Why is it called a "chopper"?

General Discussion
62

Foot pegs could be played around with but I don’t think handlebars being adjustable would be easy to do. One could change the risers (mounts) to raise or shorten them a bit but that would be very limited. I note in the TV show “Mayans” every single one of those bikers are using ape hangers. Personally I don’t like them at all.

Here’s what Fonda’s bike should have looked like. Practical and functional fat bob. It’s mine and I still have it but in a different form. Slapped this together in about a week and what I like about Harleys is that items from decades apart will interchange. This one is a 1950 panhead engine, 47 transmission, 57 front forks. 56 straight leg frame, 60s Sportster front fender, 53 bobbed rear fender, 71 Shovelhead gas tanks with 69 Police Special speedometer, Triumph tail lamp, Hyster fork lift oil filter adapter, and so on. Wanted something no one else has so I cut the 8" over fork tubes down to 3 and 3/32 of an inch and rethreaded them. White thing in the middle is a Purolator oil filter.
Bone stock engine but the strongest running pan I’ve ever seen. Laid 20 feet of rubber with it one night…

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63

Renegade,

Motorcycles are not like bicycles with adjustable seat heights. Most seats are bolted down; you do not want the seat coming loose when you are operating a 400-700+ pound motorcycle, traveling at speeds that have three digits in it. Some are hinged and can be unlocked to raise up to expose fuses, battery, oil tank, tool kits, etc… But again, these have no height adjustment.

Now, I admit this has not always been true, Harleys as late as the early 1950s had spring loaded single seats and buddy seats on posts, all adjustable; but they are long gone, they were not particularly safe as they could and did come loose with disastrous results… See a Buddy Seat below…

Today most motorcycles have adjustable foot pegs (with big, heavy bolts and nuts…), but are not intended to be adjusted on the fly. Again, you would not want a foot peg coming loose while driving down the road.

Now, handlebars may be different. If you peruse back up to the photos of my Red Sportster (up a few postings) the pullback drag handlebars on my Harley are bolted to the top triple-tree of my forks and there are no adjustments what so ever. Remember, I mentioned that I had these handlebars custom made to my specifications (height, width, pull-back, etc). Additionally, I ran wires from the handle-grip switches for the lights, horn, starter, etc… through the hollow bars and then the wires take a quick, short trip into my headlight assembly.

On most other motorcycles, the handlebars are adjustable and can be moved up and down; but this is done by loosening the hold down clamps and they are just pivoting fore and aft.

Although various size risers are made to allow the height of the handlebars to be changed, this cannot be done helter-skelter; these handlebars also have internal wires running through them and the wires may not be long enough to allow the bars to be raised.

However; by design, when the handlebars are moved, they also move fore and aft… Look at Peter Fonda’s Easy Rider Harley, notice that his handlebars are shoved forward (an ugly sight…) so that when he is sitting on his bike his arms are out straight, if the handlebars were moved back, they would then be lower, but he would be lying over backwards…

Buddy Seat

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64

After the war it was popular to chop the gew-gaws like fenders off of motorcycles that were affordable because they had been dropped - a common occurrence. Nowadays they are called ‘naked’ bikes but the idea is the same, skin the bike down to it’s basics, show the motor bits (steam punk) fewer guages, take off the luggage, fairings, floor boards et cetera, chop off the fenders until the tires are exposed, and cut off that stupid muffler until it’s obnoxious loud. Then get on and go nuts.

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65

Thank you for the education kike I said I know very little about bikes in my whole life I have had maybe 50 miles on the back of one and back in the 70’s drove { I think it was a Honda 650 } around the block The biggest reason I didn"t get into bikes was I liked to do road trips whenever possible and all I could think about was having a flat tire in the middle of no where with no spare t

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66

Chopping a bike actually started back in the 1920s although in a different form. Fenders were removed, seats changed, etc. Flat track racing was huge so all irrelevant weight was shedded.
Rolling on a few years hill climbing became popular. Off went
the front fender, rear fender was bobbed, and chains added to the rear wheel.

Those guys had to have suffered some serious spine and kidney issues considering rigid frames and near zero front fork movement.

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67

Do they still have hill climbing events any more? I have not seen or heard of one since the 60’s.

68

Here are some web sites with info about Hill Climbs…

https://www.amaprohillclimb.com/events/default

https://soundrider.com/archive/events/PNWHillclimb.aspx

And a YouTube Video to “wet” you appetite…

And the modifications don’t stop with the bike, it’s not a “boy’s club” anymore…

Not a boy's club anymore

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69

Thank you for that information and video until this thread came up I had forgot about the hill climbs

70

I do remember being at one event with a few friends and betting when the rider lost control who was going to get back to the bottom first the rider or the bike.

71

I did some hill climbing on a casual basis with some friends a few times out in the sticks. It was about a 60 degree grade and it took a running start to get to the top. A few times I was really sweating it but never fell over and down. Bike was running out of grunt and I was getting antsy.

The downgrade is what did it for me. It was also about 60 degrees and when going over one locked the brakes and skidded down. My bike had no rear brakes; just the front.
I go over the edge, grabbed the front brake handle, and nothing. There was no way of making the 90 degree turn at the bottom so I sailed straight over a creek and slammed into the bank on the far side; sliding slowly into the mud and hurting too much to care.

About 15 minutes before I could get up and limp off while deciding that was enough for me. Right knee was swollen up like a softball and could not walk right for a week.
Fast forward many years and now I need a knee replacement but it’s been tolerable, mostly, so that surgery is not on my agenda.

72

ALL WRONG. Answer: the FRAME is CHOPPED to tilt the front/forks out forward and welded in place in that stupid angle. Handlebars have nothing to do with it, just frequently choppers have high handle bars. BOTH detract from handling, safety and comfort. The forks are not “chopped”, they must be LENGTHENED

73

Why in some areas a sandwich is a grinder, in others a sub?

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74

why do you drive on parkways and park in driveways?

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75

Or a hoagie, or a poor boy…

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76

or a Hero.

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77

So you’re saying they don’t chop other parts, such as fenders and other parts of the frame other than the frame’s neck?

Sure, friend. Whatever you say.

78

What, nobody competing with an ACME motorcycle while wearing a While E. Coyote costume?

79

The frame does NOT have to be altered for a bike to be called a chopper. Chopper simply means deviating from the stock form to a more customized one. Removing the front fender or substituting it, changing the gas tank, handlebars, modifying or replacing the front fender, changing the exhaust, oil tank, lighting, etc all means it’s a chopper.

Countless “choppers” have been built on a stock unaltered frame. I used to subscribe to this mag and a few others.

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80

Don’t forget a Hoagie.