Hell’s Kitchen is a name to be remembered. The history of the chopper, as we know it, started with the movie Easy Rider in 1969, but Hell’s Kitchen is much older. Just the bright and colorful choppers in Easy Rider, the history of the real Hell’s Kitchen — the neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City that covers roughly the area from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River — started in 1851 when the Hudson River Railroad opened a railroad station at West 30th Street. Plans were laid for an open quarter where the middle and upper classes would shop, work, and live. But New York at that time was a melting pot and all the dirty aspects of the early years of industrialization concentrated in what was soon dubbed Hell’s Kitchen. Street Gangs, racial conflict, and criminals ruled the street in the early days of economic hardships before and after 1929’s Black Friday on the New York stock exchange. By then, the New York skyline took shape and Hell’s Kitchen was a dark living quarter with huge apartment blocks where immigrants lived crowded together.
By the 1950’s the area changed again and even the name Hell’s Kitchen was deleted from the official records. Renamed the Clinton District, it was where small theaters offered the first performances for future movie stars such as Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe.
In the same way, you can introduce Penz’ black chopper. In a world of blinking mainstream bikes, bright paintjobs, accessories gleaming with chrome and polished metal, this is a dark spot, the black soul of real-world customizing, and a true and genuine chopper. High and massive as the old apartment buildings of the quarter, the Penz Softail Pure frame has solid 10” downtube stretch. The hammering sound of the 110” Screamin’ Eagle engine is as mechanical as the soundtrack of Hell’s Kitchen a century ago and some people might cross to the other side of the street to avoid this chopper.
Today in the 21st century the face of this part of New York has changed again and become a very hip place to live. Only a few inhabitants remember its hardscrabble history and would arguably cherish this ride, a fitting piece of rolling machinery for a New York kid. Unfortunately, today’s traffic laws no longer tolerate open pipes, missing indicators and mirrors or riding without helmet, but there is no law against its sinister look. Not yet. Which is where Penz’ chopper comes in, combining a radical look with state-of-the-art technology.
The frame hosts a 100+ horsepower Screamin’ Eagle fuel injected engine equipped with BSL exhaust system. A 6-speed BAKER RSD gearbox delivers the torque to a fat 300 rear rubber, neatly spread on a powdercoated 10.5 Rick’s Design Wheel. Using a BAKER RSD gearbox, the final drive is located on the right side, as common with the Sportster models, switching sides with the brake system. What is a chopper without a fitting fork? This one is huge by any standards: Solid 20” over fork extension were necessary to serve the need for trail, and it’s a springer front end too. Do we need to name the color?
Compromising the look for safety, a modern 4-piston caliper offers braking power at the font end, matching the design of the Rick’s wheel neatly. The complete bodywork was handcrafted by Penz, including the custom-built tank with enough room to hide fuel injection and fuel pump and smoothed for painting. Hell’s Kitchen was the theme, matt black the answer. None other than Marcus Pfeil took care of the paintjob, and the matt black base is highlighted with inserts of gold leaf and hand drawn pinstriping, representing the present of the former Hell’s Kitchen quarter. But no matter how much you polish up the surface of a chopper, the soul will always remain pitch black, and that’s good news.
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