety-namely, this bike, "Pure Paradise." Given who he is, it doesn't come as a great shock to discover that he opted to do as much of it on his own as he could. First of all, firemen, being people of action, aren't exactly known for outsourcing work; and second, Yonan has a history of making his own toys. After surfing for a long time, he decided to make his own boards, so he learned to shape and airbrush custom boards.

David's love of bikes is a lot like the love he has for surfing. He'd owned and ridden stock Harleys for years but caught the custom bug and wanted to do it himself. As fate would have it, the father of one of his fellow firefighters was Howard Stubbins, a retired fire captain who'd been building hot rods and choppers for 30 years. A sit-down was arranged where David pulled out his sketches and Howard kicked in all kinds of advice. More importantly, Howard was always there to help David throughout the build.

After taking a gander at what David wanted, Howard suggested a Yaffe roller combined with a Harley Twin Cam. The frame setup would not only give Yonan the tall profile he desired, but by going with a package deal on the chassis he could also be sure that the parts would fit together cleanly and smoothly without a lot of grinding and welding. He'd still have to put it together, which of course is a lot of work, but David was happy to do it. Under Howard's tutelage he learned a lot about building a custom bike. When the frame and its associated parts arrived, David laid everything out and slowly put it together in his spare time, with Howard checking in periodically to make sure he was doing it right the first time.

This went on for several months, until David had the mockup done and Howard came over to inspect his work. He scanned the bike with a keen eye for detail; when something wasn't right, he'd tell David, who noted down all of the little items that needed changing. Afterward, David went back and corrected everything, and then had Howard back for a final inspection.

Once the sensei had approved his student's work, the chopper was torn down for finishing. We mentioned earlier that David comes from the Middle East (that's where the Assyrian Empire was located), and he's very proud of his heritage and wanted his bike to reflect that. One aspect which really drives that concept home is the paint scheme. He got together with painter Walt Woodson, and the two experimented with various mixtures until they got a base color that, in David's opinion, is a perfect match to the golden sands of the Middle East. Phase two was a lot more elaborate, though. Yonan wanted an exotic Middle Eastern princess in harem garb painted on the bike (his idea of Pure Paradise) and went to a lot of effort to get one. He had his wife Heidi pose in costume for photos and then turned the pictures over to Pamelina, who was totally in sync with David's vision and translated them into the painted artwork on Pure Paradise.

Shortly after that it was time for final assembly. As you run your eyes over the bike, you can see a lot of parts that went on during final assembly to further enhance the Middle Eastern theme, such as the Ali Baba grips, the pegs, license-plate bracket, and the air cleaner, to name a few. David did much of that by himself, but he needed help wiring up the bike and called Howard, who recommended his neighbor, Mike Powers of Powers Custom Cycles, for the job. Not only did Mike handle the wiring, he took care of the brake and clutch cables and convinced David to go with an open primary instead of the stock H-D one.

Having wired up the bike, the Powers crew went over Pure Paradise with their own 100-point checklist, then turned it and David loose on their first ride together. For him that was paradise found-but custom fever hasn't released him yet. David wants to take the knowledge he's gained and build a second bike, this time with him doing a lot more of the fabrication. Considering all the pride, ambition, and enthusiasm he brought to Pure Paradise, the follow-up should be fun to watch.