Street Chopper 40th Anniversary Helmets

We're hooking up our bros over at Street Chopper Mag with a big old pile 'o helmets.
Each one is getting sent to a different painter to get a custom job done
up and then raffled off at the 40th Anniversary party on Oct 24th.

The Artists:
Sara Ray
French Kiss Customs
John Edwards
Uncle Bitchen
The Harpoon
Airea 5150
Sonny @ Road Dog
Buck Wild
Brianne McLean
Lil Louie
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Coming Soon

Click on this image, then print the flier and give it to every girl you know.
There's plenty of room for them to bring a van full of food and beer for you.
You'll be thirsty after riding the wild thunder to the desert haven known as Slab City.

Bands: The Hudson Drags / Compton SF / Get Dead!

All your questions can be answered here.
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Staying Connected 140 Characters at a Time

Because blogs, comments, social networks, texting and emails simply aren't enough for some people, we've added Twitter to the Biltwell quiver of time sponges. We'll try to keep our twats to a healthy minimum, but please don't hold it against us if I tweet about what we had for lunch from time to time. Hey—Ashton Kutcher does it, and he has two million followers (could it have been the screen shot of his wife's granny panties that pushed him over the top?)

Girl's Ironhead For Sale

Sorry guys its No longer for Sale! Tom got itchy trigger fingeritis and started to change it up before it sold.

Can't wait to see the next version!

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Vantastic Monday

More from Greaser Mike's neighborhood.
What the hell is going on out there in Gotham, Mike? WTF?
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Cycle Zombies Rally/BBQ/Skate Jam #3

Well, there was so much going on this weekend we had to split into teams to hit it all. While McGoo and I were yucking it up over in Orange, Chris and BF Josh were in Costa Mesa for the Cycle Zombies shindig. The report I got tonight was that it was a great time with plenty of free chow, loads of good bikes, plenty of skating and a knockout show by the Cormans. BFJ snapped a bunch of pics and I culled a few out for this little slide show.


Created with flickr slideshow.

Born Free!

Harpoon and Grant at GCO along with the guys at Classic Cycles and a host of sponsors put on one hell of a bike show today in Orange, CA. The quantity and quality of bikes was unreal. We'll do a full feature over on Chop Cult later, but for now here's a slideshow of the pics I took today.


Created with flickr slideshow...

Sacred Steel

Thanks to Cary and the guys at Sacred Steel for rockin' some Biltwell banners in the background of the first episode of Chopper Wars on the History Channel. The bike they built came out rad. Check out more of their stuff here: BLOG

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La Loca Boracha

Wendy's Shovel is for sale. If she can start it in flip-flops and ride with no fender you shouldn't be scared! Check the ad here: Link.

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Minibike Madness

More progress. Old chopper seat? Check! New HD clutch and chain? Check! Idea for clutch cover and new forwards? Check. Need to find some sort of gas tank, tire-driven bicycle lights and some Anderson pegs at Long Beach tomorrow. Real brakes? Who needs 'em? Gotta paint that blue stuff black. Throttle cable fab and heat shield for that sweet exhaust in the morning...

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See Ya'll Tomorrow

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It's beer-thirty

Oh man. True according to Snopes.
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The drink will flow and blood will spill

Kutty and Duane Ballard are unveiling their newest bikes in Vegas Oct 1st.

Both are long, low, digger-style bikes in really flamboyant colors.
Kutty's is a Shovel called the "Plum Smuggler" and
Duane's is the CB750-powered "Pink Taco".

These BFF's are busting ass to get 'em wrapped up so go check 'em out at Dino's if you can.

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Street Chopper 40th Anniversary Bike Build

Has anyone else noticed the progress on Jeff's blog over at Street Chopper?
I can't wait to see this bike finished.
Lots of our parts on there, seat, hinge, pipe kit, etc.
Thanks Jeff, we'll see you on the 24th.

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SD to Cycle Zombies Saturday Ride

Some of the guys down my way in SD put this together and sounds like fun! Nice fun ride from SD up the coast to the Cycle Zombies Party. I have to be up there way earlier so I will miss the ride. but if anyone coming up is looking for a crew meet up with Scott and everyone else along the way.

We are not organizing this so don't e-mail me with questions. Scott is leaving pretty good and simple instructions so find your meet up spot and go.

SD to OC ride... will start from the McDonald's parking lot in PB... at Garnet and I5. 10am.

We will pick up any North County riders who want to join us at Hensleys pub at the I5 and Tamarack...

We are hoping for a driver to drive my explorer and trailer up... then we have a chase vehicle in case anyone breaks down... you can still enjoy the party. Als in case someone drinks too much we can throw your bike on the back and get you back to SD.

Anyway... this party is going to be a blast... the ride will be fun and we will be sticking to the coast all the way up... in order to keep cool.

Pint-sized Hot Rod

So, last year me and the kid went through an old mini bike and did the fun stuff; fabbed up a sissy bar, welded on some Friscos, installed new bearings, made forward controls for the crappy scrub brake, etc. The old 2.5hp engine was tired and the manifold/carb was cracked so I finally got off my butt yesterday and helped him buy a new 6.5hp unit from Harbor Fright and a new clutch off eBay. Of course it was too big to fit, so tonight we removed the gas tank, shortened the air cleaner assembly and built a straight exhaust so it would fit. (Anyone know if a straight pipe will work?) We'll be on the hunt for a new gas tank at LBC this weekend, but so far it's working out OK, even with some emissions (welcome to CA!) stuff plugged up and removed it started and ran OK. Tomorrow, it's all about figuring out a throttle assembly and waiting for that clutch/primary chain to show up. The old engine is going to be torn down with the required class on internal combustion, and maybe rebuilt for some other project down the road, but for now I just wanna see if thing will do some poppa-wheelies without tearing out the jackshaft. Next year, a Triumph. Who said kids are no fun?!

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Knees in the Breeze

Some day I'm gonna do me the Country Mile. These dudes have so much class.

Just the other day a buddy of ours from an unnamed suburb south of LA and north of San Diego was telling me how a couple of his local bros were bitching about the upcoming Slab City Riot. "Dude, why they gotta make it so far?" All I gotta say is "Dude, that's the point!" Riding motos is fun and a couple hundred miles in a day isn't a big deal, it's just the start...



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Grass Valley Roll In

Cool Grass Valley Roll-In pics from NorCal Holly: LINK.
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Mullins Pedal up for Auction

We are continuing to auction off a few random chopper bits until the end of the month to try and generate some dough to send to Bryan Berky's family. The support has been great and we appreciate how much everyone has already given. So far, on top of straight-up donations we've sold off a couple cool old hand-painted gas tanks that would make nice garage art or look even better going down the road. Now, our good friend Walt out at Kickstart Cycle is donating a Mullin's Chaindrive kicker pedal. You know these things are super-dope, aren't cheap or real easy to find, but Walter's got one in hand and ready to ship to the high bidder.

Auction ends at noon on Friday the 25th.
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VonHuber's Pan

Our friend and fellow ChopCultist Chris Huber sold his trusty KTM SuperMoto 900  for something a little more nostalgic and a lot slower:

Chris has an uncanny knack for finding awesome old machinery without ever straying too far from his Dana Point, CA, home. Thanks for the photo op with the new Megaflake skid lid, Von Huber.

Vantastic Monday

This one is for you, Duane.
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Sugar Bear's 70th B-day Party

Lisa Ballard Photo

We were fortunate enough to get invited to Sugar Bear Choppers in Gardena, CA yesterday for his 70th birthday party. Thanks, SB and Fuji for having us!

The bikes were long, the tacos were outstanding, the beer was cold and the vibe was mellow. It's just plain neat to listen to the man and absorb the history on the walls and on the shop floor and in his voice. It really makes me realize how little we've done and how much this guy has accomplished in his lifetime. I think Jesse James and his History of the Chopper show has done a lot to bring the talented and articulate Sugar Bear to the masses lately and it's good to see him get the respect he deserves. Thanks again!



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El Camino Swapmeet 2009 Debrief

Look close.

Wow. Great swap. Vendor spaces were sold out, walk-in crowd was robust and the number of great bikes was off the hook. We camped in place last night and kept it mellow this time. BFJosh unloaded his IH basketcase on the jackass that helped himself to trying to start my four-five without asking. Dude, don't do that, ever, OK? Just sayin... Anyway, the weather was unseasonably hot for Torrance and we had a good time. My favorite bike of the day was way out of my price range (all I bought was a Branch manifold, and a sunburn). AZ Nick and Chris both instantly pointed out this race-prepped knuckle that was right across from our set up. Stroked to 86" in a Cycle Shop frame, with dual Amals and dual discs up front and a disc in the back, that bike wasn't flashy but just killed. Look for a feature on ChopCult soon. Lots of other resto-types and more Triumphs and parts than could be absorbed in a single day. Torrance Allen shot a boat-load of pics you can see here: LINK

Peoples choice from our crew.

I have a weakness for desert sleds...

Seen it around for a long time now. Someone finish this thing with love!

Blue Collar Moto Chris in his natural habitat.

The difference between "marketing" and "sales".