Howard Kelly
Former Editor
Imagine, 40 years later, Tom McMullen's desire not to print a catalog still works. It's true, as others in this special issue will tell you, Tom and his AEE Choppers crew didn't want to print catalogs and give them away, so he started Street Chopper and sold his magazine-jammed full of bikes he built featuring AEE parts. The man was a genius.
I became the editor of Street Chopper sometime around January of 2000 when then Publisher Dave Withrow and I decided that bringing the magazine back to print was a good idea. The first issue would go on sale in May of 2000 and we knew there would be another one later that year. Of course, I had a full-time job then as the editor of HOT BIKE-which was the spawn of Street Chopper in the late '70s and again in the'80s-so I thought the idea of two issues per year was OK. However, the world seemed to love the magazine coming back and 2001 saw four issues and by 2002 there were six. It was fast becoming a second full-time job-and I really loved it.
But that first issue was so very cool, I hope you have it in your collection. To make the magazine even more of a collectible I asked Arlen Ness, Ron Simms, Donnie Smith, Sugar Bear, Dave Perewitz, and Kirk Van Scooten to write letters about their original Street Chopper experiences. Cool stuff to see Arlen reminiscing about his bikes being shot for the 1970 issues of the magazine, and talking about how he and Bev started his business because of it. Ron had similar feelings, remembering Bob Clark shooting his bikes, and then his business taking off. Same went for Dave, Donnie, and Kirk; the magazine shaped their businesses. Sugar Bear nailed the chopper life in his letter ending it with..."no one ever bought a Harley because they saw a guy on a dresser. They saw a guy on a chopper and wanted to be him."
That issue was filled with choppers of all kinds, from extremely long like the Mondo-built Denver's bike to a tiny little rigid Springer built by Ken Thurm of KT Components. But the bike that defined the issue really had to be Jesse James' purple El Diablo-based El Baracho. It was the classic long chopper, but loaded with all of today's modern touches: 131 cubic-inch engine, rear air suspension, gorgeous billet wheels, anodized parts, and a big ol' jockey shift. The bike was flat-out cool and it really did mark the turn in chopper styling at that point.
With the magazine taking off as quick as it did, so many fun things came along with it; John Hammer's cool Chopper Art pieces, a growing catalog of cool apparel, and incredible opportunities like test-riding bikes. For all that Street Chopper gave me in fun and great photo opportunities, the coolest thing I did in four years of being the editor was road testing a Captain America-replica bike built by Ron Paugh at Paughco. I rode that bike everywhere I could-just for the reactions people gave it. From the grocery store to the 405 Freeway, no matter where I went on it, people looked, pointed, and loved it. That was huge fun and a memory I will take to the grave.
It was a bittersweet thing to turn the magazine over to Greg Friend in 2004, but it had taken on a life of its own and there was no way I could do 12 issues of HOT BIKE and Street Chopper each year and give them both the attention they deserved.
Funny thing, Street Chopper is back down to a couple issues a year again as the chopper cycle has cycled again. But for those that have read it these past four decades, you know it will be back monthly again. It's just the way it goes.