Alan’s shop fabricates and manufactures a number of parts including frames. He modified one of his Softail-style frames built with 32-degrees of rake and a stock-length backbone. Using a swingarm from an old Harley, he widened it to fit the rear wheel and drum brake housing. Next, he fabbed a set of new shock mounts for the rear section of the frame resulting in a shock angle designed for street riding. Stock-length Dyna Glide shocks were bolted to the new rear suspension mounts that round out the practical rear suspension with a Sturgis Wheel 5.5×18” rear wheel fitted an early-model drum brake. A 2005 Buell donated its front end, including triple-trees, inverted fork tubes, 17” front wheel, perimeter rotor, and six-piston caliper.
Finding the right motor for his bike required only slightly more effort than it took to obtain a frame. Alan was looking for a motor that the rockabilly group would appreciate; he needed a motor that resembled something that would have been used in a greaser’s bike during the ‘50s and ‘60s. He made a phone call to Accurate Engineering and chose a 93” Panhead. He installed the complete Signature Series engine package with an S&S G carb, Crime Scene Choppers’ air-cleaner cover and a set of custom shorty pipes swathed in insulating header wrap. He finished the drive line by combining chopped Harley inner and outer primary covers with a BDL 1-inch open belt and BDL clutch that convey the motor’s power to the RevTech 6-speed left-side-drive transmission.
There are no long fenders or flowing sheet metal on this bike, it’s got just enough tin to keep it legal on the street. The tiny front fender is a stock Buell piece while the rear fender was a blank that Alan cut to fit the rear section of the frame. He bolted a CCI bobber tank low on the backbone of the frame and custom made an oil bag with a horseshoe-shaped oil reservoir.
The frame, rear fender, handlebars, and front end were painted flat-green pearl with that same color partially covering the other parts of the bike like the wheels, gas tank, front fender, and primary derby cover. But that flat-green color is barely noticeable when compared to the loud, yellow, rockabilly leopard print that dominates the bike. Lastly, a thin layer of padding was added to the top of the seat pan and then covered in an old Brian Setzer Orchestra T-shirt stitched by Alan’s wife.
After Alan had properly centered, shimmed, and secured the major components of the bike to the frame, he decided against traditional domestic accessories. The mid-controls started out as Suzuki GSXR units that Alan tucked into the primary cover and between the motor and transmission. The hand controls are also imported, but are from a Ducati with gold-anodized aluminum levers. Excel black-anodized handgrips were slipped over a set of modified V-Twin Z-bars to fit the smaller diameter of the Buell risers. Alan made the custom headlight with an integrated speedometer and four-and-a-half-inch bezel with a switch for high or low beam. The taillight license-plate mount is a billet bolt-on that fit the style of the bike with a Lady Luck red lens (also known as the trucker mud flap girl).
Alan wanted the bike to be covered in items and decorations of specific album covers and certain songs that would jog his memory whenever he glanced at the bike. On top of the rear fender is a Bigsby wammy-bar from a full-sized guitar that also acts as the anchor for guitar strings. There are dice-bolt covers all over the bike attached to the final-drive-chain cover, headlight, and carburetor- adjustment screws. A splash cymbal covers one side of the oil bag and on the other side is a picture of Alan as a child meeting Brian Setzer. “I’ve met Brian Setzer (the lead singer of the band) a few times. The picture on the drum skin covering the oil bag is an old picture of Brian and me from a few years back,” Alan said. A miniature Grescht guitar covers the top mount of the motor (just like the one Brian Setzer uses), and the downtubes sport a pair of drumsticks in honor of Slim Jim, Stray Cats’ drummer. A remote oil filter covered in Stray Cats memorabilia graces the right side of the bike near the rear shock. Inside the oil bag where the battery would normally resides is a small MP3 player and a pair of two-and-a-half-inch speakers, that Alan claims are surprisingly loud, and that it’s the most expensive jukebox he’s ever built. Finally, the solid rear wheel was painted to look like the ‘Cats vinyl record, Struttin’ (and it’s also the record the bike is named after).
It may look like it, but the bike was never meant to be a two-wheeled altar piece that sits around on display. “I run a bike shop so I’m always on different bikes, but this one is ridden on a regular basis. It’s pretty fast and it does great burnouts — there’s a video of me doing one on YouTube that’s pretty good,” Alan said.
Builder: Alan Bernard
Santiago Chopper
Originally from France, Alan Bernard first came to the United States in 1994. His first day on American soil he bought a Dyna Low Rider at four in the afternoon and celebrated with some friends at a local gentlemen’s’ club for a few hours. Later that same day, while riding his new bike back home, he was blindsided by a drunk driver. Thankfully he wasn’t killed, but Alan suffered a number of injuries. His back, legs, and jaw were broken and he had to undergo seven different surgeries before he could return to Europe and continue healing.
Undefeated by the accident, Alan took the insurance money he collected from his injuries and moved to Gibsonton, Florida. Shortly after his second transatlantic crossing, Alan aligned with a less than ideal partner and started a shop specializing in V6- and V8-powered motorcycles. The shop quickly flopped, but Alan kept trying anyway. Undaunted, he decided to build more traditionally- powered bikes and opened up Santiago Chopper in 1996. “The worst part of the move for me was learning English. Sure, I had to jump a few hurdles, but I’m happy to be here,” Alan said.
Now, Alan turns out about 20-30 bikes and trikes a year but admits that lately he’s been building more three-wheeled vehicles than the two-wheeled kind. “I do a lot of Harley work but I don’t exclude metric bikes. I’ve built a few European streetfighters and some Suzuki and Kawasaki bikes too,” Alan said. When not building ground-up customs, Alan finds time to further develop his growing number of custom parts like his trike-conversion kits, fat tire Softail kits for rear rubber up to 330mm wide, and single-sided swing arm kits.
See more of Alan’s European inspired, American-made customs at www.santiagochopper.com or call the shop at 813-671-9097.
This bike feature originally appeared in Barnett’s Magazine issue #62, June-July 2008.
SPECIFICATIONS | |
---|---|
Owner: | Santiago Chopper |
Year/Make: | 2007 Santiago Chopper |
Fabrication/ Assembly: | Alan Bernard |
Build time: | 10 weeks |
Engine: | 93″ Accurate Engineering Panhead |
Cases: | STD |
Flywheels/Rods: | S&S |
Pistons/ Cylinders: | S&S |
Heads: | STD |
Cam: | JIMS |
Ignition: | Electronic |
Carb: | S&S |
Pipes: | Santiago Choppers |
Air Cleaner: | Crime Scene Choppers |
Transmission: | RevTech 6-speed |
Primary: | Santiago/BDL |
Clutch: | BDL |
Frame: | Santiago Chopper Suspended Old-School |
Rake/Stretch: | 30-degrees/NA |
Forks: | Buell |
Rear Suspension: | Progressive Suspension |
Front Wheel: | Buell |
Rear Wheel: | Sturgis |
Front Tire: | 120×17 Avon |
Rear Tire: | 180×18 Avon |
Front Brake: | Buell |
Rear Brake: | Hydraulic drum |
Fuel Tank: | CCI |
Oil Tank: | Santiago Chopper |
Fenders: | Front-Buell, Rear-Santiago Chopper |
Handlebars: | V-Twin |
Headlight: | Santiago Chopper |
Taillight: | V-Twin |
Hand Controls: | Ducati/ Brembo |
Foot Controls: | Mid-Controls by Santiago Choppers |
Electrical: | Santiago Choppers |
Painter/ Graphics: | Russ |
Color: | Flat green |
Molding: | Alan |
Seat: | Christine Bernard |
Special thanks to: | Brian Setzer for keeping rock’n’roll alive |