By BP Staff

More than ape-hanger-handlebars, custom choppers have style like this G4 extreme donated to the Childrens Guild. Photo by Northwest-chopper-bicycles.com
Creativity. Individuality. Style. Attitude. These are all words that one associates with choppers.

The concept of the chopper bicycle is cut from the same cloth as its engine-powered cousin - the chopper motorcycle. They gained popularity after World War II when soldiers returning home decided that American motorcycles lacked some of the exciting characteristics found in European models. For those who modified and rode these beasts, they represented individuality and personal freedom.

While chopper motorcycles have enjoyed continued success since their incorporation into society, the bicycle versions have an on again off again relationship with popular cycling culture.

This unique contraption technically originated the first time a person adept at tinkering decided to use discarded parts to modify a bicycle. For this reason, figuring out the exact birth of the chopper bike is like trying to determine when the first baseball game was played.

However, one thing is fairly certain. They became a part of pop culture in 1963, when Schwinn came out with the Sting Ray.

While this bike was nowhere near as flashy and complex as modern choppers, it made use of ape-hangar handlebars, small front tires and unique paint jobs. In essence, the Sting Ray mimicked the rebellious coolness of hot rods and chopper motorcycles.

During its glory days, the Sting Ray helped kids stand out from the pack. However, in the late 1970's, bikes fashioned after the Sting Ray took a back seat to BMX bikes, only recently regaining popularity.

Today, it requires a lot more than ape-hangar handlebars to consider a bike a chopper. Modern versions resemble actual motorbikes with pedals instead of engines, and like their motorcycle counterparts, these bikes rarely entail chopping up production models.

While some big-name manufacturers design these bikes in-house, others contract small local shops. For example, Redline Bicycles asked Rain City Choppers to use their motorcycle building experience to create a bike for them. The design received such rave reviews that Redline is now licensing the Rain City name and plans to put the bike into production.

Often, prefabricated bikes are simply not unique enough for the person who needs something highly personalized. For such enthusiasts, there are custom shops like Northwest Chopper Bicycles and Brushfire.

Discussing bikes with either of these shop owners reveals their unique, hybrid personalities, encompassing both artist and engineer.

Tim Hulen works virtually alone at Northwest Chopper Bicycles in Battle Ground, WA filling as many orders as he can handle. He helps those who want to start from scratch with a particular look in mind rather than those who simply want to chop an old bike.

"If what you want is not already on the market, I say 'build it'," Hulen says. "It's all about fun and self expression."

Rod MacKenzie, who owns Brushfire in Everett, WA, is similar. He and his son Mike seem to possess an endless supply of unique concepts. The MacKenzies are not just mad scientists, however, they are adamant about meshing form with function.

"Some bikes look cool, but they're all wrong," MacKenzie explains. "It shouldn't be a challenge to ride a chopper."

While MacKenzie works meticulously to ensure that his bikes are safe and comfortable, he also designs them with artistic sensibility. He realizes that chopper owners want their bikes to look as much like real motorcycles as possible, but that bike parts are simply different.

To compensate, MacKenzie carefully chooses the components of the cranks to resemble the look of a shiny, chrome engine. While a crank set cannot possibly mimic a motorcycle engine perfectly, Rod's designs do give an almost subliminal impression of engine-powered choppers. On his latest creation, he designed the backbone and support bars to suggest the shape of a gas tank.

Both MacKenzie and Hulen are currently generating a lot of high profile interest. Paul Yaffe, a chopper motorcycle manufacturer, has considered incorporating a line of the Northwest Chopper Bicycles into his own line of products. Also, MacKenzie's day-to-day life at Brushfire has been documented for the making of a new reality show that is being pitched to cable television networks.

"It wouldn't be about getting into arguments and throwing tools around a shop like those other chopper shows," MacKenzie says. "We're going for more of a Northern Exposure feel."

In large part, the success of these chopper bicycles is due to interest generated by TV shows such as American Chopper."TV shows dictate what designs people want," explains Hulen, "When Jessie James uses a cool concept, everybody starts asking me for a bike with some of those same characteristics." Perhaps MacKenzie's show will succeed in driving the popularity of custom chopper's even further.

Purchasing a well-built chopper bicycle from your local bike shop will run you anywhere from $200-$700. Calling on a custom builder like Hulen or MacKenzie could cost you up to $1000 or higher depending on your demands.

For the hard-core individualist, the grown-up who wants to play Easyrider and the kid who just feels like cruising around on a flashy ride, chopper bicycles bring back the cool that was introduced with the classic Sting Ray.

Brushfire is located at 2818 Hewitt Ave. in Everett, just East of Cedar Street. Northwest Chopper Bicycles is 3 miles off of I-5 in Battle Ground, WA near Vancouver.

http://www.bicyclepaper.com/bp/issues/Aug05/bp7.htm

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