Well, all of you fans of that era, your time has come. If you were ever going to make your custom motorcycle dream into a reality, you couldn’t have picked a better time. From what I can gather, most of these 2000-2008 fans of what was hot on TV still would chose a bike from that time and be happy as a proverbial clam. The good part is that there are a ton of these for sale in apparently pristine condition with extremely low mileage. I hear about deals all the time that blow my mind for what someone got for not quite, but very close to pennies on the dollar. Many, many very decent builds from reputable builders as well as some of the custom production companies like Big Dog or whatever you got, are sitting motionless in garages, sheds and basements all over the country waiting for a new life. The number and prices of these bikes have come to the point of if you are able to buy a new Harley-Davidson Sportster XL 1200, you could potentially afford your dream.

    Although I don’t know the history or background of our feature bike belonging to Josh Jones of Burlington, North Carolina, I do know that it’s a 2003 Bourget Fat Daddy built when Roger Bourget was still at the helm of the company bearing his name in Phoenix, Arizona. The photos were taken at a recent Easyriders show so the old gal (14-years!) is still capable of hanging tough with all the youngster builds at the event. It still looks crisp, like it’s only had rides on beautiful sunny days and probably not too much of that either. If Josh is the original owner, he’s taken great care of it and preserved a build from the past that will always look cool in its own Middle School way. Not Old School or New School, Middle School is how I refer to that TV-inspired era of chopper building.

    Getting a Roger Bourget bike was a big deal back in the day and from one particular Bourget bike a friend bought new (he must have gotten an inheritance), it was built from the best stuff out there and cost accordingly. A Bourget, any Bourget, had a sleek look of its own that was about as cutting-edge stylish as you were ever going to find from one of the bigger name builders knocking out customs in what many refer to as the golden era of customs. Roger was always about style and long and low was his calling card.

    This pro street beauty should get any pro street freak salivating a bit. Pro street owners were probably the most fanatical type of owner as they also wanted a big dollop of horsepower thrown in to make their rides just right. Bourget obliged them with big-inch S&S engines like this one that looked great, worked pretty great and provided enough power to fry the rear tire. I don’t know if pro streeters put a lot of miles on their bikes, but they sure went through a lot of fat rear tires. I often wondered if the same group of pro street fanatics were the same people who owned pro street cars when they were the ultimate crazy ass thing to drive. Race cars for the street that looked race track cool even though they rarely if ever hit the track.

    One thing Roger strove to do was use Made in the USA parts on his bikes and that’s a good thing. Especially things like the driveline where a Taiwanese tranny might be okay for some, but not for something commanding the price Bourget got. I’m not sure exactly what S&S motor is in this bike, but I’m going to guess it was the new S&S 124-inch engine that had been introduced that year. Remember, pro streeters like big cubes as a talking point in any motorcycle-related conversation and that’s fine by me. I don’t know if those twin NOS bottles mounted into the fuel tank are connected to an Eleanor Mustang-style GO BABY GO button or not, but it would give anyone thinking of taking Josh on to think twice. It’s probably only enough for one run, but that’s all it takes.

    The things that made a pro street a pro street makes for a more rideable custom from the radical chopper TV. No reaching out for the horizon rake jobs, but fairly steep angles that makes for an easier to knock around on ride. The long wheelbase keeps things planted in a straight line and straight-lining is really what these are all about especially the high performance versions. One of the other unwritten requirements about pro street was good suspension at both ends, good brakes at both ends and a riding position that was a bit closer to normal for easier handling in a parking lot or a lazy curves highway.

    Josh’s pro street has a paintjob that hasn’t become dated to me anyway. Sure, the tribal graphics are not exactly in style anymore, but the way they’re handled on this bright blue bike is a non-issue to me. They’re just not overpowering like many from that era and the blue on this bike seems to have become the go-to color of a lot of customs today. You also see the same blue hue on many cars too so it’s not looking like a pink and aqua paintjob might look to me now. I wonder if this paintjob was considered cool, wicked cool or ‘who gives a damn?’ back in 2003? In 2017, I’m pretty cool with it just as it is.

    The only thing that shows any wear on this bike is the one thing I don’t mind seeing a little wear on as it means it’s been ridden and enjoyed. Yes, it’s the seat. And, no, I’m not suggesting abuse in any way, there’s just a lovely very slightly stressed patina to the leather that says somebody spent some time there. I wouldn’t change it or update it, I too would leave it just as it is, history and all. Matter of fact, if the seat looked brand spanking new on something this old I would be very disappointed.

    So, the only twist to this story is when the current owner, Josh Jones, bought it. If he got it in 2003, it was probably the hottest bike around the Burlington, North Carolina, area and might even still be a big hit for all I know. People out there love these Middle School customs in droves. He probably paid what my boyhood friend, Mendel Steinberg, always said whenever anybody bought anything, “A good chunk of change.” Hopefully he got what he hoped to get out of owning it and it’s become a part of the family over the years.

   Or, maybe Josh acquired it recently from somebody who had just parked it for whatever reason for years at a price he couldn’t pass up. Yeah, there are a lot of choppers from a lot of different builders (some good and some bad) of that era for sale on eBay, craigslist, and dealerships everywhere. Here’s just a quick check for Bourget’s bikes on Cycle Trader and there’s a lot of Bourget listings ranging all over the place to from steal to really good buy. And, that’s just a Bourget’s listing, your personal favorite of all time builder probably has some of their bikes somewhere for sale at a price you can’t believe. If ever there was a time to make your custom bike dream come true, it’s now. Remember, you’re not getting any younger fella.

   For more info on Roger Bourgett’s new shop visit http://rogerbourget.com/ . For the original Bourget’s Bike Works Inc in Phoenix, visit http://www.bourgets.com/.