INSPIRATION

The inspiration to build the chopper bicycle came from a show on television called ‘American Chopper’. It’s based on a company called Orange County Choppers (http://www.orangecountychoppers.com ) which builds one-off custom motorcycles for their customers as they push the boundaries of creativity to incorporate amazing themes in the motorcycle.

I really liked the idea of building a custom motorcycle since everything is personalized and you can have it the way you like it. I liked the way they stood out from the crowd and just how creative they were.

When I built this cycle I wasn’t old enough to ride motorcycles. So I though why not customize a bicycle? I can still have a one-off custom bicycle and I can be creative with it. The output was as below…. But wait – see how it was made further down !

PROCESS

At first I thought I would just customize my bicycle through a custom paintjob. But then I though I wouldn’t be able to express my creativity through and I probably won’t be that proud of what I had done. I wanted to push myself to see what I can do and what I can come up with if I start from scratch. The whole idea of pushing myself again came from the television show. I thought that I would build my bicycle from zero but I used bits and pieces from a scrap cycle.

The first part was to look at some chopper motorcycles and take inspiration for a sketch. I looked at many motorcycles and the more I looked the more I got to know about the diversity of design in the choppers. I liked some elements on one motorcycle and other elements on another, so by using them as inspiration I went forward with a rough pencil sketch. I simplified some designs due to manufacturing restrictions but that was part of the challenge. In the end I decided to go for the long wheel base design because it appealed to me.

The next step was to dismantle the old scrap cycle and salvage some parts from it. All the useless parts had to go like the chain, the sprockets wheels and tyres, the pedals and every other rusted nut or bolt. I took the cycle apart and discarded the main frame of the cycle as well as it won’t help me in anyway since I was extending the wheelbase of the cycle and altering the stance and shape of the cycle. So after a few hours of work I was left with a handle bar the front fork and swingarm. I discarded the other parts and cleaned the ones that I needed.

Later on I cut off the head tube from the frame of the cycle as I will be using it later I also cut off the seat tube but discarded the seat.

Then I got ten foot long steel pipes of one and half inch diameter to use these to make the frame of the cycle. I cut the tubes to length using a hacksaw. Some sections were really long since the cycle had a large wheelbase. I couldn't bend the tubes on machines so instead I filled the tubes with sand and plugged the ends. Then I bent the tubes at the right angles. Filling the tube with sand ensured that the tube did not get creases or dents on it. After two days of work I finished the all the sections of the frame.

Now I had to put it together, I did it using gas welding (I took help from a gas welder to help & train me). I first welded the top tube and down tube to the head tube, which I had saved earlier. This was tricky as I wanted the rake in the chassis like the choppers have, so we had to place it and measure it precisely to get the rake we needed. After this was done I welded the seat tube (also which I saved earlier) to the down tube and top tube. Then the swing arm was welded to the seat tube and we had almost finished the frame of the cycle. Since the chassis was really long we added a few structural supports. This wasn’t planned the design but it was necessary for the cycle to function properly. So I added the structural support tubes in such a way that they added to the design of the cycle. Otherwise they would look out of place.

Next we made custom handlebars as the added length of the cycle required long handlebars. We then inserted the front fork into the head tube then we got brand new rims and tyres and inserted them in the forks and the swingarm. We then got pedals and pedal gears and mated them with the cycle. The rear gears and the seat were added and most of the cycle was ready.

The length of the cycle posed a challenge during the manufacture but we had to do justice to the design. The added length required a longer bicycle chain, so we linked two chains together and put them onto the cycle. The brake cables had to be longer as the handlebar and the chassis was longer. We had to get customized cables for the cycle in order to get the brakes to work. The brake lines were added and the brake levers were added. Finally we had a fully functional cycle!

Result

The end result was the custom made long wheelbase chopper that I wanted. I was extremely satisfied with the result. And though it looks very nice it rides nice too. The ergonomics were also taken care of as it is easy to ride, comfortable to be seated on and the pedals on the cycle are placed in such a way that the rider feels more comfort. Despite its long wheelbase it handles like a breeze and is a great functional bicycle for cruising and going on long rides for. The paintjob on the cycle is custom too. It has a matte black colour with red and chrome spider webs all over.