You learn from what's killing you.

May 28, 2010

THAT bike!

We all seem to have seen a bike here or there that really REALLY blew us away.
I have a few, the FLAT CAT from Iron Horse eighteen or so years ago. Jeff Wright's Hammer of God Shovel. Gordons evo long bike from 1999ish. Droopys Knucklehead. The GORR MC flathead long bike.
THats the bike on my mind right now, the GORR MC flathead
Corner sent me pix of a super simple black btsv with a 20" or so over stock springer, with "Texas" bars and some red trim. it fucking BLEW me away! The other night I decided that I needed to find the pix of it and I spent 3 hours digging through every hard drive I have that is full of pictures. NO LUCK!
FUCK
So I emailed Corner and i heard back from him this morning, with all the pix of it! BUT my god damned mail server is undergoing maintenance and I can't download it until tomorrow morning!!! HOLD TIGHT.

What bike in your past blew your mind?

100 comments:

Super71 said...

I'm guessing around 6 or more years ago maybe,I came across COC,before I knew what the hell a blog was.Jeff had built the shovel that Brad Pitt owned,my buddy was wanting to buy it.The HoG is my all time favorite,it has tainted me from the whole chopper thing.I will go as far is to say that everything he touches is gold,his own style,built tough,with the coolness of preformance.

Omer said...

It was that crazy flat-green FXR with the carb sticking out of the top of the gas tank that was in the old Iron Horse from around 1996. Lots of people are into that bike.

CHURCHILL said...

The S&S bike that Jeff Wright built. So much cool shit. I can stare at it for hours.

B Harlow said...

superfreak!

Eazyluvin said...

Don't know Droopy or anything, but after reading Irish Richs post on him blowing his bike up and coming home to a leveled house, that makes me a believer in him and his knuckle.. So I will say that one blew my mind

grant said...

the second version of Armon's bike with the shovel topend.

"Daddyfrisco" Ray said...

"Kill City Choppers" evo motor, "Chop Suey" Street Chopper...Still blew me away!

Isaak M said...

My three favorites:
-the Martz/ Auger Vincent Lightning.
-Sid Biberman's Vincent drag bike "The Rattler"
-Decker's Vincent being built.

by the way- you mentioned an r1 street tracker in an interview. are there any pictures of this floating around?

Ha-milton said...

Scott Craigs original gold Triumph in the sporster frame- the one that got smashed, not the one in Dice. Cool post

Fatass said...

when my old man owned his shop, these guys Tate (RIP)and Dano built a couple of killer stroked panheads in about '87 that I could never shake the sound, smell or looks of:
Here's one
And here's the other one

Then there was the Shortster...the Righteous Ruler pan..Meathead's pan..

We can only pick ONE?!

CHVRCH said...

Jose's bike with the blue vinyl showed me it was ok to do anything.

Some of Roland Sands stuff.

All racebikes.

Bratsyle.

Japan.

Sweden.

and Chopper Dave!

CHVRCH said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
AL-DIABLO said...

THE (((NOISE))) SHOVEL IS AN ALL TIME FAVORITE!

Boonie said...

COC 23/A-Gas shovel...I got to see it in person at Fu years ago before it was sold...THAT has been the closest thing to the perfect "bike" I've ever seen based strictly on style and stance...The best...

known random said...

dustins triumph (brass butt trumpet) tom fosters black fxr (crazy fast crackers rocket)

Irish Rich said...

Dick Hirschberg's orange Pan with the axed Harley tank from '59.

IMT Transport said...

Your panhead...all versions
secret weapon
jeffs white bike
deckers crocker
jeffs s&S bike
dustins triump
indian larrys grease monkey
haters long bike all versions
indian larrys indian from early ih
and

TOM FUGLES maroon bike

Chris K said...

Joe Hurst's White Bear shovelhead, full of Dick Allen goodness. saw it at the LA sports arena in '71 or'72? Roths' Oink. and Sonny Bargers yellow panhead circa '60 are the first ones to come to mind.

Unknown said...

Chica's "Von Dutch" from a few years back. I know it's a high dollar bike, but it's artful and mechanical at the same time. Also anything my Grandpa built - MIG welder and square stock in rural South Dakota, but he still got it done.

me said...

There was a Harris Magnum 1 framed GSXR 1100 in an early issue of Streetfighters Magazine... must have been around late 1994 when i saw it.

Blew. My. Mind.

Half the bikes in that mag did. simple, stripped down, all business hooligan machines.

me said...

around 1994 i saw an issue of Streetfighters Magazine. There was a Harris Magnum 1 framed GSXR 1100.

Blew. My. Mind. half the bikes in that mag did. Stripped down, all business hooligan machines. Shaped what I thought a bike should be.

ALVAREZ said...

Jason Jesse's 48 Pan in Iron Horse back in'96 and Cole Foster's blue pre-unit Triumph from around the same time.

Kevin666 said...

English Don's Babylon Taxi and Larry's original Voodoo Chile.

Kevin666 said...

English Don's Babylon Taxi and Larry's original Voodoo Chile.

Doug Walker said...

IH #113, 1993. Steg's shovel in Axe Man's Chop article changed the way that I look at motorcycles. Hard tail, high pipes, good brakes, wide glide, friscoed tank and drag bars. Visually tight and built to go. It looks fast standing still. That bike will stand the test of time.

By Hand and By Brain said...

Dave-I got a sweet spot for the Lovely Loser. Its perty...JD's Crocker is up there too, those to bikes get my creative juices flowing. Thanks.
J-

Rowan said...

Oh shit man this is hard.. but stuck in my mind is Dr.Benways 'Motion Lotion' from outta Gardeners in Omoha back in late '81.. a real cool ironhead Digger, appeared in Feb '82 Street Chopper mag

its an equal first place tie with Deckers Crocker

Kris Klein said...

Id say Josh Kurpius' ironhead, The Locust, dug it since first seeing pics of it, when I think chopper I think of this bike...

Kris Klein said...

Id have to say Josh Kurpius' Ironhead, "The Locust", kills it on all levels, When I think chopper that bike instantly pops into mind....

huduguru said...

Current: The Super Freak has prompted me to get going for Dave's MotorShop frames, and Irish Rich's "White Heat" is a modern classic. Past: Rooster's Shovel, Armond's Knuck-Shovel w/Speed-E-Shift

Davecat said...

My friend Ronnie's
Honda Z50, the first motorcycle I ever rode. Ronnie's dad was in a club. His house didn't have a front door, it had a shower curtain, but no one ever came in uninvited.

First time I went over to Ronnie's after school, we were about 8. There was a note tacked on his bedroom door, "Ronnie, I smoked the last of your stuff, pay you back later, Love Pop."

That and anything touched by Vince.

Barry said...

Since I always like clean and well finished, I would have to say Cole Fosters blue bike. I saw it roll off the Custom Chrome truck while we were unloading the PM truck at the Indy dealer show back in 2002, I think. I don't even know how many times went back to look at that thing over that weekend. Nothing about it said, hey-look-at-me, but once you saw it, you were there for a while looking at it. The devil was in the detail, so-to-speak. It's still one of the very few custom bikes I would pay for and keep.

lifeisfuct-diekruzen HEAVY KLOTHING said...

late 80's early 90's swedish long bikes,car tire and all.early 90's nyc bikes,stegs,roger merits,indian larry. fritz purple flamed pan,same era. and alot of the bikes in awol and back street heros,same era. super freak is one of the first "finished" bikes i really liked. and dave polgreens "KING DIAMOND" i see it all the time and it always rules.

Fat Freddy said...

1. Satans Slave Lewie's Yellow Knuck

2. Jeff McCanns Hellbound

3. the Grey Pan that Kutty did recently

Livingston Montreux said...

Joesmithearlyford beat me to it! Steg's Shovel in IH was an epiphany for me, a true piece of art in form and function. Steg has resurrected Psycho Cycles in Seattle, check it at http://www.psychocyclesinc.org/

Mike
folkdevilsmc.blogspot.org

Rick said...

Benny Hardy's Captain America.

Transcendent. Timeless. To use an overworked term - a masterpiece.

How, at that time, a relatively unknown black American man was able to encompass all that was America and all that was un-American into a single motorcycle - which was essentially a movie prop - is beyond my understanding.

Kruse said...

Jeff's S&S bike, and I dont even like bikes.

Daniel K said...

..there are so many...Chopperdaves Pan the version with the red flack tank and/or orange tank....Jason Jessee Black tibetan...Indian Larry Greasy Monkey...

David Vandiver said...

These are in no particular order. 1."The Electric Chair" Indian 4
2. Beautiful Buzzards bike to jail.
3. Sugar Bears "Gorjus"
4. Josh Kurpius "Locust"
6. Jason Phares "Pan-Z"

xlchironhead68 said...

Billy bike from easyrider chopper daves panhead with gold and white tank cole fosters bikes jeff deckers crocker jeff cochrans solo shovelhead kuttys sinner prayer scott craigs bikes fab kevins stay gold tribute to johnny chop and of course johnnys bikes and recently in the horse mag erics shovel and panhead mikes 66 sportster all of these and many more have influenced me peace

Anonymous said...

Indian Larry's chopped 1950 Indian Chief. Do any of you have a picture of his bike?
He was a hero.

rizky mandra said...

my all time fave would be Johnny Chop's red Shovelhead, the FULH..

dave herr said...

max schaaf's blue slabside shovel.
the superfreak.
kutty's sinner' prayer.
jeff decker's crocker.

poon said...

Mike Vils Triumph pre-unit with the stretched girder molded tank, and dual sided high pipes circa 1967.

that and the bike from Ed Roths Tiajuana Reject sticker.

Derol said...

WCC Black Flag Flathead
Mr. Barger's "Sweet Cocaine"

longk said...

lewie's knuckle yellow version
anonymous genny shovel
all the above 1970's easyriders features
eberts 750-4 choppers mag
roosters runner dittto
blue pan shovel in runaways feature in choppers magazine
gypsy queen pre unit early 70's uk custom car mag

+ shitloads more that I cant recall

longk

Steve said...

Bill mize- purple knuckle & green pan

max schaaf -blue gen shovel


Scott Craig- mooncricket

Jasin phares- black pan

Anonymous said...

The Black Tibetan.

Unknown said...

Roosters shovel is the pinnacle of chopper form and function, still blows me away every time I look at the pics.

1 said...

Dude - i have to agree with B Harlow up there

1)Super Freak

2) your X-Wedge bike for S&S

3) Babylon Taxi

Unknown said...

When I was 13 or so(maybe1984/85)I thought a hondaVF1000r was the coolest motorcycle I'd ever see until I saw one of the "big kids" named Guy taking his first ride on his self built scoot. It had a big fat-assed candied purple split tank and front fender but the rear fender was just too short and the most aweful wasp yellow and black. It had buckhorn looking handlebars and sat too low to the ground.Plus he was a fat giant and made it look like a minibike. I asked him what kind of bike it was and he yelled out"It's mine!" I found out about an hour later he wanted to ride so he built a bike from everything he could get his hands on. It may have been part harley/honda/triumph/yamaha/indian and probably wasn't even close to legal but it was all Guy. That's when I decided I was gonna ride too. I wonder where he is these days.

Jason Mitchell said...

Sweet Cocaine, Sonny's bike in HA'69 and the 4 pipe knuck in Hells Angels on Wheels.

Those two do it for me.

The Tank said...

Dice 1 when your Pan was Red with the iron cross and ralley strip! Epic.

Anonymous said...

For me anything Cole Foster puts is hands to is the best..his attention to detail and lines... love is pan...and would love to own Dav,es S&S X-wedge...and his panhead too... Jeff Wrights bikes, Daves stuff... all good..

Anonymous said...

Oh yes forgot to mention john edwards ride....sweet as fuck....

rizky mandra said...

another one, Veroland's daily Evo, the Miss Hot Rod Queen...

Bud said...

SE Service Hulster 8 Valve.

Otto said...

i've been in duane ballards garage 2-4 times a week for the last year or so and always find something to stare at on the PINK TACO. AND i've been on alot of rides following this bike and i've never had to stop and wait for him to fix anything. made me a believer in Honda 750's

all50before50 said...

Speed Fetus and Sonny's Sweet Cocaine.

Beaner said...

I'd have to say Danny Takahashi's Knuck is my all time favorite.

AttilaHOD said...

Steve "Knuckle Steve" Clarks Knuck that was posted back in the Dave Snow era Iron Horse. The bike was simple in it's nickel plated glory Engine+Frame+Wheels+forks+tank=Done! It's east coast style at it's best and the benchmark for every bike I've built since. I got to hang with Indian Larry on 116th St back in the summer of 95 and even he was quoted by saying "That bike is fucking sick!"

Finmars said...

Rooster's Shovel

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johnny boy said...

jasin phares pan that max painted with the skinny 23 an 19 wheels, trevs el jefe knuck in one of the first skinny cfl frames, your pan both ways when it had the red flake tank and when it morphed into the superfreak, and right now im workin on a supermoto fxr hybrid with a flh twinkie!

DutchmanPhotos said...

Oakland HA Vern's Triumph with the reversed head.

Cole's Bleu Bike.

Mike D's Triumph with the drag tire, and the one which now belongs to Damon York.

Max's 4Q Knuck.

Lucky's Triumph.

A wicked GSX1100EF streetfighter some guy here in town has been riding for over 15 years and keeps developing.

Leo Payne's Turnip Eater.

Storz's 1200 Sportster build up which they called the XR1200 before HD brought their's on the market.

And a whole lot more... Race bike's, choppers, bobbers, MX bikes, streetfighters, drag bikes, whatever...

RickAtNight said...

Chica's Brass Knuckle gets the nod from me. As close to perfect as a bike gets. Chica's best bikes are the simplest, including his No Love Ride cheapster from a few years back, think it was in Iron Horse. Truth is, the Japanese seem to have the best design sense for genuinely old school bikes.

Badorphan said...

I was working a cheesesteak grill at a bike festival in Connecticut at a place called Marcus Dairy about fifteen years ago and I saw a bike there that had every possible part hand made by it's owner out of pewter. One of it's most outstanding features was the heatshields made to look like dragon skin. He had supposedly made every single scale.

Tobin said...

I can't believe no one has mentioned any of Trevelyn/Superco bikes!!! Just pick one!!
-Tobin

CAE357 said...

Max's 4Q Knuck.

Jasin Phares Pan.

Superfreak Pan.

Kutty's Sinner's Prayer Shovel.

hard life bikes said...

brendan's shovel from the 94 h.a calendar back then ied see that bike all over l.e.s so sick and roosters shovel ...

WHITEY said...

OK- not to sound to fuckin stuck on shit but one of my favorite bikes has to be my own. '98 XL1200S strutted, trimmed and built to flat out fuckin run. NO matter how long I look at it I continue to love this bike. It is no show winner but it gives me that adrenalin rush I need with a quick twist of the throttle.

WHITEY said...

It must have been about 1985, My pops was wearing a cut at the time and one of his brothers had this old iron head XLCH with a raked out front end and I can always remember the naked girl painted on the tank. Shit man I was like 12 or 13 at the time. Of course I can remember that naked chick painted on the tank. HAHA

John E Adams said...

Would have to be watching my dad chop his panhead in 1960 in our back yard -;0)

http://adamsviewsimaging.blogspot.com/2009/10/our-backyard-oakland-ca-circa-1960.html

mpascolla said...

There was this extra hot girl that lived on my block when I was a kid and her boy friend rode this super striped down FXE that bike is tattooed on my brain

nofiron said...

I like Mike Greco's pan in vl by Kurt Morrow, Dave's knuckle, the ironhead chopper I saw at the 09 primer nationals in front of the Dice booth (no paint), Juan the patron's indian mexican cop bike, Shinya's Excelsior.

jimmy monk said...

TITAN.
Sato-San will always be the Don Gorgon.

Hero Garage said...

Zero Chops are rad looking. My two Favorite bikes of all time are a tie... Chain of Mystery Bike by Indian Larry and The Hubless bike by Billy Lane.

Billy said...

There have been many for me. From the first time I saw a Jesse James WCC bike back in 1999 to the Confederate Hellcat I rode last week. But, the first time I stumbled upon Jeff Wright's Church Of Choppers blog all I did for three days was look at that blog until I came to the end (or beginning). I was so blown away, I was like wow. Someone else "gets it". I've been hooked ever since. That shit inspires the hell out of me! Anytime life gets me down or I feel the world is getting the best out of me I look back at some of those pictures, people, lifestyle and I get inspired all over again!

Billy Ray said...

in easyriders or biker from early 90s, long bike owned by a french dude i think, rigid, no suspension at all. piece said he pulled uturns at daytona with his feet firmly on the pegs....

Washingstonian said...

I saw a chick riding a KZ400 with an open face helmet and a skateboard strapped to the back. At that moment, she was the coolest bird on the planet. She knew it. I knew it. She was happy, free and twisting the throttle on a ratty whip that suited her needs. Every time I see a KZ400 I think of the fat, rounded tank and the smile on that blondes face. I always buy em when they pop up on Craiglist to see if I can get them running great. They are the UJM... Flaws and all. Easy to tune, easy to fix and so fun to ride.

Unknown said...

cool!

Shii Cracker!! said...

Kiyo's Rocket Rider Knuckle

SJ said...

in an issue of Hotbike from 1992, I saw a Shovel head dragster built by Jerry Layba. I remember hating the paint, but the frame on that bike left me speechless. I can still see it clearly in my mind today, even though I never saw it live and up close.

Kyle McCarty said...

that green dyna street tracker with the leather on the side of the tanks and all the gold anodized wheels and controls. that bike is fucking rad. i remember drueling over the picture he drew when thinking about building that bike then i just stumbled over the finished product today and man that thing is bad

OldStuffsFuckinMental said...

First time I was blown away, was by one of my father's friend's bike.
A '74 Z1, original paintjob, zrx 1100 swingarm, öhlins shocks, mikunis, chromed spokewheels.
And some open 4in1, THAT bike blew me away the first time in my life.
Will never forget how I danced around it, smelling the exhaust fumes, how it twinkled in the sun.
Awesome.

When it comes to choppers I really dig Max Schaaf's 4Q Knuckle, the coolest exhaust on a bike I've ever seen.

And Jeff's white Ohlins-Shovel showed me, that swingarm harleys actually CAN look cool as fuck.

righteous said...

I dont think i can enter this COC and chopper dave dick sucking contest. but the superfreak is actually one of my favorites. so i guess im only sucking daves dick, sorry jeff

JimmyFick said...

Josh Kurpius. The Locust.

Andy said...

Flight Cycles Coup D'etat

Carlie Michelle said...

You fucking rock Dave! I can't wait to work with you soon! We can break some more shit. Your blog is bad ass awesome!

xo Ruby Violence

Gordo said...

Been awwhile since any new posts, but I'll give 'er a go...how about Paladin's Triumph rat from the (original, Paisano) Iron Horse cover, circa '80 or so. Also, Micah Mcloskey's 1940 Indian --esp as done in the (Sept.?)'78EasyRiders mag, when it was black...not so much the red version that appeared in other period rags.

WilliKyle said...

The Hot Wheels bike is probably my favorite bike ever.

Derek Von Eville said...

My uncles friend had a bike that was pretty typical of the bay area bar hopper scene in the early 80's. It was a cone shovel with a frisco'd sportster tank that had flames. It had drag pipes and was the fastest and loudest chopper on the planet as far as I knew. Trends have came and went since then, but that look is always timeless.

Big Nick said...

A few that stick in my head are the black and red CFL they did a WCC, I think it was Bling's at the time, Chopper Dave's panhead in its red form, they both just gave me the chopper vibe, then there is the Cali Cruiser from Luck MC in Japan, that crazy short deraked orange shovel from Ace MC in Japan and of course, CoC's S&S bike and Hammer of God shovel. Jeff makes it possible to think outside the box!

Unknown said...

It was a 1990 Harley fatboy.

http://www.harley-fatboys.com/1990_Fat_Boys/1990_Harley_Fat_Boy_FLSTF_by_Lee_Custom_Cycles.php

I was about 13 years, There was a custom shop right outside my bedroom window. I was always intreaged by the shop but never gotten the balls to jump outside and walk in the shop or get close to it. Both my parents were teachers. You know the type, people that think they know how to teach you stuff. One of the things they thought me was to stay away from those greasy biker type fellows with those tattoo's all over and out of control body hair. Turned out be the best thing to say to a pre-puberty kid that was starting to look for the things that would shock his parents and would be asset to rebelling against his parents. But it was that bike parked in front of the shop that made me forget all that stuff and made me genuinely feel love for those machines. Walk up to it and awe the fuck out of it. The funny thing was that I was so captivated by it that my parents saw that and sort of figured it out. Smart folk them is. Never got to shock them until I got tattoo's. Go figure!

WhitelinePsycho said...

Fuck it Dave, late onto blogging so why not - recent times, Lovely Loser, T-Bones '73 Shov and last version of Chainsaw and from the dim, distant - Billy Bike, Maxine and Petralli's Salt Job . . . can't possibly get it down to one, even six is too hard . . . shit, forgot, The Britten. There ain't one bike mentioned by the other guys I would say no to either.

Sidecar Roy said...

I'm only 2 years late to respond, but here goes:

First Bike that led me in the trad chopper direction was your bike you rode in that first tv special where you and JJ and Indian Larry rode to Sturgis. Larry's Bikes are all awesome too, with way more work and skill than I could ever even attempt, but that old school stock geometry stripped down, early 60's chopper has been my shit since. It goes without saying that Superfreak is right up there too, but I also dug the ChopOff bike you built for one of the smokeouts I went to. It should've won, but the Fab Kevin homo crew saw billet cnc'd shit as the best. GAY. My buddy Maddog built a KZ chopper for that same build off and it was kooky to say the least, but his bike I really liked was a BT Flathead chopper with no paint and a narrowglide front end that really turned me from stock. It was in the Horse from a few years before. Really opened my eyes to what was cool. Now it resides in Japan with shit tons of way cool bikes. How come thay can do our own thing better than 99% of US?

Big Driver said...

Fell in love with chopper Dave's pan when it was in the stock pan frame with the red and white sportster tank. I had a shovel a lot like it! That pan always fucked me up- loved it!

GOD SPEED said...

Lovely Loser, and Jesse James' "Gold Digger" with the crazy frame and the Harman front end. There are a lot of others I like, but those are my top 2.

GOD SPEED said...

Lovely Loser, and Jesse James' "Gold Digger" Top 2 for sure.

Frontier said...

http://people.exeter.ac.uk/pbhook/harley.htm

this race harley by Patrick Hook and Alan West

and the Mert Lawwill Streetracker.

Also the Keihl's CFL2 from WCC