Mini Chopper

Mini choppers are scaled-down versions of custom-built motorcycles known as choppers and are generally constructed from 1" steel tubing or 3/4" steel black pipe. The tube or pipe is bent and then welded together to get the desired angles and shapes of the frame, which is usually custom made.

Engines and Transmission
Mini choppers use a variety of engines although the most typical would be a Briggs & Stratton or Tecumseh horizontal shaft industrial engine with a non-tapered shaft. Other engines include small motorcycle engines and power sport engines such as ATV and dirt bike engines. If an industrial engine is used, some sort of transmission also needs to be used to apply power to the rear wheel. Centrifugal clutches, which allow the engine to idle without moving the chopper, are also used however they result in a fixed gear ratio for both low and higher speed operation. However, some people opt to make a jackshaft, which allows the builder to change the gear ratio to his liking or to change which side the axle sprocket is on.
There is also a transmission called a torque converter, or CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission). The torque converter is essentially an automatic transmission that changes gear ratios according to the speed of the engine. When the engine is at low RPMs, the gear ratio is at 1:x, depending on the ratio the torque converter has (This allows for more lower end torque). As the speed rises, the gear ratio changes to 1:1. As the higher end RPMs are reached, the gear ratio reaches X:1, which allows for a higher top speed.

Wheels
Mini choppers often use bicycle or moped rims and tires on front and large pneumatic tires in the rear. Commonly golf cart wheels or 205/50-10 style tires are used in the back. The rear also needs something to let the wheel spin,and that's where that axle comes in. There are two different types of axle setups used, a live and a dead axle.

Axels
A live axle is probably the most common axle setup used on mini choppers. The "live" term indicates that the axle spins along with the wheel, sprocket, and other pieces anchored to the axle. Since the axle spins, bearings are mounted to the swing arm frame. This is a very simple axle setup, and components are relatively easy to change. Each piece, such as wheel hub, disc brake rotor, sprocket, etc, are slid onto the axle and are held in place by set screws or locking collars. The components can also be separated by bushings that are cut to the desired length. Since the axle spins, the wheel, brake, and sprocket components must be locked to the axle. This is accomplished by using a square key that fits into a groove on the axle and the components.
A dead axle (or hub and bearings) is much less common than the live axle setup used on most mini choppers. As opposed to a "live" axle, where the axle spins along with the wheel, this axle does not spin. The wheel or hub has built-in bearings to allow it to spin. Depending on the setup, all spinning components are attached to the hub or to the rim itself. The bearings and hub spin on the axle. This is the type of setup that is used on most motorcycles. Often, the axle is inserted into slotted dropouts and the chain is adjusted by moving the wheel forward or backward within the slots. This allows the engine to be mounted which makes the bike's drive train much more rigid and reliable. There are also other advantages to this type of axle, including the possibility of a cleaner and more attractive rear axle area, but this setup is often more expensive than a live axle and custom parts are much more difficult to locate.

Custom Parts
Custom parts are what make choppers art, whether it's coming up with a new frame design or thinking out of the box and using a car rim for the rear. Many builders build their own gas tanks that are similar to full-size motorcycle gas tanks, but scaled down to fit the bikes. Sheet metal parts such as laser cut gussets are also used as accent pieces on the bike. The desire is to produce an individualized piece of mechanical art.

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Mini Chopper
Today's chopper era
Traditional choppers
Chopper
Cafe Racer
Cafe Racer VS Chopper

Today's chopper era

Choppers have enjoyed a large following. Companies like Jesse G. James' West Coast Choppers have been successful in producing extremely expensive traditional chopper-style bikes and a wide range of chopper-themed brands of merchandise such as clothing, automobile accessories and stickers.
A distinction should be noted between true chopper (or chopper-style) motorcycles, and custom motorcycles, or 'custom cruisers'. Despite the name, a large percentage of the motorcycles produced by popular companies such as Orange County Choppers, Indian Larry, Cyril Huze and Von Dutch Kustom Cycles are better described as 'custom' bikes rather than choppers.
A distinction should also be made between choppers and bobbers. While both tried to improve performance by removing any part that did not make the motorcycle perform better, they differed in an important way: bobbers kept the original factory frame, while choppers have a modified form of the factory frame.

When individuals were stripping their stock motorcycles and bobbing their fenders, the term "bobber" was born. When individuals started cutting (or chopping) and welding their frames thereby repositioning/restyling them, the term "chopper" was born. Chopping was the next phase in the evolution that followed dirt track bobbing.
While people assume that the chopper style motorcycles were built purely for aesthetics, there is a real performance advantage to the raked front end on these choppers. These motorcycles have a much more stable feel at high speeds and in a straight line than motorcycles with original factory front suspensions. However, like any other modification, there is a downside: the raked front end feels heavier and less responsive at slow speeds or in curves and turns. This is due to the longer trail measurement associated with increased rake.
Changing the rake and trail of a motorcycle design requires modification of the design itself. This is a job that requires in-depth input from a motorcycle designer who is experienced with such design changes.

Which brings up one more option a chopper builder has: raked trees. Raked trees are designed so the lower tree sticks out further than the upper tree, thus increasing the rake of the forks in relation to the steering head rake. What this does, for those still following along all the imaginary lines, is position the axle closer to the frame rake measurement line, or shortening the trail. Thus, when adding raked trees to a raked frame (which sports a longer trail), the trail is shortened to a more manageable level. However, be warned that adding raked trees to a frame with short rake and trail can be hazardous, as shortening an already short trail measurement can lead to an unstable situation as speed increases. Misuse of raked trees can be quite dangerous, so a bit of research is in order before turning the first wrench on any chopper project. Just remember that because it looks good in a magazine doesn't automatically mean it will work on your bike.

Despite the personalized nature of choppers, and the wide availability of alternative designs, chopper builders have overwhelmingly chosen fat rear tires, a rigid-looking frame (even for a softail), and an original or replica air-cooled, pushrod v-twin engine. In the UK, due to the cost and lack of availability of the v-twin engine, many chose to use British engines from bikes such as Triumph or BSA; lately as availability has increased, Japanese engines have seen more use. Some people feel that the variety of engines and other components used more recently (especially on bikes built outside of the US) is diluting the signature appearance of the chopper style. Modern bobber builders tend to distinguish themselves from chopper builders with bikes styled before the chopper era.

United States of America, where most custom choppers reside, is one of the few countries in the world that allow custom-built choppers to be licensed for highway use. Many of these types of choppers are regarded as dangerous to operate and don't follow basic design geometry and lack many safety features in their construction.
Finally, an often overlooked style of chopper is the chopper bicycle. Inspired by the smooth, low lines of chopper motorcycles, todays custom chopper bicycle designer builds bicycles that pay tribute to the motorcycles they resemble.

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Mini Chopper
Today's chopper era
Traditional choppers
Chopper
Cafe Racer
Cafe Racer VS Chopper

Traditional choppers

In the United States servicemen returning from World War II were looking for a thrill. Many veterans had been trained to work on automobiles and motorcycles and were looking to add a little excitement to their post-war lives with their newly acquired mechanical skills. Motorcycles and Hot Rods were the perfect hobby for them. Motorcyclists bought up surplus military bikes and removed all the unnecessary parts like windshields and saddlebags to minimise weight. Rear fenders were "bobbed" or shortened just enough to handle a passenger and keep the rain and mud coming off the rear wheel from hitting them in the back and front fenders were removed completely.

This type of home customization led to the rise of the "bobber". Then in the 60s, motorcyclists found that a longer front end allowed the bike to run smoother at faster speeds. The degree of neck rake and length of front end was modified on these bikes with this in mind. The Girder and Springer front ends were the most popular forks for extending in this fashion, although this does make the bike harder to handle at slower speeds.
To build or chop a traditional chopper an unmodified factory bike is used (usually a rigid Harley Davidson) and everything unnecessary to either move or stop is stripped or chopped off. Then the engine and transmission are removed and the frame is cut up and welded back together to make it lower and lighter. Performance parts are added or modified to increase speed. The true function of a Chopper is to make it as fast and maneuverable as possible.

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Mini Chopper
Today's chopper era
Traditional choppers
Chopper
Cafe Racer
Cafe Racer VS Chopper

Chopper

A chopper is a radically customized motorcycle, archetypal examples of which are the customized Harley-Davidsons seen in the 1969 film Easy Rider. Many of today's custom motorcycles are sometimes mistakenly called choppers, but a truly custom-built motorcycle has additional - usually chrome - accessories and billet parts added on to the bike for aesthetic value, while originally such modifications were purely functional in nature.

History

In post-World War II United States, servicemen returning home from the war started removing all parts deemed too big, heavy, ugly or not absolutely essential to the basic function of the motorcycle, such as fenders, turn indicators, and even front brakes. The large, spring-suspended saddles were also removed in order to sit as low as possible on the motorcycle's frame. These machines were lightened to improve performance for dirt-track racing. (See the origin of the "Hell’s Angels" for more on dirt-track racing.)
Forward-mounted foot pegs replaced the standard large 'floorboard' foot rests. Also, the standard larger front tire, headlight and fuel tank were replaced with much smaller ones. Many choppers were painted preferably all in either flat black or in shiny metallic “metal flake” colors. Also common were many chromed parts (either one-off fabricated replacements or manually chromed stock parts). According to the taste and purse of the owner, “chop shops” would build high handle bars, or later “Big Daddy” Roth Wild Child’s designed stretched, narrowed, and raked front forks. Shops also custom built exhaust pipes and many of the “after market kits“ followed in the late 1960s into the 1970s. Laws required (and in many locales still do) a retention fixture for the passenger, so vertical backrests called sissy bars were a popular installation, often sticking up higher than the rider's head.
While the decreased weight and lower seat position improved handling and performance, the main reason to build such a chopper was to show off and provoke others by riding a machine that was stripped and almost nude compared to the softer-styled stock Harley-Davidsons, let alone the oversized automobiles of that time.

In the United States servicemen returning from World War II were looking for a thrill. Many veterans had been trained to work on automobiles and motorcycles and were looking to add a little excitement to their post-war lives with their newly acquired mechanical skills. Motorcycles and Hot Rods were the perfect hobby for them. Motorcyclists bought up surplus military bikes and removed all the unnecessary parts like windshields and saddlebags to minimise weight. Rear fenders were "bobbed" or shortened just enough to handle a passenger and keep the rain and mud coming off the rear wheel from hitting them in the back and front fenders were removed completely.

This type of home customization led to the rise of the "bobber". Then in the 60s, motorcyclists found that a longer front end allowed the bike to run smoother at faster speeds. The degree of neck rake and length of front end was modified on these bikes with this in mind. The Girder and Springer front ends were the most popular forks for extending in this fashion, although this does make the bike harder to handle at slower speeds.To build or chop a traditional chopper an unmodified factory bike is used (usually a rigid Harley Davidson) and everything unnecessary to either move or stop is stripped or chopped off. Then the engine and transmission are removed and the frame is cut up and welded back together to make it lower and lighter. Performance parts are added or modified to increase speed. The true function of a Chopper is to make it as fast and maneuverable as possible.

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Mini Chopper
Today's chopper era
Traditional choppers
Chopper
Cafe Racer
Cafe Racer VS Chopper

Illegal in Denver

As unbelievable as it may seem, Denver now has one of the harshest noise ordinances in the country. Clearly aimed at bikers, this little piece of government bull was sponsored by the aspiring fascist Rick Garcia.

The law is pretty simple, it only takes up two pages – but what it does is effectively takes away the rights of ANY biker who happens upon the now-biker-unfriendly burg of Denver. Here’s a rough outline of the provisions (now, I’m no lawyer here, so read the thing yourself):

1) Your bike must register under 82 db from 25 feet.

2) The measurement can be taken at ANY condition – idle, rev up, rev down – apparently this is at the officer’s discretion. Yes, they can make you rev the bike until you fail the test.

3) It’s illegal to install any muffler on a motorcycle made after 1982 that doesn’t bear an EPA stamp of approval.

4) It’s illegal to operate a motorcycle made after 1982 with a muffler that doesn’t have an EPA stamp of approval.

Wait! I hear your blood boiling and questions coming out like “Where the hell do I get an EPA approved muffler for a 1986 bike?”, “What about the $700 bucks I just spent on my custom system?”, “Nobody can pass that noise test –my lawnmower is louder than that!”, “Did I fall asleep in Denver and wake up in Nazi Germany?” – well, thanks to your friend Rick Garcia, the answer to the last question is simple – yes, you did.

It’s not about noise folks – it’s about the cops being able to pull over any bike, at any time for suspicion of violating this new noise ordinance. And guess what, if you happen to have the EPA approved horse crap stamped into your muffler – you’ll be requested to rev your engine until you fail the test.

But don’t worry, the fine isn’t that bad: you’ve got two weeks to show up with “the problem” fixed or pay a measly $500 fine.

Look folks, this is the biggest slap in the face Denver bikers have ever had to endure. They’re taking away our right as law abiding citizens to ride a bike through Denver on a sunny day. To which I say “Screw ‘Em!” – that’s the last you’ll see of me (and my money) in the City of Denver. No more Children’s Hospital Toy run, no more benefits for fallen cops and firemen, no more NOTHIN’ …if this is the way we get treated, then the only thing we can do as bikers is to take our cash, our goodwill and our community support and go someplace else.

Actually, this is what what Denver’s new self-appointed guardian of Goodness seems to want, as he is quoted in all the newspapers as saying "Hopefully they will stay out of Denver," Garcia said about the motorcyclists with loud exhaust pipes. I guess Rick will go explain that to the kids at Children’s Hospital when they don’t get any Christmas presents.

I’m not buying gas in Denver, I’m not buying food in Denver, I’m not going to plays or movies in Denver, I’m not staying at hotels in Denver, I’m not going to the People’s Fair, Taste of Denver or ANY of the other events in Denver because Rick Garcia and his crew of mis-informed do-gooders clearly didn’t think this one through. But I have – and I’m calling on all right-thinking bikers who read this to do the same thing. You don’t want us? We’re gone. BIKERS BOYCOTT DENVER!

It starts now, but who knows where it will end?

Cafe Racer

While the knowledge of the term remains widespread, it is often applied by the uninformed to nearly any bike with a flat seat and low handlebars. The more recent term "Streetfighter" is sometimes applied to cafe racers, and vice versa. However, "streetfighter" describes the practice of stripping the original-equipment full fairing and other bodywork off spar-framed "race-replica" sport bikes popular in recent years. The canonical profile of a cafe racer and a streetfighter are quite distinct.
Classic cafe racer style has made a comeback recently, thanks largely to the increased interest in vintage motorcycles in general. The baby boomers were responsible for a surge in motorcycle sales in the late 1960s and '70s, and many of this generation now find themselves with the time and discretionary income to recreate the bikes they had--or wished to have--in their younger years.

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Cafe racer styling evolved throughout the time of their popularity. By the mid-70's, Japanese bikes had overtaken British bikes in the marketplace, and the look of real Grand Prix racing bikes had changed. The hand-made, frequently unpainted aluminium racing petrol/gas tanks of the 1960s had evolved into square, narrow, fiberglass tanks. More and more, three- and four-cylinder Hondas and Kawasakis were the basis for cafe racer conversions. By 1978, a number of manufacturers had taken notice of the cafe racer boom and were producing factory cafe racers, most notably the Harley-Davidson XLCR, the Ducati Super Sport models and the Kawasaki Z1R. In 1979, Suzuki offered the cafe-style GS1000S.
While the first cafe racer conversions amounted to a nearly complete re-engineering of the motorcycle, by the mid-70s riders began modifying standard production motorcycles into so-called "cafe racers" by simply equipping them with clubman bars and a small "bubble" quarter fairing around the headlight. A number of European manufacturers, including Aspes, Benelli, BMW, Bultaco & Derbi produced factory "cafe" variants of their standard motorcycles in this manner, without any modifications made to make them faster or more powerful. Once cafe racer styling became just that--a styling exercise that served no functional purpose and simply made bike less comfortable to ride--the trend quickly waned in popularity. Soon afterwards, most new sportbikes began featuring integral bodywork from the factory, negating the need or ability to retrofit an aftermarket cafe fairing.

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The term Cafe racer is still used to describe motorcycles of a certain style and some motorcyclists still use this term in self-description. Worthy of mentioning here is that an entire new sub-culture has evolved since the heyday of the Rockers. The 'Cafe Racers', a term that existed in the 1950s and 1960s to refer to bike riders of the race track, but is used now to describe motorcycle riders who choose classic/vintage British, Italian or Japanese motorbikes from the 50s-to late 1970s as their bike of choice, over other styles of bikes.
These Cafe Racers do not follow the fashion/music subculture of the Rockers, old or new, but dress in a more modern and comfortable appearance with only a hint of likeness to the Rockers style. Common Levi jeans, generic motorcycle jackets, boots and/or shoes with modern helmets being the norm, instead of the very specific brand names, styles and look established by the Rockers. These Cafe Racers have taken elements of the American Greaser, British Rocker and modern motorcycle rider look to create a style all their own.
Because the effects of drinking alcohol are detrimental for operating a motor vehicle, it is obvious why Cafe Racers choose to stop for drinks of coffee rather than alcohol. The operating of motorcycles after consuming alcohol is somewhat acceptable to the image of riding choppers or cruisers further making them the antithesis of Cafe Racing. A lighthearted term has arisen for motorcyclists who dare to ride between places where they can consume alcohol, such as a tavern, called "TtT Racing" which is a play of words on Tourist Trophy and an anagram of riding from: "Tavern-to-Tavern". Though a motorcyclist doesn't have to actually drink any coffee to qualify as a Cafe Racer it is logically implied, however impairing skills with alcohol does generally disqualify a person from being referred to as any type of "racer" while under the influence. The term "TtT Racing" does not require that the participants were attempting any type of racing feat, merely that they were riding between places to consume alcohol.

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Mini Chopper
Today's chopper era
Traditional choppers
Chopper
Cafe Racer
Cafe Racer VS Chopper

Cafe Racer VS Chopper

A Café racer, originally pronounced "caff" (as in Kaff) racer, is a type of motorcycle as well as a type of motorcyclist. Both meanings have their roots in the 1960s British counterculture group the Rockers or the Ton Up Club, although they were also common in Italy and Germany and other European countries.
Rockers were a young and rebellious Rock and Roll counterculture that wanted a fast, personalised and distinctive bike to travel between transport cafés along the newly built arterial motorways in and around British towns and cities. The goal of many was to be able to reach 100 miles per hour (called simply "the ton") along such a route where the rider would leave from a cafe, race to a predetermined point and back to the cafe before a single song could play on the jukebox, this was called record-racing. They are remembered as being especially fond of Rockabilly music and their image is now embedded in today's rockabilly culture.
A classic example of this was to race from the Ace Cafe on The North Circular road in NW London to the Hanger Lane junction as it then was - its now the more famous Hanger Lane Gyratory System - and back again. The aim was to get back to the Ace Cafe before the record you'd put onto the jukebox had finished. Bearing in mind that some of the Eddie Cochran tunes that were in vogue at this time were less than 2 minutes long...
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The cafe racer is a motorcycle that has been modified for speed and good handling rather than comfort. Cafe racers' bodywork and control layout typically mimicked the style of contemporary Grand Prix roadracers, featuring an elongated fuel tank and small, rearward mounted, humped seat. A signature trait were low, narrow handlebars that provided more precise control at high speeds and allowed the rider to "tuck in" to lessen wind resistance. These are referred to as either "clip-ons" (two-piece bars that bolt directly to each fork tube) or "clubmans" (one piece bars that attach to the stock mounting location but drop down and forward). The ergonomics resulting from low bars and the rearward seat often required "rearsets," or rear-set footrests and foot controls, again typical of racing motorcycles of the era. Distinctive half or full race-style fairings were sometimes mounted to the forks or frame.
The bikes had a raw, utilitarian and stripped-down appearance while the engines were tuned for maximum speed. These motorcycles were lean, light and handled road surfaces well. The most defining machine of its heyday was the homemade Norton Featherbed framed and Triumph Bonneville engined machine called "The Triton". It used the most common and fastest racing engine combined with the best handling frame of its day, the Featherbed frame by Norton Motorcycles. Those with less money could opt for a "Tribsa" - the Triumph engine in a BSA frame.
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The cafe racer has a lot in common with the chopper or bobber scene in the USA and both have their roots with post-World War II veterans. Riders rejected the large transportation-oriented motorcycles of the time by taking these motorcycles and removing parts deemed unnecessary. While American GIs would take military-spec Harley Davidsons and "chop" off anything unnecessary to improve performance, European veterans took similar measures with their motorcycles. Both looked to make the standard factory motorcycles faster and lighter, although the difference between the nature of the US and European road systems led to somewhat different results. While the Americans favoured a low heavy cruiser style of motorcycle for straightline comfort, the Europeans preferred a higher, more nimble motorcycle better suited to the more twisting roads of their nations. In Britain, many roads can be traced to Roman origin and even older roads following terrain. There were no interstates/autobahn type roads until late 1950's. 'A' roads were(are) better surfaced and wider with multiple travel lanes in built-up areas or between urban areas but may be only two lane undivided highway in low traffic areas (such as the M1_motorway). It must be remembered that it was also a style born largely out of the poverty of Post-War Europe and so not given to the excesses of later Harley-Davidson Billet-Barge style customisation.
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Mini Chopper
Today's chopper era
Traditional choppers
Chopper
Cafe Racer
Cafe Racer VS Chopper