Loud & Powerful White Chopper Motorcycle
“The modifications on all our bikes are our signature… Anyone who knows anything about bikes knows they came from us,” said Jamal.
MY friend had a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy. I used to hate those bikes, hated the sound of them. I was into Jap bikes. One day I got on his Fat Boy and I loved it; I’ve loved Harley-Davidsons from that moment. Not long after I saw a chopper on the road and ended up buying it the next day.
Then I thought, what the Hell, I might as well build a whole bike next; I can do something better than this. So I came to Ken at Cobra Craft, not only because he is a good friend of mine, but because he is the best person around for the job. Actually, he is the best in Australia at building bikes.
Since then, every bike that we have built together has been the best there is, Australia wide and in every show. I reckon we’d put Orange Country Choppers to shame. Well, except for the acting…
Ken does all of the fabrication. I come up with the ideas and he modifies it. The modifications on all our bikes are our signature, the way we cut the rear guards or the way we modify the frames. Anyone who knows anything about bikes knows they came from us.
This white chopper started as scrap really. The frame is off an old 1969 Harley-Davidson that we chopped up. We modified everything and now there is nothing original on it except the neck.
We made it look like a normal Harley-Davidson but it’s been stretched out six inches, not so much rake on it—that way we don’t get stuffed around by the police—and we still put the blinkers on the back with the number plate. Most people put the side-mount number plate on choppers but, apparently, it’s three points off your licence.
I wanted an everyday bike but I also wanted to keep the chopper look—which is why we stretched the frame. And to get the chopper performance, we’ve put a 140 cubic inch S&S motor in it—which you can do wheelies with like a Jap bike.
We fitted a Baker six-speed gearbox and a 260 rear-end with Avon tyres. The frame is also the oil tank. It has Performance Machine wheels, calipers and forward controls.
It used to have ape-hangers, and before that custom T-bars with a Dakota Digital speedo, but we’ve changed back to another set of Jesse James T-bars now. I change them depending on the season; in the summer I like to have the ape-hangers on.
We’re very good friends with 2SUS Custom Resprays who has sponsored us and do a lot of paint work for us, including the paint work on this one.
The tank and the guards are a combination of plastic and carbon fibre; if you hit it with something, it bounces back. So with the big engine, you get a beautiful power-to-weight ratio.
Not only does it go but it’s very loud. Loud pipes save lives, and that’s true—I’ve had five accidents on Jap bikes, none were my fault, someone has swerved or hit me. At least with this chopper, they hear you coming from miles away…
Words by Jamal
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