Chopper's not just a motorcycle. Chopper is not even a style or culture. Chopper is a spirit. The spirit of freedom embodied in metal.
Introduction
Upon their return from World War II, American soldiers were disappointed in the motorcycles produced by the American companies Harley Davidson and Indian. The bikes they used to ride in Europe were easier, more elegant and much more enjoyable to ride.
These veterans started hanging out with other former soldiers to rekindle the camaraderie they had experienced in the war. And motorcycles became an integral part of this "man's party". Soon the guys realized that their bikes needed changes that Harley couldn't provide.
These new "bikers" (a new term for those times) began their "chopping" by removing or reducing the wings on their bikes, giving them a steeper and more elegant look. Initially, they called these new bikes "beavers". The bikes continued to evolve during the 60's and 70's and gradually became known as "choppers".
In 1969, the film "Easy Rider" was released, which presented the chopper to the general public. This film for the first time clearly showed the world the movement of cool choppers and "chopper builders", which we see today. People wanted a chopper, but nobody around them did, so people had to start making choppers themselves.
Let's get a little bit deeper into history. After the great depression and the tough competition with Ford's cheap cars in the U.S., there are three large motorcycle companies left. These were Harley Davidson, Indian and Crocer. And, until World War II, Crocer bikes were almost unsurpassed in technical terms. But the company failed to "hustle and bustle" in time and did not secure military contracts, which led to its withdrawal from the business after the war.
Competition between motorcycle manufacturers in the thirties made popular motorcycle racing, which was attended not by professional riders, but by ordinary motorists, who performed on their own behalf or, at least, represented some local motorcycle workshop. That's when the people started to take all the unnecessary things off their bikes so that they wouldn't be disturbed by the ride.
California beaver
Most of the races and other motorcycle events were held in California - you can ride a bike all year round. This led to the fact that California in the forties contained the largest number of bikes per capita. Often, the guys who participated in the race, had to move between the places where they were held on the same machine, which they used to drive. In this regard, in addition to squeezing the maximum out of the engine, bikes also began to adjust to the road conditions. This led to the appearance of such attributes as high steering wheel - ape hangers - which was very convenient on the highway. It distributed the load on the rider's muscles more evenly and generally created a more comfortable fit. The name ape hangers, which can literally be translated as a "monkey hanger", clearly hints at the fact that the biker with arms stretched out at the maximum length of the hands slightly resembles a monkey 🙂
Then one of these guys was the first to replace the 16-inch wide front wheel with a thinner 21-inch wheel, which helped greatly improve the handling of the motorcycle.
To a large extent, the California authorities helped to shape the image of the California beaver (the predecessor of the classic chopper) by passing a law on mandatory handles to support passengers. Few people among beaver owners wanted to hang all kinds of handles on their bike, and even mandatory ones. The alternative was the so-called sissy bar, which served as the backrest of the passenger and supported the rear wing at the same time. Many people also used it as an improvised trunk, tying bales of stuff to it. Often in the absence of a passenger, these bales were placed in the most convenient way so that they formed a comfortable backrest for the rider. In addition, this device was positively received by the authorities - now the passenger had something to hold on to.
In addition, bikers began to make their vehicles bent upwards exhaust pipes with bell-shaped fish tails. The outlet opening in such pipes, which were called up-sweep fishtail pipes, turned out to be very narrow. The upward bend made it possible to lay down steep right turns without any problems, avoiding the chirping of pipes against the asphalt, and the narrow outlet for many guys helped to avoid fines for environmental pollution. In those days, the check for silencer, of course, all real bikers then absent, was carried out in a simple way - the cop put into the pipe some long object, such as a baton, which should have rested in the silencer, depending on the presence of it. With the appearance of narrow sockets it became much more difficult to carry out such a procedure.
Continued in the next part...
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