So you want to build a custom chopper? I do too, so the first question I asked myself, is where do I start. Should I make a business plan, a schedule, a financial statement, or should I just buy my wife some flowers and blindly proceed? I guess I should do all of the above but not necessarily in that order. I will start by trying to justify this purchase and or endeavor, to do this I will make a list of my reasons for building a Chopper. 1) I want to ride a custom chopper, a totally cool stretched out, fire breathing, gas eating, pavement pounding, old lady scaring, 2 wheel monster. 2) I want to be able to say "I built that" when someone asks me where I got that totally sick bike. 3) I want to be able to customize the bike beyond the standard add on parts I can get for my current bike a Harley Davidson Fatboy. 4) I want to be able to make this dream come true, meaning I need to be able to pay for it. A $35,000 chopper is out of my current budget. 5) I have been talking about this for 5 years so why don't I get to it and stop doing all the talking and start doing some building. Now I have a few reasons on paper a will look at my options, then make a plan, a schedule, and find some extra money. Let's start with a my build options, and plan on a slow and steady approach. I realize I will need to do a lot of research before I start. I have 4 basic options, a kit bike, a rolling chassis, a start from zero build, or an extreme makeover of a current motorcycle. Option 1) If I start with a motorcycle kit I maybe the farthest ahead from a mechanical perspective, and farthest behind from a financial point of view. What do I mean by this, well a kit bike has all the parts it just needs paint, labor, gas, oil and some love. The problem a complete kit bike will cost me $12,000 dollars right up front. This is a bit out of my spend a ton of money now then not be able to ride a bike for a year or two thinking. If I get a kit, I maybe able to get it together faster, as I will be motivated and have all the parts ready to go. As a first bike I think this is a very good option, when you consider all the expensive mistakes I may make along that way. One drawback to this option is the amount of customization I can do to the bike as it is put together. Because all the parts are in the kit, I may resist the urge to get new bars or different sheet metal, or other parts. Option 2) Start with a Rolling chassis, this is the middle of the road option, spend a lump sum of money, about 1/2 of what the overall bike will cost and get a basic setup that all works together. A Rolling chassis kit consists of a Frame, 2 wheels, the forks, and triple clamps and bars, all build and configured to work together. Add a motor and a transmission and all the major workings of the bike are in place. This setup helps avoid some of the major work needed to mix match and fit these items together. This option also allows for a ton of customization in the parts that people see and the parts that give a bike it's personality. For me this is a very serious option to consider. I would only have 1/2 the cost and 1/2 the parts sitting around and gathering dust until I get time to get it together.
Option 3) Find each and every part one at a time and build a completely custom motorcycle. I know I could do this, but I also know I will encounter more unexpected and possibly expensive issues with this type of build. This option would give me a bike that no one would ever duplicate. This could be very good or this could be very bad. What if some possible combination of frame, motor, forks, or wheels didn't work together? It would not be discovered until the motorcycle was all together. I think this option is better left to the serious professional who build bike all night long, as the are working on other peoples bikes, and running businesses during the day. I may consider this for my second custom chopper.
Option 4) Take an existing bike and start cutting and changing it. This is maybe as involved as chopping and re-welding the frame to create a new rake and angles. Or it could mean just getting a new frame and using the engine, transmission, and various other part to build a new machine. I like this idea, and I think it would be a lower cost alternative to all new custom parts. With this option you are also able to keep the current registration and title if the frame is not replaced. This is also a lower cost option because a lot of the miscellaneous parts can be reused. I know that in one page all the possible combinations of Custom Chopper build can't be completely explained, I just hope this information give you something to start with and build on. It has help steer me in the direction of a rolling chassis, so I better get shopping.
Ian Parish is an avid motorcyclists and Jeeper. He has been involved with both sports for the past 20 years. He has jumped into building a custom chopper full force and is assembling that parts and the plan, on his website MyChopperBlog.com. Check out the website as I need all the help I can get. He is the owner of RedJeepClub.com and MyChopperBlog.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ian_Parish
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There are customized bikes...and then there are custom-built bikes.
What's the difference between the two?
Cusstomized BikesWell, anyone who goes to a bike store and has the clerks there help him, or her, fit the bike properly, will usually "customize" their bike by choosing the kind of saddle they like (narrow or wide, gel-filled, etc.), different stem lengths for handlebar height, v-pull or disc brakes, etc.
You can continue to customize your bike with accessories such as bells, compasses, and lights - and you can even give it a paint job if you're good at that sort of thing. (Indeed, I've got a Schwinn Sierra that's about four years old, and I've been thinking of giving it a new coat of blue paint with yellow highlights. Unfortunately, I know I don't have the skill to make it look even halfway decent.)
Road bikes are, obviously, built specifically to ride on roads, and aren't suited for cross-country travel. The tires are very narrow to provide as little resistance as possible to the road, and the handlebars are of the drop-down type which force the rider to lean forward at an acute angle. However, there are various additions to the handlebars one can get so that when resting is more important than speed, it's possible to sit up straight and still control the bike properly.
Lowriders are another type of road bike, though not one used for racing, but rather for cruising around showing off their paint jobs.
Custom BuiltWhat does custom-built mean? A custom-built bike is one that is built for you from the ground up - and hand-crafted more often than not. Your every measurement is taken and the frame is built to those measurements. Cranksets will fit your legs, top tubes will be just the right length, and it'll be built out of the space-age material you prefer.
And in addition to that of course you can choose the types of shifters and breaks you'd like as well.
Custom-built bikes are the most expensive bikes you can get, but they will fit you like a glove and if you are a serious bike rider that is the type of bike you'll want.
Serious road bikers have many different activities in which they can indulge, from"ultra long distance riding" (Randonneuring) to triathlons - where one of the three segments of the race is biking. These type of athletes have to have custom-built bikes.
Alastair Hamilton is a consultant who writes on many consumer topics like cycling for http://www.bikecyclingreviews.com . Find more publications about road bike reviews at his website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alastair_Hamilton
