Chopper Buildoff

I watched most of two of the chopper buildoff shows on Discovery last night. A couple of comments:

They place so much emphasis on timing that real building and creativity suffers.

Did anyone else catch fueling up the chopper for the 1st time with the lit cigarette hanging out of the mouth?

They should rename it Chopper assembly, since there is little fab work done. It is mostly assembling parts from a variety of sources. Notice they never show the engine being worked on? No drama there.

Bob

Reply to
Bonza
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They had a closeup of the cigarette, I assumed specifically to point it out. I noticed throughout the show that that same guy was an idiot in other respects also. Of course, that whole crew was so hung over most of the time that it's a miracle anything at all got done on time. Oh, that's right, it -didn't- get done on time, did it?

Well, while they don't cast and machine the engine parts themselves, they seem to do a (relatively) lot of fab work on the tanks, fenders, handlebars, seats, and some on the frames. What else should they fabricate from "scratch"? What else -could- they fabricate? Not much else to a bike.

While the shows don't actually show a lot of fab work, when you look at the finished product you know it must be there, and someone must have done it, but the producers don't think it would make "good" TV, though you & I would disagree.

While they don't hand-build those custom billet wheels, why should they? Why don't you use a pair of snips instead of a shear? Why don't you bend sheet metal over a 2x4 instead of using a break? Just because it's faster and more efficient? :-)

I did like the bit where Iandian Larry & friends twisted the downtube into a reversing spiral pattern. I'da never thunk of doing that. And at least -he- strung his own spoke wheels.

Mike

Reply to
Mike Patterson

Agreed.

Yeah, that was "cute" wasn't it. Gotta promote that outlaw, no fear image. I will say, in defense of the show, that they did show (what was the young guy's name?) putting on appropriate safety gear with a comment about protecting one's self. That's a notch up from other similar shows.

They did show quite a bit of fab work at Indian Larry's 'Gasoline Alley' shop. Heating and twisting of the solid 2" down tube, the leather work for the seat, and the paint job with the gold and silver leaf (always wondered how that was done). But yeah, all of these shows could get much more deeply into the fabrication details for my money.

I was kinda disappointed by Indian Larry because at first he claimed to want "do it all himself," which is very admirable, and then they turn around and use a Jesse James store-bought fender. Granted, they modified it to fit, but still...

Reply to
Artemia Salina

The time aspect was put on them by the producers, they wanted them to build a bike in 30 days. With the little time they had all you will see is some minor assembly.

As for engine work, I belive most builders just order a new engine from a engine builder, S&S for example. It would be interesting to see what they would do with more time. Greg

Reply to
Greg O

Unfortunately most of the general public watching these shows would go into a tail-spin of boredom if they went any deeper. This kind of stuff is WAY over the head of most people.

More admirable than you might think, would you have the balls to take a nibbler to a $300 fender??? Yes, $300 is what they get for that fender.

Indian Larry and Billy Lane have got their shit in a row, they're the kind of guys that could build a motorcycle out of a pile of rusty fence posts and few misc bike parts. What, 2 cylinders and only one head?? Don't worry about it...........

Yaffe and Perwitz are parts assemblers, nothing more........

Tom

Reply to
Tom

I take it you've never "assembled" a spoked wheel. Pure art on it's own.

Joel. phx

Reply to
Joel Corwith

Joel, I've never "assembled" a spoked wheel and I hope that I never have to. I had enough experience on a dirt bike I had with the spokes to learned what a skill spoke lacing is. These things came loose nearly every ride. Tightening and truing was a constant struggle. That taught me to appreciate IL's skill. I had never seen that on TV before. You could see his experience and skill just by the way he looked at things, picked up a tool, and solved problems.

The "blacksmithing" that they did was a welcome treat.

I agree with you guys that he and the man from Florida are exceptionally talented and that if they had more time more of their talents could be shared.

Bob

Reply to
Bonza

Did I mishear what he said when he was aligning the frame, that he was working to .0002" (two ten thousandths) tolerances??

Sounds like bullshit if he was referring to aligning that frame.

Reply to
Artemia Salina

I've been into it for so long that I can remember lacing and truing a spoke wheel for $18.... Sheesh......And yes, it is a patience tester. I used to true my own racer wheels to a few thousandths with an indicator. Took damn near forever. And yes, I still have my trusty spoke wrenches.

RJ

Reply to
Backlash

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