Choppers
Ah, if only the entire build could have been that easy.
It took about 18 months to get his bike up and running due a false start with a company that went out of business. But Jerry is nothing if not lucky, and he got his money back and began looking around for new help. “Finally I looked into Ace’s Choppers,” he said. “I sent them over the spec sheet and they reassured me they were in business, and they produced me a nice big 1.5” tubing frame. I got exactly what I wanted.”
While deciding on his S&S Shovelhead engine, Jerry met up with Don Carlson of South Bay Choppers in Carson, California, a skilled fabricator and welder, and the two became fast friends. He also relied on an array of others and learned much in the process.
“I like the look of the Shovelhead,” Jerry said. “I’d had a couple of them previously, Harley-Davidson versions, and I like everything about ‘em except they leak oil. Now this one still leaks oil too, but I’ve heard from people that it’s because you’ve gotta have that little spit cup at the bottom of a Shovelhead. It doesn’t leak bad but when you ride it for a whole day and then let it sit you’ll get a little puddle underneath it, but it’s inherent with a Shovelhead…or so I was told.”
For the rear light Jerry went with an original off a ’32 Ford; for the front he got a reproduction from Speedway Motors [www.speedwaymotors.com]. “It’s actually ten-inches around, it’s huge,” he said. “I figured there’s a big space to fill in between those trees and I could do one of two things: put a tiny Lazer light or put one big monster, and I kind of liked that idea better.”
The fork was definitely a learning experience, he said. “I’d asked Jeri [Jeri’s Springers] to custom make this thing 14” wide and he was going, ‘Oh my God, you wanna do what?’ I said, ‘Just make this thing for me’ and didn’t bother to ask him if it actually worked. So I’m riding this bike and it’s like a death trap. I’ve got tank slappers and my feet falling off the pegs. It scared the crap out of me.” Finally, he turned to Mean Street. “They made the trees 14” wide and we put a regular telescopic Old School fork on it and now I can ride it,” he said, laughing.
The Xpegs from Baxter Motorcycle Company [www.baxtermotorcycle.com] were also a second thought. “I had straight Exile pegs on the front, then I changed them out to the BMX-style because you can change your ankle position, which is really cool and makes it comfortable. But people are always like, ‘What the heck, you’ve got bicycle pedals on your bike?’ ”
Builder: Jerry Blanks
The owner of South Bay Carpets, a carpet and hardwood flooring business in Redondo Beach, California, Jerry Blanks had raced motocross as a kid, then moved on to crotch rockets in his teens, and Harleys as an adult. As a designer, he’s created everything from souped-up golf carts to his own home. “I’m a good designer but I’m not a wrench kind of guy,” he said. “I designed a two-ton Chevy diesel truck that looks like a mini-big rig, and I had a special exhaust designed where a stack comes out behind the cab. I’ve got an ’03 Hummer and right when I got it I just started tearing it apart. I’ve got 40” tires on it, turbo-charged the motor, and all this crazy custom-built roof racks on it. It’s the craziest Hummer in the neighborhood.”
Jerry discussed Bigg Stiffy with his buddy Russell Mitchell of Exile Cycles. “I like his look, but I didn’t want to go after an exact copy of his, so I did an 18” wheel and he always does a 15”or 16” wheel I believe, so it’s good to be different,” he said.
Jerry’s been around bikes his whole life and was keen to start SoCal Hot Rod Choppers. “The idea was I’d do the designing and then float the work to a fabricator friend of mine, Don Carlson,” Jerry explained. “But this was two or three years ago when everybody was selling and buying bikes,” he says, laughing. “Now it’s like, who’s buying bikes these days and spending that kind of money? So the business never really flew off the ground, per se, but this bike was going to be used as a display and show people what we can build. It’s kind of at a standstill now, so I’m keeping my day job.”
| SPECIFICATIONS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||