Motorcycle Parts & Accessories

Chopper refers to 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 built motorcycles are mistakenly called choppers. more...

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These custom built motorcycles have additional (usually chrome) accessories and billet parts added on to the bike for aesthetic pleasure while originally modifications were only functional in nature.

History

In post-WWII 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 improved performance for dirt track racing. (See the origin of the "Hell’s Angels" for more on dirt track racing.)

James "Wild Child" Greene of the now world famous Wild Child's Custom Shop is heretofore recognized as the pioneer of the modern chopper design. Wild Child’s jump started an American institution with its famous "It's a What?" magazine debut marking the beginning of an era at the same time as other friends later becoming "Kustom Kulture" celebrities of their own. Examples being, Sam/George Barris, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Ray Fharner and others of the era. Based out of Kansas City, Missouri Wild Child’s captured the imaginations of what‘s become five decades of prominent American motorcycle culture.

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. Common, were many chromed parts (either one off fabricated replacements or manually chromed stock parts). According to the taste and purse of the owner, later “chop shops” would build high handle bars, or later “Big Daddy” Roth Wild Child’s designed stretched, narrowed, and raked front forks. Also were custom built exhaust pipes, 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 an evil looking chopper was more likely 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.

Traditional Choppers

Started in the 1940's when United States servicemen returning from WWII were looking for a thrill. Many veterans had been trained in WWII 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 venue for them. Motorcyclist bought up surplus military bikes but found all the weight just a bit too restrictive so they chopped away all the unnecessary parts like windshields and saddlebags. Then in an effort to make the bikes a bit lighter and handle better all the unnecessary weight was chopped off. 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.

Read more at Wikipedia.org