Editor's Note
David "Chopper Dave" Freston is the single owner-operator of Chopper Dave's Casting Company in Long Beach, California. A man with many talents, Dave earned his fame from another one of those chopper TV shows that were ever so popular in the early 2000s. Like most guys in SoCal who had good bike building skills, Dave joined up with Jesse James and got busy building bikes to other people's specs. In 2005 after being laid off from West Coast Choppers, he decided to go headfirst with his own deal and started casting parts and building bikes. After five years and countless personal hardships and triumphs, Dave sat down with us to spill his guts.
Who got you into motorcycles?
Well I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, and I was really more into cars than motorcycles; '50s Kustoms and muscle cars. That kind of crap. When I was 18 my buddy and I went to look at this messed-up '67 BSA chopper with 18-inch-over forks. Now that I think about it, I had no business riding that pile of shit, and I got a bunch of tickets and accidents on that bike.
How did you get the name Chopper Dave?
Through guys I used to ride with. I was the only one on a chopper who rode in our group with super-high ape hangers and all the standard chopper junk.
What's your newest bike build?
At some point I'll get the time to work on my Evo XLXR project, but right now I'm doing a late-model rubber-mounted Sportster in a rigid frame for a customer of mine. What I'm really looking forward to is to get time to rebuild my street tracker Evo that I blew the motor on. I will be rebuilding that bike with a turbo setup and bigger brakes, which I will definitely need.
Why do you build the style bike that you do? What about a long bike or a total restoration?
I love long bikes, but I just have not gotten around to building one. I pretty much know exactly what I want to build and just need the right parts to come my way. To tell you the truth, for the most part I'm over the whole chopper "everything has to be a certain way" type deal. I'm more into building street tracker-influenced bikes right now.
What's your take on period-correct bikes?
When I started building bikes I was super into period-correct bikes, and I started doing restorations before I did any real chopper stuff. I'm still into that stuff for the most part, but right now I want to build bikes that I can really ride hard if I want or need to.
Who influences you in the motorcycle world?
Influence-wise, people like Jeff Wright from Church of Choppers. Jeff's personality blooms with some of the stuff that's not Harley-Davidson-based, and how he is incorporating that into Harley-style builds. Jeff Decker is also a huge influence on me because he totally opened my eyes for the better with his art. Cole Foster always bums me out because he has the simplest ideas that are so bitchin, I'm always mad I didn't think of them first, especially when I tend to overengineer everything first and then make it simple, he just "sees" it that way. Randy Smith is another one, may he RIP. The first stuff he was doing was a huge influence on the cast parts that I'm making now. I'm actually making some of his parts, so that's cool.
Who influences you outside of the bike world?
The stuff that truly inspires me is all the vintage war aircraft and machinery stuff from 65,70 years ago. Those guys were ahead of their time. All the metalwork, mechanics, and riveting these guys did motivates me more than anything else.
Where do you think the direction of the motorcycle industry is going?
I have no idea, to be really honest with you, and I really don't care. Myself? I'm not trying to please anybody with the parts that I make. If people like them, I'm stoked with that. Don't get me wrong, but I cast the stuff that I make because I like it. I'm not trying to appeal to the guys who have tons of money. I appeal to the chopper guy because that's where my passion is.
What do you think about non-American-made motorcycle parts?
It bums me out because I really like to see parts being made here. With that said, it's hard and expensive to get parts made in America. I could go to a place like China and get my parts made for a 10th of the cost, but I won't do it. I want to see people support our U.S. industry.
What do you do for fun?
Um, I don't know. I sleep and take pictures of girls. That's fun! I've been photographing girls (clothed and not) more lately for the book I'm working on. To finish the book, I have a few girls who haven't shot with me yet wanting to be photographed. So I've got that going for me (laughs).