Posted in: Brass by shovelhead13 on August 27th, 2010 | 0 Comments
Choppers are custom motorcycles. This is when and how that mechanical drive got started. It helped me pick out a 1956 BSA to get started on my own.
Veterans Make Bikers
During World War Two Harley Davidson equipped the Army with a rigid frame forty five CC scout bike. These old bikes were ridden through enemy territory in order to make any commanding officer aware of any enemy position. The men that made it back couldn’t help sticking with motorcycle riding after the war had ended.
It helped them out when the Army sold off all the scout bikes. The price was so low just about every veteran could afford himself a forty five to ride. An early motorcycle club was mostly a group of veterans.
It’s just that back then several other guys got into motorcycle riding. Many of them were so poor they couldn’t afford a Harley Davidson. That is why many of them picked out old British motorcycles. They would ride a triumph or BSA right along side any Harley.
Chopper Motorcycle Brands
The key note about old school custom motorcycles is that they were never made out of a new stock ride. Early bird bikers would run down and ride any used motorcycle they could afford.
That was so strongly practiced that in the nineteen sixties and seventies several of them were riding German BMW. Those German bikes were supported so strongly that there was a hill climb for their owners to ride through in Colorado.
Made In America Rules
In comparison the amount of Harley Davidson owners increased. Bikers would laugh at people which rode some motorcycle made in Japan. The name for those motorcycles was rice grinder. No biker wanted to be caught riding a rice grinder at any time. If you owned one there was no way an outlaw biker club would let you join.
Since most of the bikers weren’t millionaires just about none of them went to a Harley dealer to buy a brand new Harley. Some of them stuck with riding one of the old forty five models. That old motorcycle had even been ridden my some police forces. Bikers could even ride one of them that still had a side car on it or one of the three wheeled rides used by the police to give some parking tickets with.
