Chopper Days

I used to ride this chopper in the early 1970's. It was originally my brother Steve's bike. He bought it from a person in Des Moines, IA. It was all in pieces at the time including the 1945 Harley Davidson Knucklehead engine as the owner's original plan was to rebuild the bike but never got around to it.

Tom Keener put the bike together for my brother. I remember when we went to Tom's place in Allerton, IA to pick the bike up. Tom was doing some last minute adjustments, got on the bike, kick-started it and took off down the road doing a wheely.  It was a very impressive sight.

My girlfriend Jan, who later became my wife, and I road the bike from time to time. It did not have a speedometer and as a result, if you were passing too many cars you knew you were going to fast. 

Some time in the 1990's my brother gave me the bike when he moved to Kansas with the simple instructions to enjoy the bike and don't get killed on it. With a growing family, I did not have much time to enjoy the bike so it set for many years. As a result, I gave the bike to my son with the same basic instructions as my brother gave me.

Just recently my son Brian and I got the bike running after decades of being in storage. Upon adjusting the carburetor and timer back to factory settings the engine fired up singing that old familiar song I had not heard for so long.

Brian has elected to keep the bike looking just as it is, complete with the natural patina look, ready for a new life.