Sometimes, though, the need for more copper might just come from the brain even though there are no studies that show the need. Maybe the need for copper just might be on a totally cerebral level. If I ever get a chance, I should ask the copper expert, Pat Tozzi of Green Devil Garage in Virginia Beach, Virginia, who built this copper chopper for your viewing pleasure. Pat took a chance and put copper where his mouth is and maybe that explains it all. Personally, my cerebral cortex certainly seems pleasingly satisfied with the extensive, but tasteful dose of copper Pat’s imbued into the design of his retro-chop without feeling the least bit mentally stuffed like the aftermath of the typical Thanksgiving dinner. Pat knew exactly what to dish out and when to stop serving. That’s the sign of a great chef or a great chopper builder.
Like the chicken and the egg story, we know what came first. That’s be the bones of the build, the rigid 6”-up, 4”-out frame by Spartan Frameworks in Tucson, Arizona. Not surprisingly, the lines are Spartan with not a tube out of place or even slightly kinked. Simple, clean, and well built for battle like a true Spartan of old. Same goes for the Spartan Frameworks riveted springer that’s got a bit of riveted bad ass Spartan shield to it and looks formidable and capable of doing what it has to no matter how many bumps or bongs it encounters. Much like the 300 Spartans who fought off uncountable numbers of Persian warriors back in 480 B.C., this beefy springer looks capable of not only taking it, but dishing it out too.
Sitting in the middle of that frame is a bedazzled jewel of art consisting of a tasty combo of Harley-Davidson and S&S parts that appear to be a tiny galaxy of various metal parts. The bottom end started life as a 1969 Harley-Davidson Flatside Shovelhead that was built for only three years (’66-’69) and relatively rare today. With a bottom end more like a Harley Panhead than a later alternator Shovelhead, it has all the lovely castings and shapes Panheads are known for. Up top, Pat installed a set of S&S Shovelhead heads and split their rocker boxes just for good measure. Everything about an engine was top priority in an Old School-influenced build and Pat is not a guy to miss an important point like that. There’s got to almost as many miles of hard-line tubing going hither and thither as there are veins in a human body. Well, maybe not quite that much, but it’s certainly more fun to look at trying to figure out what everything’s busy doing. If you appreciate complex mechanical bling that stares back at you as much as you can stare at it, this engine’s for you.
One thing that’s not complex in any way is the way Pat chose to transfer 74-cubes of Shovel-power to the Barnett Scorpion clutch via a single-row chain. Things don’t get much simpler than that although going bell-bottom retro would not be advised. Just above that chain sits a brass and crystal doorknob now living life as a bad-boy hand shifter. If there is such a thing as reincarnation and I was coming back as a crystal and brass doorknob, I know where I’d rather end up. Speaking of reincarnation, I got a feeling that the repurposed old microphones now serving as a pair of over/under head lamps and a tail lamp are pretty happy with their place in life now too. Maybe that’s where all of us bad sheep end up as custom motorcycle parts and that’s not a bad thing in my book. All of those pieces look like they were made for this bike and obviously Pat’s got a good eye.
But, all of that aside, where this build takes a turn to the side of metallic glamorousness is the luscious hand-hammered copper bodywork that you couldn’t help but notice unless you spent your life at the bottom of the ocean and had no eyesight. It’s right there, no doubt, but it’s not slamming you in the face like a bad mural paintjob might. It is exactly what it is and that’s copper through and through. Yup, no plating involved, but flat copper sheet formed by the talented Kyle Yocum of Yocum’s Signature Hot Rods in Suffolk, Virginia. Creating an in-your-face bare copper fuel tank is not for us amateurs as there’s no place to hide imperfections like I count on my painter to make my work (kinda) perfect. Throw in a perfectly-finished horseshoe-style oil tank and a pretty long rear fender and you’ve got a guy that knows well what he’s doing. Those three gleaming pieces alone could make or break the build and I can confidently say Kyle’s achieved the look Pat was going for. Plus there’s a bit of Atomic #29 on the tips of the upswept exhausts exiting on both sides of the bike just because.
There are innumerable nice bits of building throughout this bike to check out once you get past the copper bling from the innovative sprung saddle to the twin fender strut/sissy bar that reminds me of the dual fender-mounted aerials on a ’58 Impala. I doubt that’s what Pat had in mind, but that’s what I get out of them and that’s not a bad thing. The classic five-spoke Invader wheels only add to the retro-chopper ambience and are a clean, simple and wise choice with all the other goings on. The reach from the nicely-worked Buttskinz seat to the flat bars on low risers gives just the right amount of aggression without looking like you’re a fighting fool. Just the right amount of cool and someone not to f*ck with. I still think that last part is why a lot of choppers were built and still are being built, but hey, that’s just my take. Right or not, the classic lines of a retro chopper just say badass to me.
Green Devil Garage’s Pat Kyle has built a retro-chop for the show circuit and hopefully for a bit of street work when its show days are over. It’s one thing shocking people on a show floor, but it’s got to be a million times more exciting to pull up next to an SUV full of impressionable kids at a stoplight. Maybe not for Pat, but I guarantee you he will leave some copper-induced chopper impressions on some lucky kids that will stay for a lifetime.
For more info on what Pat Kyle and the lads at Green Devil Garage are up to, visit http://www.greendevilgarage.com/ and check out their Facebook page.