If you’re looking for a Frisco-style chopper, where better to look than San Francisco itself and in this case, our feature bike, Frisco-Style, by California Choppers located on 1490 Howard Street, right in the heart of San Francisco. Owner Wayne Hodges has the skinny on these skinny bikes as he not only works there, but was born and raised there too so I’d think it would be fair to say he knows exactly what he’s talking about when it comes to making a Frisco-style bike. “True Frisco-style is something you can ride and that’s how we built it,” said Wayne. “It runs good. It’s no problem at all with this setup.”
When it came time to design this bike, Wayne knew exactly what he wanted after too many decades of riding to mention here. “I just got through selling all my rigids. I traveled Back East to Sturgis every year on a rigid frame for over ten years,” said Wayne. “I wanted that big heavy look with the motor down and the gas tank up. I called up Daytec (www.daytec.com) and told them the measurements I wanted and they did a really nice job. One thing I specified was that the top tube where the gas tank would go, I wanted the backbone tube to come straight down and follow the line straight back to the rear instead of having a big drop with the motor mount and stuff. They did it the way I wanted it and it came out real cool.” The 12”-over Spyke inverted fork sits at a nimble handling 33-degrees as Wayne said, “I didn’t want the front end straight out, I wanted it more in.” As for why he chose such a beefy inverted fork, “I did that without even thinking about it. I didn’t build this bike for just a look and see.” Frisco-style.
Running gear consists of premium components all thoughtfully chosen for the intended purpose, riding and looking good while doing it. “Everything on the bike was top of the line when it was built,” said Wayne. Oh, little premium items like Performance Machine wheels with a rideable 200/17 Metzeler out back and a somewhat surprising (I like it!) 120/17 wheel up front. As for stopping those wheels on steep San Francisco downhills, Wayne said, “I’ve got the good PM shit on there. I crashed a number of years ago on one of my old rigid frames on Highway 5 and I found out the meaning of good brakes, let’s put it that way.”
With a roller in place, Wayne turned to what would make it roll. “I’ve always built the same size motor [97”] because it’s dependable. If I decide to ride this any distance, I know I’ll make it and 97-inches is enough power for a bike style like this,” he said. Patrick Racing pistons, cylinders, and heads (with a dual Mikuni setup) sit atop Delkron cases after a ground-up assembly by Wayne’s right hand man, business partner, and friend of 35 years, Ron Aiello. “The deal with this bike as all bikes that come out of here is I design it, I inquire about the parts we need, and Ron Aiello builds the bike,” said Wayne. “You know, some of us have the habit of saying we built a bike when the credit isn’t being applied in the right direction. He’s a good guy.”
Turning to the bodywork, Wayne said, “We had the whole bike down at Jesse James’ West Coast Choppers to have him fit the fenders and the gas tank. I told Jesse I wanted the gas tank high on the frame and he ended up making the gas tank. It’s aluminum and I don’t think you’re going to get that kind of work out of Jesse anymore (laughs). If you stand behind that bike and look at the gas tank, it has that teardrop look, a look of its own.” Wayne’s friend Horst covered everything in a coat of Candy Red with orange flames with a touch of skulls and it was left to Ron to do final assembly. The only thing left was for Wayne to enjoy the ride.
If you live in San Francisco, you’ll have to run into California Choppers sooner or later it seems as Wayne said, “We’re the only H-D related business in town. Everybody moved out including the Dudley Perkins’ Harley-Davidson dealership. It only moved out for one reason and I gotta be firm on this as they are good guys, they only moved because they couldn’t find any buildings to accommodate what Harley-Davidson requests.” Being the only game in town hasn’t given them big heads as Wayne said, “We’re older guys, we’re Old School and we treat everybody good. We don’t turn our nose up at anybody, we’ll go outside and look at someone’s bike and try to add our opinions to it. We have a complete service department and we do a tremendous amount of service and parts. You bring a stock Harley in here and we can customize it for you. We took a business here 21 years ago that was almost in the toilet and turned it into what we have today that we’re very proud of. We don’t turn our nose up at anybody, we’ll go outside and look at someone’s bike and try to add our opinions to it. We have fun here, it’s fun coming here everyday. You know, we do a lot of smiling around here.”
If you’re in San Francisco and need a coffee fix, grab a coffee at Café Trieste on Vallejo Street (Rodent’s favorite java joint ever) and head over to California Choppers for your V-twin fix (Probably wouldn’t hurt to bring a “cupa” for Wayne and Ron too). There could just be a lot to talk about as Wayne has decided to sell his bike to do a new project. If you’re interested in getting your own piece of Frisco, but you’re not in San Francisco, check out their website at www.californiachoppers.com or call Wayne at 415-431-8181 for more info on his bike and the smilin’ deal he’s got for you.
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