40th Anniversary Bike Build
When we first started to think about what we were going to do for Street Chopper magazine's 40th anniversary issue, a chopper build seemed like the perfect idea. What better way to celebrate than to build a bike commemorating the magazine's success?
We started scouring old issues of Street Chopper as well as the Internet looking for the style of bike we wanted to erect. After some soul-searching and a bit of arguing, we decided that we wanted to meld both the old and new schools. We decided on building a fairly long bike with Invader wheels and a narrow Springer, but something that could actually be ridden comfortably.
While sitting at our favorite tavern, the Salty Dawg, we were throwing around ideas for the theme of the bike and in walked noted custom painter known by most as The Harpoon. We let him in on the build and within seconds he was signed on to do the paint. Knowing that The Harpoon could spray in jewel-like tones and that the 40th anniversary stone was a Ruby, the bike was immediately christened with its namesake.
With less than 60 days to build our anniversary bike, the fun and hard work started. Looking around at what type of frame we wanted, our interest in Flyrite Chopper's Scorcher frame was piqued. After seeing its 39-degree head angle with 2 inches up and 5 inches out, we knew it was going to be the frame of choice.
Once the frame was chosen, we contacted 3Guyz Customs and ordered up one of its Builder's narrow Springer forks and had Jason at Flyrite work out the proper length with the 3Guyz crew. When the fork showed up a short time later we were blown away at the quality of this made-to-order Springer. It came arrow-straight with welds that were a thing of beauty. With the help of a set of DNA stainless-steel head cups, the fork fit on the bike with nary an issue.
With the frame and fork taken care of, we moved onto the rolling stock. There really was only one choice for wheels on this bike and one place to get them, so a call to Scotty at Invader Wheels was made. Scotty has been making these wheels for more than 30 years and he knew exactly what we were after the moment we spoke with him. Starting with 21 and 16-inch hoops, Scotty hand-welded each of the five spokes to his personally machined hubs, then straightened them using heat. Once the wheels were completed, Scotty shipped the Invaders to Norbrook Plating in Warren, Michigan, where the shop did an amazing job show-chroming the wheels.
Once the wheels arrived on this side of the great lakes, we hurried them over to Wheel Works to install the 21-inch Speedmaster and 16-inch MK II tires we had received from Avon. Once the rubber was mounted, we slid the wheels into the frame and fork and got the Flyrite primary sprotor bolted up. Once the bike was rolling on its own, we pulled it off of our Ranger RML 600 lift and welded on an internal-spring kickstand from Kustom Tech, which followed the curvature of the frame perfectly.
For the seating surface, we were fortunate enough to have Biltwell send us a seat and we had Duane Ballard slap some commemorative skin on it. Once the leather-clad ass pad was finished, it came time to figure out the handlebars. After our exploration turned up fruitless for an off-the-shelf bar, our pal T-Bone from Noise agreed to build a set of custom bars for us. The bars ended up being a masterpiece of fabrication and fit the look of the bike perfectly.
With the bars firmly mounted and the bike progressing along nicely, hand and foot controls were next on the list to be installed. We opted for a set of chrome-plated Performance Machine Contour foot controls, clutch lever, and throttle, which have a classically clean look. Once the PM controls were bolted to the frame, we topped off the bars and foot controls with clear pegs and grips from Hippy Killer Garage.