Images of the Ideal Bike

For a few years now I thought it would be fun to build a bike.  Inspired by the coolness of Jesse James and what he does with metal at West Coast Choppers my dream to build a bike was born. Over the years I have seen many bikes, met a few builders and have attended a number of bike shows - throughout that time the image of my bike has developed.

I appreciate many styles and makes of the chopper.  Matt Hotch of SoCal (Fullerton) has a cool modern style that I like;  Zero Engineering has a junkyard cafe-racer uniqueness; Billy Lane of Choppers, Inc. has a rugged, rough-hewn style that is cool; Jesse James has raw chopper stylings that will stand the test of time.  All of these guys have influenced the bike that is in my head. 

Kevin Alsop of Big Bear Choppers has kits for bikes which would take a few of the difficult steps out of the process of building my own bike.  First, my mechanical experience is very limited, although my aptitude is high.  Second, I question the whole licensing issue in the State of Oregon and have a little research to do.  Big Bears kits come ready to assemble minus the paint and are also ready to be licensed as a motor vehicle.  Kevin comes close to my ideal with the Screamin Demon but at my age I think a softtail is probably a necessity.

Recently though I saw the bike in my head already exists.  Want to see it?  This blew me away.  All but one small feature is almost exactly how I picture my future bike.  Maybe I'll bypass all the heartache, fun, and satisfaction of building my own and just jump into the fun of riding by buying one of these.  The only thing that stands in my way is the lack of $20K in disposable funds.

Well here it is in all it's coolness and black.

Those of you paying attention are wondering what change I would make to this thing of beauty... I want spoked wheels.

For more images and information of the bike check out the link here.  Or if you're feeling generous you can order it for me ;-) as an early birthday gift.  To the fella's at South Side Kustom's - Nice Work!

For now I will stick with the nimble, quick, and fuel efficient Buell that I ride.