We can all look back at our childhood and get a glance at what we may become as adults. Most of the time we can blame our parents (or thank them). Did they help you get a good education, or did they say to get it on your own? Did they buy you everything you wanted, or tell you to get a job? No matter how you got to where you are now, your childhood was more than likely why.
In the case of Kutty Noteboom, builder and owner of a shop called the Hippy Killer, you could say his dad was a big influence. Some people might say he was born into hot rod royalty, being the son of famous car builder Jim "Bones" Noteboom. Bones has been building cars since the '50s. Not only has his face been all over magazines for his cars and motorcycles, but he was also inducted into the Hot Rod Hall of Fame. He was part of the drag boat racing scene in the '60s and '70s. Yet in the end, Bones' specialty all along was building custom hot rods and tricked-out choppers.
With that in mind, let's just say Kutty got a head-start in the chopper world. When Kutty was a young teenager he began to take notice of the artistry, creativity, and thought that goes into a custom car or motorcycle. Before he became serious about building custom bikes, he was busy listening to punk rock music and trying to get sponsored in skateboarding. Needless to say when that didn't happen he received his driver's license. Kutty then picked up two magazines, one called Car Craft from the late '50s and '60s, the other Street Chopper from the '70s. Looking at these magazines, he had realized it was about keeping it traditional even with his first bike, a 1970 Honda Chopper, which he rode the hell out of. Not long after that, he was on his way to H-D Big Twins and anything he could get a good deal on.
In the case of this bike spread out along the pages of Street Chopper started out with the frame. He had Fred of Fred's Frames build one to meet the needs of a bike that he could alter over and over if he wanted to change or swap things out. With a solid frame for a starting point, if he blew through motors or transmissions he could change the look as often as he liked. The next thing was to get a powertrain to move this frame around.