Choppers
Our feature bike Mantis Chopster harks back to the Frisco era bikes, but with a twist. A conglomeration of tubing from frame to forks gives a skeletal appearance that heightens the mechanical feel of the design. The rigid frame is almost totally exposed as it wraps around the engine like a continous loop. Frisco-style frame dimensions come from the conservative 32-degree rake with a short 2” stretch giving real world riding qualities in a ground-up custom bike. The Harley springer fork acentuates the tall front appearance in a busy chrome style while the straight-up, tall H-D risers are capped with an AQG version of a simple drag bar making sure your eyes are not dragged away from the towering front end. Mounting the chromed Harley headlight up and out accentuates this even more. A brakeless 21” spoked wheel capped with a skinny Avon Speedmaster proudly sits between the fork legs, while out back another spoker sporting a 17” Michelin in a 190mm size does the stopping duties via an English-made Harrison Billet brake mounted opposite the left-side chain sprocket.
Minimalist bodywork consists of a modified Jesse James Villain tank, with a five-shooter gas cap homage to Mr. James, sitting almost on top of the frame and angling up to the peak of the front end. The AQG Stinger rear fender has to be the longest non-fender fender around. Aldo must be very careful of poking an eye out when changing a rear tire on this baby. Oil is transported in the round AQG aluminum tank with capped bolted ends contrasting sharply to the simple tubular smoothness of the tank itself. All the shiny bits flatter the Canavese Green paint AQG chose to cover the frame and handlebars, while simple graphics ghostly appear in the tank’s raw-look finish.
Well it wouldn’t be a motorcycle without a motor and the choice of a 1200cc unit-construction Sportster appealed to Aldo because of more than adequate power in a relatively light bike along with its clean lines. No wide belt drive was used to take away from the narrow look and the chromed primary cover just adds even more flash to the sparkly facade. The Weber carb sits atop a high-rise manifold and paralells the tank wearing an AQG mesh air cleaner. Curving AQG pipes try not to get in the way and dump out their contribution to global warming loudly and proudly. This bike will never be a Greenpeace posterboy in spite of the paint color. Between the big Weber carb and those pipes, there’s a lot of sucking and spewing going on regardless of Al Gores’ warnings to the contrary. No belt drive was used to take away from the narrow look and the chromed primary cover just adds to the sparkly facade reference with style.
Once more, AQG, one of Europe’s most prolific builders, manages to capture style and grace in a custom while still retaining its own creative indidviduality. See all of Aldo’s work at www.aqg.it.
Up Close: Weber Carburetor
For most American V-twin riders, the name Weber conjures up images of a hot summer night with a cold beer in one hand while burning a pile of meat on a Weber grill. Just maybe, though, you’re one who flashes back to a quartet of double barrel Weber carbs sitting in the valley of a Cobra small block. If so, you’re on the right track here. Weber has been making aftermarket and OEM carbs for cars since the 20s and continues its tradition of offering performance enhancing fuel mixers with single and dual throat setups for American V-twins. Tuning has always been one of their fortes with the ability to adjust each aspect of jetting to almost infinity. Weber’s dual throat carbs have the ability to uncompromisingly tune each barrel of both V-twin cylinders independently. Radical manifold setups and air cleaners are available for any custom application and the Grand Poobah is the dual, dual throat versions in unreal or super unreal configurations. What’s that you ask? Well, you can have them sitting on long, curved manifolds sticking straight up on each side of the tank or leaning their velocity stacks forward or the front cylinder on each side of the engine. Just be sure your engine is able to handle this kind of massive fuel/air mixture. Single barrel 45mm carbs and manifolds with a choice of stylish stainless steel extensions, air filter, hardware, installation instructions, and tuning guides are available for your H-D Twin Cam and Evo engines. Don’t worry about getting fat, carb it up at www.webercarburetor.net or call 866-67-WEBER for more info.
This bike feature originally appeared in Barnett’s Magazine issue #56, July 2007.
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