When we received the goods on this bike, we felt like Beavis and Butthead all wrapped up into balding adolescents. "Rock Hard Choppers Penetrator"?! Is this a frickin' joke? We were certain someone had to be yanking our chain. But take just one quick look at this machine, and you'll know the guys at Rock Hard are just as serious as you need them to be.
As with so many other bikes these days (on TV and otherwise), this Rock Hard Penetrator-framed rigid was built on a strict timetable. The swashbucklers from Rock Hard sponsor a ride every August, and as of the end of June co-founder Garrett Hansen was bikeless. He wasn't about to walk, but he was going to be there one way or another.
Described by Garrett as a bobber (but really closer to a chopper with a bobber attitude), this bike's aesthetics are decidedly more glam than a down-and-dirty bobber has any right to be. It was also intended to be an old-school bike, but we're sorry-we can't really picture this bike rolling in any decade but our own. That said, the final effect of the various influences and good intentions is one eye-catching machine.
Garrett started with Rock Hard's Penetrator frame and built it with the seat slammed as low as possible and a 4-inch forward stretch in the backbone. Next he fitted up a Paughco Springer, but since he wanted to give it a little something unique, Garrett machined custom rockers in-house. Mockup continued with the Ultima engine sliding into place to provide a template for the flat-bottomed, rocker-hugging Rock Hard tank. A local boot maker was called in to lend his leatherworking expertise-the butt-cradling seat was his first, but it might as well have been his hundredth, it was put together so well. The 21-inch apes were a must for the attitude the Rock Hard cowboys were going for, as was the 300-series Avon out back.
They just got the mocked-up version of the bike running and rolling in time for the big ride, so Garrett had to ride a naked Rock Hard Penetrator on the big day. On the upside, he didn't have to walk. With some serious road pounding beneath the wheels of the machine, it was time to wrap it in several smooth layers of polyurethane.