 History of the Chopper
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Anybody else watch this Discovery Channel show last night? I thought it was good, even if it was a bit California-centric. But Jesse James said at the start that it was his hisotry...what influenced him.
I was suprised at the high dollar looking rides the HAMC in San Francisco were on. Out here in Tucson, their bikes are a bit ragged looking(NTTAWT).
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,806
Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
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Sal I watched it. I liked it but I have to say that was one butt ugly chopper at the end. When you build something to honer someone make sure it does not look like that!
Chris
Pain heals, Chicks dig scars, and Glory last forever.
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
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Chris,
It wasn't Jesse's fault. The frame that he started with was awful. It might have been a classic old school chopper frame, but it should have been scrapped! He did well considering how ugly the frame was!
I really enjoyed the entire show. I enjoyed watching the La Forasteros MC. How old was that guy? He had to be in his 70's still riding his chopper.
Learning from my mistakes... again and again.
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 305
Adjunct
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Adjunct
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And we were educated to the fact that a little known Ben Hardey, a BLACK custom bike maker, made those great choppers for Easy Rider. Vegas
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,537
Check Pants
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Check Pants
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I missed it, but hopefully the Discovery Channel will play it 999 more times (odds are good...). If anyone knows a replay date, please post.
Al
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Saw it. Liked it. Would watch it again. Good History! 
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
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Quote:
Saw it. Liked it. Would watch it again. Good History!
ditto
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 12,877 |
I saw some of it, looked good! I've NEVER been a big fan of the real high, tilted back tank look anyway. But it was certainly interesting! One thing I can never get a straight answer on is what the "bikers" do. I mean they talk about going cross country, etc, but I mean I guess I don't get it, the culture part of it. Just to ride? Brotherhood like a fraternity? I can understand that, but it's never made clear what makes a "biker" ya know? Oh well  Al, tvguide.com has "additional airings" listed, you can try there.
Benny
Black & Silver '02
Too many mods to list
Not enough miles ridden
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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yes it was good, one of the better ones they have had
Frank
(Former)05 BA tbike pipes, ai removed, Freak, mikuni hsr 42's, 904, ported/polished head, 1mm oversized valves
NOW-2010 silver and black tbird
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Oil Expert
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Oil Expert
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Even better was watching that early 1900's Indian come to life after 60+ idle years over on American Chopper. I actually loved the Sr. Series bike too.
In Between the Dark and the Light..
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
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Yeah, watching a 91 year old Indian firing up for the first time in decades was pretty cool. I have to say the "classic" bike they built on that episode was pretty cool. By far the best looking bike they have created. I really liked the cream and brown two tone paint and old english lettering on the tank.
Learning from my mistakes... again and again.
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Old Hand
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Old Hand
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Quote:
One thing I can never get a straight answer on is what the "bikers" do. I mean they talk about going cross country, etc, but I mean I guess I don't get it, the culture part of it. Just to ride? Brotherhood like a fraternity? I can understand that, but it's never made clear what makes a "biker" ya know? Oh well
Al, tvguide.com has "additional airings" listed, you can try there.
The answer to that is in the movie 'Masters of Menace'. A wiggle dancer girl they picked up along the way asks, "So, is that all you guys do? Just ride around, drink beer and get tatoos?"
and Horney Hank answered, Yeah, that's pretty much it."
Let's hope there's intelligent life somewhere in space 'cause it's buggar all down here. -- Monte Python
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Loquacious
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Well it sure is different now than it was back in the day....before my time. Used to be you'd get pulled over just because you were on a bike and looked different than your usual crew cut clean shaven citizen. Now everybody is riding...doctors, lawyers, you name it.
Never considered myself a biker though. I always thought of myself as a motorcyclist. To me bikers were always the 1%ers, the hardcores. I just like to ride. I'm not in it so much for the "lifestyle".
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 850
3/4 Throttle
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3/4 Throttle
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 850 |
the old s dakota bikers were cool; they made the angels look like pre-bikers, i thought.
it was interesting seeing everyone skate around the swastika symbols. and jesse's pining at the old bike frame was very forced and seemed contrived.
cat
George in Easy Rider: "Oh, oh I've got a helmet! I got a beauty!"
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 12,877
Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 12,877 |
So what do these guys do for work then?!?
Ya know another thing I saw in the show was how the Hell's Angels said they are nice guys, etc. I've had two experiences with them so far, and so far, nothing really BAD happened, but it was a weird, territorial thing. Like I was rolling allong, minding my own on the way home from PAts and I slowly passed two bikers, they turned out to be HA's and as soon as I got up next to them they blasted off. Like they couldn't get PASSED by me. The other time was waiting for a couple to finish fueling up at a gas station. My friend and I waited for a solid 10 mintues while they chatted, etc. a full size VAN filled up and left in less time than these guys... Seemed like they were doing it "just because they could". Maybe it's because both were NYers?! Like it was a NY thing, not a HA thing? I dunno...
Benny
Black & Silver '02
Too many mods to list
Not enough miles ridden
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Re: History of the Chopper
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Adjunct
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Adjunct
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Back in the day, you could figure that when a bunch of guy's never worked, and you knew they did not get an inheritance, that they either took it from sombody or bought cheap and sold high. Then some of the guy's I knew usually worked sometimes, somewhere. good guy's - bad guy's yeang and yang (sp) HA's Bandito's, Scorpions, Harley bikers on a fast flat black jap bike doing 125mph at 2:00 am I don't know nothing, just rattling.
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