Choppers
Believe it or not, it was Gary’s wife Marlena who suggested he build CopperHead in the living room. “My wife is very understanding,” he said. “She said, ‘Why should you be out in the garage all the time building this bike where I can’t be with you? If you build it here in the living room I can be with you.’ So that’s what I did. I built the bike while she watched TV, and it worked out really well. All the parts are new, so there was no grease or oil to worry about, and I had a pad down. What’s funny is, the bike is sitting right there in the living room, it’s sitting with you in your own environment and you’ll be thinking or watching TV and look over at it and think, ‘Hey, now that would be a better idea.’ I know it sounds kinda weird, but as a designer it’s fun.”
Gary’s been building bikes since 1969. “I just love building bikes,” he said. “I don’t do it to sell, I do it to show and have fun with.” His background in school was metallurgy, and he loves working with copper. “I just wanted to do something different, and at the time I started it not many people were doing it. Then it got to be popular. That’s the one problem with being a solo builder doing it for fun as a hobby. I don’t have the money to throw $30,000, $40,000 at a bike in six weeks. It takes time, so unfortunately between the time when you start and the time when you finish, the bike isn’t necessarily in style anymore.”
For Gary, his favorite part of the build has changed since he began. “It’s funny, when I started building it I bought a 330 rear tire because I wanted to build a bike around a big fat tire, but I’d say that by the time I got done the motor is my favorite part of the bike. It’s just all copper and pretty. And I really like the gas tank. I got a lower part of the gas tank from Legends Air because they were selling just the tunnel, and I wanted something to match that. That was about three-feet long as it was. And I designed a tank around that. I cut out all the parts – I’m not a welder unfortunately, so I had to send it off to Fat Katz but I designed it and told them what to do on it. That part was fun.”
But before he made the tank, Gary sent the tunnel off to John Julander at 8 Ball Manufacturing. “I sent the tunnel to John and said build me a frame around this tank, so he built me a one-of-a-kind frame to match the tank. I’d met him at a Reno Street Vibrations motorcycle show and he was just a fantastic guy. He was such a help to me. He asked me what I wanted and I told him, and he didn’t charge me extra for making the modifications to his frame. He’s just great.
Gary hand built the bike’s seat from a quarter-inch thick piece of copper. Working with metal has always been a great interest of his, although he makes his living from being a professional carpenter. “In ’69 I built a Knucklehead to sell so I could move out to California,” he explained. “I’d already graduated from Southern Illinois University back in the Midwest and had a degree in art. I came out to California to get my masters degree in metalsmithing, but that fell through because the guy who was teaching the class didn’t like my stuff all that much. So I kind of got out of it and got into carpentry, but I’ve always had a fascination with metal.
Currently, Gary doesn’t have any bikes in his living room. “I’ve backed off a little,” he said, chuckling. “I’ve got four bikes right now. We have an Ultra Classic my wife and I ride all the time, but the others are all customs. She kinda made me promise not to start another one until I get rid of some.”
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