I'll just never understand.............

[AUSSIE EFE]

Not sure if anyone really wants to know this (it may twist your brain a little!!) but......... I have a little inside info on the "chopper" in question. The bike was built as a looker (????) not a rider, the shocks are show only it has no rear suspension, the front end is off a dirt bike fitted to give that long look without raking the frame. Now I like "choppers" but 70's style deathtraps are my thing this just looks like a waste of a GSX 1100!!! A few "OCC" mentions so here's a little story for you. I work with a couple of blokes that are "Hoggly Doggly" nuts, one has a mate who's mate bought an "OCC" shop floor bike all up with import duties ect 120k (AUS). The state that I live in has guidelines for modifications to your bike/car. Go outside the rules you need engineer approval, no approval no registration, matey boy did not know this.If you import a new production vehicle then it has to meet all current Australian Design Rules (ADR's), matey boy did not know this. The bloke takes the bike for rego inspection and is told it can not be registered, too much frame rake, wheelbase too long ect and that because it is a "production" vehicle it must meet all current ADR's just like a new suz/hon/kaw/yam/duc/tri does!! He can't even put it on a permit to ride it to a bike/car show ect so he now has 120k (AUS) of useless garage art!!!!

[beergood]

One of my college roommates lived until recently on the same small island in Georgia as Davis Love. There was a lot of buzz in the community about his OCC chopper a few years back when it was being built and starred in an episode. Supposedly it was pretty nice for the few weeks that he owned it before it suffered some sort of catastrophic failure (my buddy is fairly mechanically illiterate, although a great family doctor, so he didn't know exactly what went wrong).

I always wondered what people think when they shell out the kind of cash that an OCC bike costs (especially the customs), and then you tune in and see them wailing on a part to make it 'fit'. I remember one episode where they misjudged the battery box size and after it was powder coated they couldn't get the battery to fit in. Cut to two 200lb+ guys standing on the battery to get it to cram in there. Wow, I can't wait for two years to go by and the owner has to replace that battery. It should be a snap.

As for the general look of choppers (and just about anything else), I tend to lean towards the 'form should follow function' and 'truth to materials' schools of thought. And most of the OCC and other themed/stylized choppers are in direct contradiction of those philosophies. A Blackhawk helicopter is an extremely purposeful design, and terrifying and beautiful at the same time. A chopper made to look like a Blackhawk is stupid and juvenile. It looks like it should be on the cover of 'No One Asked For It' magazine.

That being said, I can also appreciate some of the more artistic touches that certain builders incorporate into their designs. I think Indian Larry made some of the best looking bikes I have ever seen, regardless of genre or style.

At the end of the day though, I think that any bike is better than no bike. And whatever will get someone out safely riding is a good thing.

Although I gotta say, that Alligator bike linked up above might be one of the weirdest things I've ever seen.

[TheCafeKid]

I tend to agree with you there on the OCC thing. I remember the episode where they did the old school bobber, the creme and brown one, with the nickle plating instead of chrome. I was kinda ****ed when they went to put the tires on the powdered rims, and due to the powder coating they had to gorilla it on, in the process screwing up the powdercoat, and had "Nubby" pin stripe it to cover it up. What happens when those tires need changed?? Sheesh

[Steve]

What happens when those tires need changed?? Sheesh

Please don't tell me that you actually believe that bike is going to be ridden enough to wear out the tires. :shock:


.

[TheCafeKid]

Heh probably not, tho if *I* paid that much for a bike i would ride it in TONIGHTS weather...lol

[Tarbash 27]

Check out this chopper I saw on craiglist. Ugliest thing I had ever seen. Why would someone even want to build something like that?

http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/mcy/525457450.html

[ericzx7]

Check out this chopper I saw on craiglist. Ugliest thing I had ever seen. Why would someone even want to build something like that?

http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/mcy/525457450.html

I agree . That thing is #&%ugly !! As for the orange one at the beginning of the thread, I don't think it's so bad. Beauty is in the eye of the "builder", right? I mean, it's not exactly my kind of bike, but at least it looks as if he did a decent job on it, unlike the one you posted , which looked like no more than an afterthought! Each to their own I say. For me, I'll stick with the more sport oriented styling. Thats my .02 cents anyway.

[AUSSIE EFE]

Now this is a well done GS.

[TheCafeKid]

WOW! I DO like that! Simple and clean. Very nicely done chopp there

[Bubba67]

Now this is a well done GS.

That is one classy looking GS. Well done.

[Jd Powell]

I'm no chopper guy, but I would rock that bike! See the difference quality work and an eye for detail make? The first rule of bike set-up; the only thing you cant change is just one thing.