Choppers by Region
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check out the nyc indian larry psycho cycles thread for some ny chops. usually the roads will dictate. here we have pot holes, cabs, chaos etc. so most NY bikes end up being bullet proof just because you replace the junk that breaks with stuff that doesn't.
florida has long straight road, so a raked bike isnt a hassle to ride. and so on.
florida has long straight road, so a raked bike isnt a hassle to ride. and so on.
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Richarr is right on with that. The terrain dictated the building style... Actual ridden choppers,not show bikes. Try searching Bay bikes, St louis "de-rake", NYC, etc. There are some similarities, BUT it eemed/ seems that guys who were/are building chop to be ridden end up applying function over form. Chops built in regions w/ hilly or mountains tend to be set up different than plains/ flat lands chops and different than inner city chops. LA opposed to NYC, NYC much more dense although the "styles" will have similarities. Wow I'm rambling
Other than risers and massive forks (which didn't exist back then) that looks like about a zillion bikes from the eighties here in the San Fernando Valley (and probably all across the country too!).
I think that style is associated with NY merely because Iron Horse magazine was located there back then. Everywhere you went, that was what custom rigids looked like. Snow's propaganda skills have proven VERY effective. I saw the same thing with skateboarding. The dogtown guys got to write the history, and it obviously is slanted to favor them, Que sera!
I think that style is associated with NY merely because Iron Horse magazine was located there back then. Everywhere you went, that was what custom rigids looked like. Snow's propaganda skills have proven VERY effective. I saw the same thing with skateboarding. The dogtown guys got to write the history, and it obviously is slanted to favor them, Que sera!
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I'll take a pretty ridden daily long bike anyday. Not saying I don't like me a rough motorsickle that gets ridden. Not really into the short rough bike style.
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you are absolutely right, I'm just pointing out city choppers as opposed to mountain suburbs, dessert and plain areas where a bike can be raked and nice and still be ridden every day without chipping paint and chrome.
this is apparently what they ride in detroit, a sure sign that the world will end there first
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66, I think the california bikes are pretty much the same but seem more "polished" as in they could be featured in magazines, something I attribute to the year round riding season and lack of terrible weather. most of our bikes look like shit, a place to park them in the winter is hard to come by, a lot of guys take em apart and carry them up to a 4th floor tenement apartment or let em oxidize and rust all winter. I know the norcal guys are in this category as well as all the northern big cities. until I move to the burbs, which should be very soon if my house shopping is successful, my bike will definitely evolve for the long open roads. then it will be an Upstate NY style bike, ha. but I think your right, a city bike is a city bike.
any one have what they think is a state specific bike? ie. arizona (I'm guessing huge oil tank and gas tank) or the like.
any one have what they think is a state specific bike? ie. arizona (I'm guessing huge oil tank and gas tank) or the like.
"Regional style" is pretty much whatever gets said by a magazine or three, and gets repeated after the fact. There were plenty of "Frisco style" choppers outside of SF. A lot of times a well known builder (Like Ness) gets their home town attached to a style, so what's called a digger everywhere else, gets called "Bay Area" by a 'zine. We only use these terms because they're generally accepted, and they shorten conversations, not because they reflect some fixed reality. You can now all call black FXR's with mini-fairings and drag bars "SOA". Think of the time that saves. You know the rest.
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Yay Not would like having a long fork bike with jockey shift and no front brake with wide bars when all it is bolting across town weaving in and out of peak hour traffic. It's not happening. And big pictures in threads suck.
DAMMIT! S.O.A. does NOT use FXRs! Those guys are on Dynas, just like most real "official bikers". They like Dynas because you can get newer ones, and they HAVE to ride when ever and wherever they are told by whoever makes the new laws they accept when they reject societies laws. Maybe I'm confusing the point, but they are NOT using FXRs.
I do, however agree that the mags are making all of these rules. Most people in Detroit prolly think Honda 90 tanks and drop seats are queer, they just ride all different kinda bikes like everywhere else.
I'll bet you that the Pacific northwest guys prolly all use front fenders though! Up there, if you don't ride in the rain, you don't ride.
I'll bet you that the Pacific northwest guys prolly all use front fenders though! Up there, if you don't ride in the rain, you don't ride.
I don't know what's " in style"..I remember seeing a Oregon style chopper years ago with like a 12 inch stretch to the neck and a 28 degree rake. Again most likely a magazine based definition.
I remember when I was a kid in the 70s in central jersey. Honda 750 choppers were all over the place. Mostly stock frames with 4 over tubes, a header, and a 16 inch drop center rim. Metal flake paint. There were three on my block. Square headlights were in and gooseneck frames were illegal. If you got busted with a gooseneck frame they would give you a salvage title.
I remember when I was a kid in the 70s in central jersey. Honda 750 choppers were all over the place. Mostly stock frames with 4 over tubes, a header, and a 16 inch drop center rim. Metal flake paint. There were three on my block. Square headlights were in and gooseneck frames were illegal. If you got busted with a gooseneck frame they would give you a salvage title.
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My experience has been that people build the style they like no matter where they live. There are riders in NYC, Miami, Alabama, San Francisco, Houston, etc. riding short, long, pretty, rough, ugly, and any other way you'd describe their bikes. It's what works for YOU!!! You can find any style in any region and that's a good thing.
I own a Black FXR with drag bars and haven't watched one episode of S.O.A, but I understand, I'll save time and call anything not a black FXR a P.O.S
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Awe, that's mean. =(I own a Black FXR with drag bars and haven't watched one episode of S.O.A, but I understand, I'll save time and call anything not a black FXR a P.O.S
No joke though, if i could afford a modern bike, it would probably be an FXR. Pretty bikes, IMO.
Every time you I hear you speak, you are COOL Sugar Bear! does that come with age or is it just you?
BTW, There are FXRs and there are FXDs. There are no modern (depending on your definition of modern, of course) FXRs. Fxrs were last made by Harley in 2001 and then only in limited quantities. the last PRDOUCTION FXR was made in 1994. 16 years ago is not exactly modern. They only made shovelheads for 16 years! hell, EVOs have been gone for 11 years now. So, please lets not blur the distinction like ebay does between FXRs and FXDs.
BTW, There are FXRs and there are FXDs. There are no modern (depending on your definition of modern, of course) FXRs. Fxrs were last made by Harley in 2001 and then only in limited quantities. the last PRDOUCTION FXR was made in 1994. 16 years ago is not exactly modern. They only made shovelheads for 16 years! hell, EVOs have been gone for 11 years now. So, please lets not blur the distinction like ebay does between FXRs and FXDs.
Nicely put, long live Mickey Rourke
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