And suddenly your life is never the same. You've quietly been bit by a bug so to speak-the chopper bug. But not just any chopper bug-and now you have a need to seek out and unearth some of the most famous choppers of the last 40 years! This is how Kayelynn Johnson got into choppers-Denver's Choppers to be exact. Most people reading thus far have probably heard of Denver Mullins of San Bernardino (AKA Berdoo) at some point in time and probably have seen in person or in pictures at least one of the reportedly 2,000 bikes built using a Denver's frame, frontend, and many of the other parts they made or one of the countless yet distinct choppers built under Denver's roof.
Kayelynn found and owned a real Denver's chopper before he had a clue of the bike's heritage-he just knew he liked the long and low style of the bike. In fact he traded some automotive paintwork for the old bike because he knew he had to have it soley based on looks. As time went by, Kayelynn was painting a customer's Harley when the customer saw his four-cylinder Honda chopper and told him it reminded him of the kind of choppers he had seen in the old Street Chopper magazines from the '70s and that next time he came in he would bring him the couple dozen he had left from the good old days. The customer delivered the goods next time he stopped by and the old mags became fuel for Kayelynn's soon to be bon fire.
He started pouring over the issues and found six old Denvers choppers and each one was different from the next. Soon after this all started, Kayelynn found out that his bike was owned by Denver's partner Butch Araiza, and was built around 1982. That black, blue, yellow, and orange lacquer SOHC Honda CB750 chopper with a 20-over Denvers springer infected Kayelynn's brain two decades ago and has grown into a nest with seven original Denvers choppers owned by himself and several friends including Jim Stephens (AKA Chopper Jim) that have spawned innumerable memories, new friends, and plenty of old stories. We are happy to bring you the latest news from the Dream Machines shop in the already historic Route 66 town of Kingman, Arizona. They have recently restored a '65 Sportster known as Exorcist's Delight (STC Oct. '74) and the '77 Honda SOHC CB750 chopper known as My Dream (STC Jan '78).
Exorcist's Delight
This little full rigid flat-side Sportster is very special to Kayelynn and Chopper Jim for many reasons. It is the only Denver's-built Harley-Davidson they/their group owns and it is also the earliest of all seven they own. It was finished back in '73 and predates the up and coming, long and low "digger" trend that would finish out the later half of the '70s and move into the '80s. Exorcist's Delight's 20-over rigid tube frontend is unique as well compared to Denver's more common narrow springer frontends and while it looks ultra trick, is not for the faint of heart. Not so much for the way it rides, but because there is no trail to help ease handling! But then again, choppers in the true sense were never about handling-it's about having a good looking machine!
The birth of Exorcist's Delight is an interesting one. In '72 the painter at Denver's, Freddie Hernandez, was planning a vacation and it just so happened that Mike "Mafufa" Craig walked into the shop while traveling to Santa Barbara and asked if they needed a painter. The initial response was "no," but given that Freddie was going to be out for a while Mike was offered a temporary position and temporary turned into full time when Freddie came back and told Denver that he didn't want to paint anymore as his interests were elsewhere in the shop. This was just fine with Mike and Freddie, but Denver made it clear to Mike that he would paint every bike how he tells him to and he'd fire him if he didn't do what he was told.