Topic: Why do people think this looks good?

[DammitDan]

http://bgky.craigslist.org/mcy/344482977.html

I just don't understand it.  It looks like an "customized" (read: unoriginal) monstrosity to me that would be uncomfortable to ride and difficult to maneuver.

 

[Rushoid]

I've been trying to figure that kind of thing out my whole life. Why customize something to make it perform worse than it did originally?

As an aside, seen the new HD? http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/2008_Motorcycles/2008_Motorcycles.jsp?locale=en_US&swfsection=model&swffamily=so&swfmodel=fxcwc

[DammitDan]

Ugh, factory custom...  Gross!

[333]

OK, so it doesn't fit in with what this forum is all about.  It is uncomfortable to ride.  You would have trouble turning it around even in a cul de sac.  But...

This one isn't a good example, but the ones I see on TV, and the ones I have seen locally are works of art.  The lines, the paint, the custom metalurgy- Art.  Once you get past the soap-opera interaction, the shows on TV are very enlightening, especially in Hi-Def.  I have learned a thing or 2 from these shows.

I wouldn't own one, but I'd walk down a line of them just to look.

[Uncle Ernie]

I guess it's a mindset kind of thing.  Almost nostagia.  Many young people in the late '60s/early '70s yearned for that kind of thing.  The movie "easy Riders" was like a religious experience.  I remember in the haight back then, lots of chopped Harleys were all over the place.  Kids who couldn't get one (they didn't come off a showroom then) just put outrageous front ends on their Honda 450s.  Some people just never got past that. 

It's the opposite of being safety concious.  The implied danger gets your adrenaline going. Riding a bike with your butt 12 inches away from the pavement is kind of a rush.

[eldar]

Well lets look at it this way.  I dont know why a person would do a cafe.  Some people cant see why a bike would be left stock as stock is ugly to them.

It is all in the eye of the beholder as the saying goes.

There are people that think custom bikes like that are cool.

I myself have gotten to the point that even if I dont like the look, I can appreciate the work if it is good.

[DammitDan]

But it's $16,000 for an old shovelhead motor (which probably leaks like a sieve) and a lot of "customizations" that have all been done before.

Once again it's a case of "instant badass".  It even says badass in the title!  I can appreciate good art, too.  But there's a Monet who makes art for arts' sake, and then there's the guy who copies Monet and tries to sell the "original copies" on the street for $$'s sake.  This one is definitely the latter.

[74cb750]

With a tank that size, he HAS to stop at gas stations
often I 'm sure.

I like the look myself, but could never deal with the lack of
rear shocks.
peace,
michel

[eldar]

Oh i certainly see it the same why you do. I mean if the work was good, then I can appreciate it but as you say, it has a sievehead motor on it and it just a wanna-be instant bad ass.  now if the work was good and everything was tip-top, that would be different.

[dusterdude]

ok,i cant see the pic because im at work.it being a shovel,is it an original shovel or is it a new version s&s motor?

[merc2dogs]

Personally I like chops.

 I never cared for mile long forks, and have used stock length forks on lowered chops with great results. I've always had a preference for the mild chop, pretty much what I see everywhere called a bobber now

chops have the same basic philosophy behind them as cafe's, take a stocker and make it uniquely yours.
 My only problem with Chops now is that they've become mainstream, and have lost a huge chunk of the individuality that made them CHOPS. the same area that cafe's are heading into now

 I'm into cars, don't care for chevies (shove-aways) but can still look at them in the shows or in the lot and be impressed by the workmanship etc (just don't give me one because I'll trade it in on a real car)

I just can't see why people want to run such wide tires for though
 
Ken.

[dusterdude]

the CHOPS being built nowadays aint chops.

[Rushoid]

Oh, I'm with you on the appreciating good work part. I've just never understood why people would put so much time and money into something only to end up with something inferior (ridability and performance-wise) to stock. A cafe changes the riding position, lessens the weight, etc. to give better performance. In most cases, performance mods make the bike, car, etc. look better (in my eyes) without really trying. Choppers like this are the motorcycling equivalent to putting 20" spinners and neon lights on an '83 Caprice. I'm just a function over form guy I guess.

I do have an appreciation for the old chops from back when people did it themselves, not when they pay someone to build it for them because they want to look cool but have no mechanical skills themselves.

[Rhonda750F]

Edit: Damn, rush you beat me to it.....

chops have the same basic philosophy behind them as cafe's, take a stocker and make it uniquely yours.
 My only problem with Chops now is that they've become mainstream, and have lost a huge chunk of the individuality that made them CHOPS. the same area that cafe's are heading into now

I think these are 2 opposite schools of thought.
Cafe's are the poor mans race bikes.  Their look has a purpose, unlike choppers.  They're spartan in appearance to save weight.  Usually the owners tinker with the mill to make it faster, and a brakes and suspension are almost always upgraded in some sort, ducts on drums, cross drilled rotors, speed holes everywhere.  All these things serve a purpose. Go fast, stop fast, turn fast. the ultimate in function over form.

Choppers, like you said are art.  They are a pure expresion of the owner.
Nothing wrong with that.

I like my chopper's with that old school flavor to them.  I don't really care for the modern styled chops.  I don't know what it is, but once everything gets covered up and is over stylized it loses "soul" for a lack of a better word.

There's this bike called El Peligroso, I think was on biker buildoff and it's totally bad ass in the detail department.  All hand hammered sh!t.  This is my idea of how a chop should be.

[dusterdude]

you show good taste rhonda,knuckles are bad ass.

[333]

The term "chopper" has probably been misused since shortly after day one.  It was a reference to chopping a fender back when the fender went lower than the 9:00 position.  I'm not sure what they were going for when they made what we know as choppers today.  Maybe a 2 wheeled version of a roadster- fat rear tires, skinny fronts with less body than it originally came with.  The early cafe's were also chopped in there own way, copied from what was happening on the race tracks of the day.  Back then, there were no sport bikes on the showroom floor, no factory cruisers, only plain motorcycles.  You bought one and made it into what you wanted.  Even through most of the seventies, if you wanted a full dresser, you had to buy fairings and luggage.  We have it easy nowadays.  Sonny!

[nickjtc]

I know I'm a GHOF, and jaded with it....but to me they all look the same.

And as for the 2008 HD's. Same old, same old. But that's what they sell so good for them.