First Chopper

October 22, 2016

Article and Photos By: Grizzly

Originally Published In The December 2012 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

There are not many young bike builders with a talent like his. Paul from Holland started building his first chopper at the age of seventeen. Now, four years later, it is finished. I had the luck to follow the project step-by-step. Paul is a busy guy; he works for a bike shop six days a week. In his spare time, he is turning an old VW into a hotrod, and he has been building this stunning bike you see here. How the young gun still finds time to party with his friends is hard to imagine, but he does, like any kid his age. He is however a person who knows exactly what he wants; very committed to anything he does. This bike started out as a rough plan. Paul likes vintage choppers with a racy look. His wallet determined what kind of motor he would use. In this case it would be a late Sporty engine. Paul explains, “I like that motor over the older Evo Sporty motors because of the big cylinders and more importantly, I found one that I could afford. After buying the engine, I wanted a one-off frame. Here at L&L Choppers, we have our frames made in Sweden. I wanted a single down tube with a curve and quite some stretch in the top tube since I am a pretty tall guy. I also wanted at least 40 degrees of rake like you see on the Zero bikes. The rear had to be extra wide to fit a bigger tire and I opted for a narrow seat area. The frame came out perfect.”

Paul mounted an eighteen inch rear wheel, a retro Springer and a twenty-three inch front wheel. “I really do not like it when a front wheel looks smaller in diameter than the rear wheel. In my eyes there is no balance in a bike when the front wheel is smaller,” he says. Now he could see the total line of the bike and he liked it. The next thing w a s the gas tank. Paul decided to go with a bigger tank because of the tall top tube. He didn’t like the width of that tank though; it looked way too bulky and took a lot of view away from the engine. The gas tank had to be modified. Mig welding was something he learned at school, but he really wanted to Tig weld the tank. He borrowed a Tig welding machine and started practicing at home. Within two weeks he had taught himself to Tig weld. He cut up the gas tank, narrowed it and made two big indents and welded everything back together. The welds were not perfect, but the tank was gas-proof and not warped or anything. From there on he gained more confidence, his welds got better and better and he started making all sorts of parts. He learned how to use the lathe the hard way as well. In the end, he was turning out the coolest little items like: the brass choke, the rear axle tensioners, all the little brackets that hold the copper lines that his gas cable and wiring are running through and even his own taillight. Besides the cool gas tank, he made his own pipes using simple tools. They turned out great; just look at the end tips!

Paul also decided to go with an old style mounting of the gas tank. He bent a pipe following the shape of the tank. He then cut it in half and welded in the top of the tank. A piece of round stock was bent following the same shape, and great looking brackets with messing bolts were made by him for the mounting. After that, he decided to continue using those old style brackets everywhere like on the front engine mount, the license plate holder and much more. Before putting too much time on the details, Paul first wanted to make sure the bike handled well. So after making the pipes, he made an oil bag, the handlebars, a battery box and mid controls. He rode the bike unpainted for one summer. It ran great and cornered well, so after this test it was time for the real work. He wanted to incorporate a lot of brass parts. He hit the Internet looking for things he could use. He ordered two level glasses in a brass housing for inside the oil tank and a fuel level glass for the gas tank. He handmade the master cylinder for the rear brakes to look like the gas level glass and did the same with the two master cylinders for the clutch and front brake. The hand controls originate from some old Ducati racer, and Paul managed to make them look vintage. Almost everything you see on this bike is handmade or reworked by Paul. He even made the wooden pegs and grips and the open throttle. The neatest thing of all is that this young man is not only good at fabrication, all designs are his too! No copy cat here! Did you see that Sporty motor? Looks pretty vintage right? Paul made real Panhead valve covers to fit. He rounded the cylinders, chopped the cam cover and welded ribs on both the cam cover and the primary cover. The bike was painted by Ramon and the gold leaf and striping was done by El Cheapo from Belgium. This kid is unbelievable. As a reporter I have never seen anyone do this at that age. Period! He once posted a photo of this bike on the great Quad Cam Bastards’ blog when it was halfway finished and they called him the prodigy. He had to look it up in the dictionary to find out what it meant. I think those bastards were damn right!