Personally, snakes and I are, well, I absolutely hate snakes and if they were all gone tomorrow I wouldn’t be upset. Others, including naturalists, environmentalists, and scientists, can give me a litany of reasons why snakes are good for the environment or whatever, but I’d rather live in a world without them and just take my snake-free chances. I have never understood any person’s fascination with them. On any level and when I heard my El Paso buddy had been bitten by his pet rattlesnake for the third time (I didn’t even know he kept any) and was in the hospital in serious shape, I didn’t know what to think of him after that. I mean what kinda fun is a rattlesnake anyway? Strangely, I can’t even say I’ve seen any snake never mind something venomous in my whole time in the Southwest, but that doesn’t mean I’m not aware and not looking 24/7.

   But enough about me and my snake problems and on to this build that harkens back to about a decade ago when bikes like this were King of the Show Circuit and the road (okay, roads close to home). It seemed like everybody wanted a radical chopper that was all about getting attention more than hitting the open road. That’s cool, though, as there’s something for everybody and I find myself appreciating styles I never would have dreamed I would. Yeah, a lot of these bikes are not the easiest to ride, but I’ll admit there’s a thrill riding them you don’t get anywhere else. The average person staring as you ride by might not know what a big wheel bagger is for sure, but they know a chopper when they see one. This is that bike and maybe even more so because of the paint and graphics. Airbrushed women, skulls and snakes I think pretty much says it all.

   Just in case you were wondering, this is not some kind of catalog build like what was done by builders looking for a quick buck back in the day. Speed-Trix took a bunch of straight tubing and whipped up one of their own designs that included a Softail-style swingarm to be able to drop this baby down to the ground at rest. The way the whole rear end including the fender is made into a single piece of bodywork makes a bunch of separate pieces into one smooth piece of bodywork.  Up front a Roger Goldammer slathered-in-chrome fork is about as smoothly sweet as you’re gonna get especially the way the “triple trees” become one with the fork.

    Yeah, that’s smooth stuff going on everywhere you look. Same goes for the arched stretched tank that covers the top tube but follows the line smoothly until it dips down and meets the swingarm side plates that also house the electrics. The chin spoiler/oil cooler has a different, more rounded look than most pointy/sharp ones and adds a bit of design interest into the huge open area between the front wheel and the wishbone frame. Amazing how just a spot of color can tie things together design-wise.  

   I’m sure you‘ve picked up the viper spokes on the wheels manufactured for this bike by Speed-Trix. Yup, they make wheels too. They try and do everything and I mean everything in-house except paint. Probably better to leave that with somebody who’s got the chops and the patience for that kind of work. There’s a reasonably-sized front wheel and tire in true Pro Street-style while the back brings on the blob with a wide-ass ride that you hardly see anymore. Looks like a 330 to me and they’re not the most fun to ride, but maybe that’s what separates the men from the boys. I guess I know what category I fall into. Does look decadently cool, though, and Pro Streets have always be decadently cool in a high-bucks, tough-guy kind of way.

  Speaking of that front wheel, you might think it was a brakeless front wheel as there’s not a single rotor or caliper in sight, but you would be wrong. Take a closer gander and you’ll see a good sized hub that is actually one of the rare and controversial 360 Brake setups. Out back there’s another spinning snake collage, but this time in a really deep dish wheel for that big ass tire. It looks ready to rumble on a moments notice like any Pro Street should. I think there’s an unwritten law that a Pro Street rider has to accept any and all challenges or never show his face again. You just can’t back out on a Pro Streeter when you’re riding something dressed to kill.

   You can’t meet a Pro Street challenge without having some sort of rocking big block putting out the power. In this case, Speed-Trix turned to the extremely-popular-for-the- time Ultima 113-inch engine. An eyeball-searing polished version with Diamond Cut cylinders and heads hooks up to a wide, closed-belt primary that keeps things smooth and clean then supplies its power to another bit of eyeball-searing drive train, a highly-polished Ultima six-speed with a right-side drive to keep things balanced. That’s one long run of drive chain, but there’s a mid-mounted tensioner sprocket keeping things peachy keen. Even the dual curved chrome headers channels snakes, well, at least in this snake bike context. I don’t think I’d read them the same way on a Sportster.

  There were a lot of needless, but highly enjoyable metal fluff on this build like the snake mounts around the top of the engine and of course, the huge snake chain guard. I don’t know how well it works as a chain guard, but it might keep people from touching Serge’s bike when he’s not around. Do you want to screw with a guy who makes his chain guard look like a snake? I know I don’t.

  But, even with all the serpentine stuff in metal, it’s the paintjob that just sends this bike to the next plateau of women, skulls and always adorable vipers by the boatload. There’s a lot going on in that scaly green world and it’s none of my sissy business. With paint by Yves Custom Paint and airbrushing by Fitto, it’s a scary world of ideas in paint that’s been extremely well done never mind the subject. It’s a world of dark art most people would enjoy and simply wonder in amazement at what the artist was thinking about. I see paintjobs like that and I start checking to see if anybody’s behind me. I guess we all see things differently and that’s way more than okay.

   What goes around comes around and so it goes with Pro Street bikes. They’re in a bit of a slumber at the moment, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they made a comeback to a whole new bunch of riders who always longed for one of these but never could get the cash to fulfill that dream. If there is resurgence and I wouldn’t bet against it, it will be just those wishful dreamers who now have the ability to make their dreams come true.

 Foe more info on Speed-Trix, click on  http://speed-trix.com/index.php or visit their Facebook page,