|  | Topic : In defense of choppers and ape hangers |  |
| | | MotorMac | | Jupiter |  |  | | Reg. Date | : | 29/08/2010 | | Posts | : | 1,791 | | Location | : | Nor Cal, United States |
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| | Posted : 07 Jul 2014 - 03:50 Post title : In defense of choppers and ape hangers | | |
Sitting behind the wheel of a 50s vintage pickup and waiting to cross the highway before him, imagine the poor guy's surprise when a motorcycle rider came crashing thru his windshield, helmet first, and crumpled into the truck's passenger seat. The rider had been racing on 70 miles of twisty road that abruptly ends at a stop sign just across the highway. He'd been so absorbed in carving curves he hadn't noticed he'd run out of road. Hitting a station wagon broadside, his bike wedged under the car while he flew over it into the waiting pickup, airborne across four lanes. No skid marks, no time to react. We transported him with his helmet on.
He wasn't riding a chopper. Or a cruiser. He wasn't out to enjoy the scenery or smell the flowers. He'd turned himself into a guided missile, and while I can appreciate the skill set required and the thrill involved, I ride those roads, too.
I typically take up the entire lane, do my best to straighten out curves, not glued to the stripe on one side or the other like some guys. Kinda comical sometimes when following a road racer thru gentle S curves; a straight line brings one stripe to me, then the other, then back to the first, while the guy ahead is madly leaning into each turn. I always gain on 'em, it's one of the reasons I can keep up.
A kamikaze from behind may be going so fast that he has no choice but to pass, and only a split second to pick which side. If I happen to be drifting to the same side, we have a problem. Odds are, I won't know he's there.
Chopper guys are seldom in such a hurry. They're laid back, relaxed, in it for the long haul, riding the wind and enjoying the ride. Remember Sting Ray bicycles? They had ape hangers and banana seats with little sissy bars and bits of chrome.
You could stand up and steer, peddle your ass off to the top of that hill, then embrace the wind as you glide down the other side. It was a wonderful feeling as a kid, almost akin to flying, and the feeling hasn't changed - only the need to peddle is gone.
I chopped my 750 T140 and put pullback bars on it so I could lean back and be comfortable. Pretty mild, 6-over fork legs with only a few degrees of rake, but it made a big difference, as did lowering the seat. You sit in that bike, not on it, and whatever might have been lost in handling was more than recovered in comfort and lower center of gravity. I'm not out there pretending I'm at the Isle of Man, never been a go-fast guy, so I can appreciate custom choppers. Yes, I suppose it's partly a styling exercise, and it does get ridiculous when comfort, handling and even safety are compromised for style (like those Japanese bikes in that video someone posted here), but when it's done for the right reasons and achieves the desired effect, it's a thing of beauty.
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| | | PapaSmurfMC | | Chaac | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 03/10/2013 | | Posts | : | 871 | | Location | : | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
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| | Posted : 07 Jul 2014 - 04:13 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: MotorMac) | | | I had a Sting Ray bike as a kid; lived on that thing and would never walk anywhere I could ride, including up and down stairs. For those of you born too late:
This isn't my bike, just a photo found on the net. Mine was gold. 
I know that wasn't the point of your post, Mac, but you sent me back!
| 2013 Blue Marble Haze Thunderbird 1600 ABS
2009 Black Bonneville A1 ("Mag")
Buncha farkles
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| | | Leethal | | Zeus | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 24/01/2011 | | Posts | : | 6,407 | | Location | : | Australia |
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| | Posted : 07 Jul 2014 - 06:30 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: PapaSmurfMC) | | | Mine had a Tbar shifter on the frame top tube, loved that bike until some prick stole it from school. 
| Experience is something you get just after you needed it 
1600,Foran Razorbacks, Meerkat bypass, Dyno tune, real headlight,plenty of chrome,switchblade pegs, Hagon Nitro shocks & Ikon progressive fork springs etc. Scorpion Western Low handlebars. PH adjustable fork caps.
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| | | woody | | Chaac | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 10/07/2010 | | Posts | : | 874 | | Location | : | goulburn, nsw, Australia |
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| | Posted : 07 Jul 2014 - 08:09 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: Leethal) | | | The handle on the back of the seat was for towing your mate on his skateboard or roller skates until it went pear shaped.
| Woody
Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.
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| | | shager40 | | Set | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 29/10/2013 | | Posts | : | 145 | | Location | : | CO, United States |
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| | Posted : 07 Jul 2014 - 15:43 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: PapaSmurfMC) | | | I had one of these same color and everything! loved that bike.....
| 2010 1600 Black and Silver, Custom CSS Choppers Exhaust, Mustang Fastback seat, Progressive shocks, Uniflow filter, Head light cowl, Kuryakyn Mirrors, T bars, Power commander with auto tune, Joker gas cap and shock bolts.
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| | | MickeyBoy | | Chaac | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 18/09/2010 | | Posts | : | 553 | | Location | : | WiNe CoUnTrY TeMeCuLa, Socialist State of Kalifornia, United States |
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| | Posted : 07 Jul 2014 - 15:55 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: MotorMac) | | | I love my apes...
and my Schwinn had a springer front end.
| | Post edited by MickeyBoy on 07 Jul 2014 - 15:56 |
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| | | daz | | Zeus | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 12/05/2009 | | Posts | : | 7,686 | | Location | : | United States |
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| | Posted : 07 Jul 2014 - 21:31 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: PapaSmurfMC) | | | PapaSmurfMC wrote:
I had a Sting Ray bike as a kid; lived on that thing and would never walk anywhere I could ride, including up and down stairs. For those of you born too late:
This isn't my bike, just a photo found on the net. Mine was gold.
I know that wasn't the point of your post, Mac, but you sent me back!
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That is THE exact sting ray i got for Xmas when i was about 9, even the color. It;s one of those childhood memories you never forget because it made such a huge impression on you. I wanted one so badly at the time i can't even begin to describe it. When i woke Xmas morning and saw it under the tree, the feeling i had is still as fresh as that moment and it was indescribable. I've told that story to friends all my life. It's just one of those moments....
| 2010 Blue/White Thunderbird, "Brutus". 1700 kit, short tors, gutted cat, UNI filter, filter seal off, custom tune. Brutus in his native habitat: Link
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| | | MotorMac | | Jupiter | | | | Reg. Date | : | 29/08/2010 | | Posts | : | 1,791 | | Location | : | Nor Cal, United States |
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| | Posted : 07 Jul 2014 - 22:40 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: daz) | | | Ah, appears I hit a nerve - and a good one at that!
From Wikipedia:
"In 1963 Schwinn's designer Al Fritz heard about a new youth trend centered in California for retrofitting bicycles with the accoutrements of motorcycles customized in the "bobber" or "chopper" style, including high-rise, "ape hanger" handlebars and low-rider "banana seats"
Kinda kills my theory as to the origins of ape hangers tho..... might have contributed to their continued popularity at least.
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| | | Phil626 | | Set | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 07/10/2010 | | Posts | : | 28 | | Location | : | Whitby, Ontario, Canada |
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| | Posted : 08 Jul 2014 - 22:49 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: MotorMac) | | | 
Raleigh Chopper for the english boys... wish I still had it at 50.
| Phil
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| | | widegld | | Set | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 02/07/2014 | | Posts | : | 14 | | Location | : | United States |
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| | Posted : 13 Jul 2014 - 22:47 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: MickeyBoy) | | | Beautiful Bro! was it tough to mount the road king bags? The triumph bags suck!
| I feel the need,the need for speed 2010 T-Bird 1600
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| | | Smifff | | Set | | | | Reg. Date | : | 03/01/2011 | | Posts | : | 84 | | Location | : | Brisbane, Australia |
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| | Posted : 14 Jul 2014 - 11:27 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: widegld) | | | I used to have a Malvern Star Dragster which I think is the the Aus version, I googled it to find a photo for you,
not sure why this came up
nor this but I thought it was worth sharing, nothing to do with a Malvern Star Dragster as far as I can work out but who am I to argue with google? And worth a look I guess,
Here it is, a great example of something that was a much better idea (I think) than reality, they looked good to a twelve year old me but it was shit to ride for any distance which was necessary growing up in a large country town.
It still looks ok but it was a shit box, sadly even now I'm impressed by the T Bar shifter, would that rate as a "suicide shift"?
Got rid of it as quickly as I could and got a Crossrider, believe it or not, a bigger shitbox
| | Post edited by Smifff on 14 Jul 2014 - 11:40 |
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| | | Smifff | | Set | | | | Reg. Date | : | 03/01/2011 | | Posts | : | 84 | | Location | : | Brisbane, Australia |
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| | Posted : 14 Jul 2014 - 11:44 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: Smifff) | | | A Crossrider,
oh the shame the shame, the only redeeming comment is that I broke the frame over some jumps, thankfully...........................
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| | | mjgt | | Thor | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 16/09/2011 | | Posts | : | 2,201 | | Location | : | North Somerset, United Kingdom |
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| | Posted : 14 Jul 2014 - 20:34 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: Smifff) | | | Well two out of thee things worth riding isn't bad.
| Mick . . .  Keep the rubber side down!!
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| | | MickeyBoy | | Chaac | | | | Reg. Date | : | 18/09/2010 | | Posts | : | 553 | | Location | : | WiNe CoUnTrY TeMeCuLa, Socialist State of Kalifornia, United States |
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| | Posted : 14 Jul 2014 - 21:01 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: widegld) | | | widegld wrote:
Beautiful Bro! was it tough to mount the road king bags? The triumph bags suck!
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I made a mounting plate out of aluminum. There's a thread around here called 10" Apes. Pictures are in that thread.
| | Post edited by MickeyBoy on 14 Jul 2014 - 21:14 |
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| | | Aldie | | Set | | | | Reg. Date | : | 27/03/2012 | | Posts | : | 36 | | Location | : | Australia |
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| | Posted : 23 Jul 2014 - 20:33 Post title : Re: In defense of choppers and ape hangers (Re: MickeyBoy) | | | Had one of these type of Bikes it was great used to grab some mates one on the back seat,one across the bar,one on the handle bars find the the best hill and a way u go 4 up and see what speed you get up to.The rest is History.
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