Dutch Trash Chopper

March 18, 2016

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Article & Photos By: Grizzly

Originally Published In The October 2013 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

Nol van Zwieten lives in Portland, Oregon and runs Dutch Trash Choppers. He is the builder of this cream colored Shovel you see here. The bike is put together with parts Nol had lying around in his shop as if to emphasize the name of his place. I visited Nol while on a four week road trip in the States. Nol is not only from the same country as I am, he is also a close friend. The man moved to the U.S. when he fell in love with an American girl. He got his green card, married her and started a new life. Now here we are nine years later. Nol is already divorced, but still lives in Portland. His shop has grown from being a tiny chop shop in the back of another bigger bike shop into an independent, pretty big all-around business. Nol doesn’t only like choppers and bobbers, he loves sports bikes too. The Dutchman was an off-road sidecar racer and a successful top fuel drag racer in Holland before he moved across the ocean. In the States he did some vintage sidecar races on his hand built Harley sidecar combination and now he is into building 80cc race bikes. But we are a chopper mag, so when I saw this beautiful DTC sled and realized how unique it actually was, I immediately asked Nol if I could please photograph it!

Nol explained, “I had built that bike for Joe, a good friend and customer, a while ago, but he recently loaned it to me since somebody else is riding my bike. Yes, I know, too complicated to explain! If you ask me about what I made by hand for that bike and what I didn’t, I would have to dig deep since it has been a while. Let’s go walk around it.” Nol rides the bike outside into t h e parking lot of the 7-11 next t o his business o n South East Taylor Street wearing his trademark flip-flops. “Well,” he starts while scratching his head, “I made the 2 into 1 exhaust and the drilled heat shields to give it more of a performance look. I did some parts on the frame, made the sissy bar and the drilled copper ornaments on the gas tank and fender. I made that seat, and let’s see, what else did I do? Oh yeah, I split the rocker boxes and made all the hydraulic connections for it. The engine is completely assembled. The left side case is a Knuckle case, and the right side originates from a Panhead. The top-end is S&S. The most hours were spent in splitting those rocker boxes and assembling the motor, but it looks pretty special now and was worth every minute of it. I made those floorboards together with owner Joe. Some people think they are weird since we used wood and crocodile leather. I found the red shifter knob at a garage sale. See that Maltese cross gas cap? Do you recognize what that once was? A f**king rail road spike!

The air filter was made from an old copper candle holder. I also spent quite some time with Joe detailing the chopper with leather after it was painted. Joe had some good ideas. For instance, the leather used underneath the copper ornaments on the tank and fender looks awesome. I had the rims painted cream, but asked Mitch Kim to do the red striping. I also hand painted the letters on both the classic tires. It took me three full months to build this twowheeler. I wanted a vintage looking chopper but also needed the freedom to choose what parts I had or preferred. That’s why a modern upside down fork from a 125cc Yamaha dirt bike was used. It is also why the stopping power is a modern disc with Brembo caliper.

It is still a kick-only bike and a damn bitch to start, but I love it. It is great fun to ride, especially on the busy streets of Portland. This town has always been a real chopper town. There are a lot of old skool bike clubs here, still many old timers riding hand built choppers, but we also have a lot of kids who like one-off bikes. The latter come often to my shop to hang out and kinda watch what we are doing. It’s all cool; I like people around me.” Dutch Trash Choppers is an interesting place that looks a bit like a museum. The walls are full of stuff Nol really likes, and it is almost as if you can read the man’s mind just by looking at it. The owner of Dutch Trash Choppers still builds chops and still does custom work, but his biggest thing is the 80cc racers he is building right now.